Car-Free 'Slow Streets' Coming to San Francisco This Week

San Francisco will begin restricting cars on certain stretches of blacktop throughout the city this week to reduce traffic and give pedestrians, runners and bikers space to steer clear of each other amid ongoing shelter-in-place orders.

The "Slow Streets" program will be rolled out incrementally, with up to three, roughly eight-block corridors per week closed off to through traffic, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency announced Tuesday. In all, the agency identified 12 different corridors throughout the city — from Bayview-Hunters Point to the Sunset District — to make largely traffic-free.

"We identified some low-volume, residential streets that we could quickly transform to make sure that people can walk or jog safely while also maintaining social distance," SFMTA Executive Director Jeffrey Tumlin said.

The corridors are mostly on bike routes and exclude major emergency traffic corridors and operating Muni lines, the agency said. Local residents and businesses will retain access to driveways and delivery services.

The road closures begin later this week, with short stretches of 41st Avenue, in the Sunset, and Page Street, in the Haight-Ashbury District, blocked off.

San Francisco follows Oakland's lead, which earlier this month, announced plans to close 74 miles of roadways in the coming weeks — roughly 10% of all streets in that city. A growing number of cities across the country are beginning to adopt similar initiatives to prevent crowding, as coronavirus-related quarantines have forced the shutdown of scores of parks and gyms.

“The most important thing people can do is remain home, but when you must go out this will help allow for physical distancing,” Mayor London Breed said in tweet on Tuesday.

Before the coronavirus pandemic became the new normal, a movement to make more city streets car-free was already gaining traction in a growing number of urban areas across the country, including San Francisco. In January, the city blocked private vehicles on the busiest stretches of Market Street.

And while the announcement garnered enthusiastic support from bicyclists and pedestrian advocates, some city leaders questioned the logic of it.

"I have no idea how SFMTA came up with this bc apparently they didn't have time to reach out," District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin tweeted on Tuesday. "At first glance, they seem more concerned w recreating in less dense areas than responding to requests to address social distancing needs of seniors & low income people of color in D3."

The street's slated for temporary closure to through traffic include:

• 17th Street (between Church and Valencia)
• 20th Avenue (between Lincoln and Ortega)
• 22nd Street (between Valencia and Chattanooga)
• 41st Avenue (between Lincoln and Vicente)
• Ellis (between Polk and Leavenworth)
• Holloway (between Beverly and Harold)
• Kirkham (between Great Highway and Seventh Avenue)
• Phelps (between Oakdale and Evans)
• Ortega (between Great Highway and 14th Avenue
• Page (between Stanyan and Octavia)
• Quesada (between Lane and Fitch)
• Scott (between Eddy and Page)

KQED's Annie Berman contributed to this post.