San Francisco’s Market Street is one of the most iconic streets in America, starting from the famous Ferry Building, passing by grand office buildings, such as Twitter’s headquarters, and ending right in front of City Hall. It also happens to be the most dangerous street in the city, with five of the city’s 10 most dangerous intersections being on Market Street. With calls for better public spaces in San Francisco getting louder and louder, the city has bowed to pressure and approved a plan to redesign the 2.2-mile stretch, that is Market Street, into a haven for pedestrians.
The new plan will see private cars banned from the street, including cars from Lyft and Uber. Taxis will still be allowed, but the lower volume of traffic will make the street safer. The redesign will include newly painted safety zones at intersections to make it safer to cross the street and new protected lanes for those riding on bikes.
The city is confident that making the area easier to navigate on foot and by bike might bring more life to Market Street, creating a nice shared public space that could bring back a sense of community in San Francisco.
