Street safety improvements coming to Oak

It took a fatal hit-and-run, 31 collisions, and six years of begging — but Oak Street might finally become safer. The city is poised to approve a redesign to make the road safer for everyone and less chaotic for drivers.

The facts

The SFMTA will vote April 1 on long-delayed safety upgrades for Oak Street between Stanyan and Baker. The $1.3 million “Quick Build” project would streamline traffic by adding a second turn lane at Masonic, separate bicyclists with a dedicated road-side bike lane, and fix the 2-to-4-to-3 lane mess.

The context

This stretch of Oak Street borders the Panhandle and serves as a key eastbound route out of Golden Gate Park. It’s also a designated “high injury corridor,” where fatal and severe crashes are most likely to happen. Neighbors have pushed for changes since 2016.

Since 2020, Oak Street has seen 31 reported crashes involving drivers, pedestrians, or cyclists, according to the Chronicle. A similar redesign on nearby Fell Street led to a 38% drop in total collisions and a 50% drop in pedestrian injuries. Plans were drawn up in 2019 to fix the issue but were delayed by the pandemic and the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council’s complaints.

2024 was San Francisco’s deadliest year for traffic collisions since 2007. More people were killed by cars than by homicide — including a family of four waiting for a bus in West Portal and two elderly men struck while crossing the street in the Richmond District.

The GrowSF take

This is what safety looks like. It’s not about drivers vs. cyclists — it’s about sensible changes to streets that keep people moving and alive. These changes work, and we should be doing more of them, not spending years in gridlock.