Valencia Status Update Meeting Notes from 8/26/08
September 9th, 2008Last week, Kris Opbroek & other City staffers working on the Valencia Streetscape Improvements gave 2 project update talks at the Mission Police Station at 630 Valencia St.
I (Amandeep Jawa), Tom Radulovich & Amy Tanner attended the second of these two meetings & here are some notes I took:
The street designs were the same as we have been discussing for the past few years. (These designs can be seen here). Fundamentally, the sidewalks from 15th to 19th will be widened from 10 ft to 13-15ft depending on turning pockets in the streets. Additionally, the sidewalks will get various amenities added such as street trees, pedestrian level lighting, etc.
Unfortunately, due to some grant-funding issues, the start date has been delayed 6 months from Fall 2008 to Spring 2009! The plan of record is now that work will begin on April 2009 & be completed by March 2010.
The expectation is that they will be working one block at a time, starting first with utility relocation & then paving, and then sidewalk amenities.
We spent a reasonable amount of time discussing a few other issues:
- Loading Zones:
To accommodate truck loading now that we will be losing the center median, loading zones will be striped on the sides of the streets. These zones will be longer spots than exist on Valencia currently and will designated for loading. - 26 Valencia MUNI Bus:
The current design doesn’t include bulbouts where there are bus stops. We discussed the fact that the 26 Valencia bus is likely to be discontinued & what can be done with the bus zones in the 15th to 19 area. Various ideas for designated bike parking, to additional street cafe space to a taxi stand were discussed as possibilities. Providing bulbouts at corners, and moving the bus stop back slightly from the corner, was suggested as a way of accommodating the bus for as long as it exists, without losing the corner bulbouts at important corners like 16th and Valencia. City staff were unwilling to consider changing the curb layout, but were more open to alternative uses for the bus zones - Side Street Bulb Outs:
Tom Radulovich pointed out that the current design doesn’t include bulbouts on the numbered streets, and that this is a mistake. City staff responded that the corners are designed to accommodate large trucks turning, and refused to consider adding bulbouts, saying that the time for changes to the design has passed.