Traffic circles visit the Haight

THE HAIGHT HAS a proud heritage of social experimentation and questioning the status quo. Now the neighborhood sits on the front lines of a new revolution: in traffic management. The transportational merry-go-round known as the roundabout or traffic circle – a common sight in towns and cities throughout the U.K. as well U.S. cities like Portland, Ore., and Seattle – has hit San Francisco.

Five temporary traffic circles were installed along Page Street (at Clayton, Ashbury, Lyon, and Scott) and Waller Street (at Steiner) in August for a monthlong trial. Proponents of the project, including the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, say their aims are a reduction in speeding, decreased vehicle emissions, and – a longer-term goal of the SFBC's – the transformation of Page Street into a city bicyclist's dream: a bike boulevard, where substantial automotive traffic is diverted to other nearby thoroughfares. Neighborhood residents will vote in early September on making the five traffic circles permanent fixtures – as well as installing six others. (All households within one block of each circle will vote on that circle via a mail-in ballot sent by the Department of Parking and Traffic.)

Implemented by the DPT, the circles are intended to calm traffic, making the street safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. As SFBC program director Josh Hart points out, a long, straight thoroughfare like Page Street can look like a freeway to some drivers. The traffic circles "interrupt the visual field" enough to dispel that notion. And drivers are considered more likely to maintain slower speeds if they have to navigate around the circle rather than halting abruptly at a four-way stop.

Hart cites studies conducted in Seattle that report traffic circles have reduced "the number of motor vehicle crashes up to 90 percent." "It's great for pedestrians," he adds, "because drivers will no longer be slamming on the breaks and then speeding up. And it's great for bicyclists because they won't lose the momentum that's so essential to bicycling."

The goal of decreasing vehicle emissions secured the project a grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District – emissions are higher when drivers repeatedly halt and then accelerate. Another environmental plus, Hart points out, is that the traffic circles reclaim asphalt areas for plants and flowers, exchanging hardscape for landscape.

While the circles might be expected to affect traffic flow on neighboring Haight Street, Stephen LaPorta, who manages Haight Ashbury Music, and Kim Pringle, owner of Behind the Post Office, say they haven't noticed much change. "I personally think it's a good idea in theory, as long as drivers know to look in all four directions," LaPorta says. "I've almost gotten plowed into three or four times.... Then again, there are people who don't stop at Stop signs." Pringle, on the other hand, says she's "stumped" by the project. "I don't see the purpose, because people don't really drive that much on Page." And, she adds, "you can still see the faint Stop signs that were painted in the road, so people driving by the circles for the first time get confused."

Haight Ashbury Merchant's Association president K.C. Evans, who runs Coffee, Tea and Spice in the Upper Haight, says the organization "is taking no formal stance on the traffic circles. We're leaving it up to the neighbors to decide.... There's a lot of controversy over this one. You'll definitely be hearing a lot more about it."

The SFBC can attest to that, having gotten quite a bit of feedback over the past few weeks. Some residents in the neighborhood aren't so sure the circles are an improvement, let alone safe: Ted Loenberg calls the circles an accident waiting to happen. "Pedestrians are rendered from sacrosanct under California law to the lowest priority," he says. "Drivers think, 'No Stop sign? Then I get to go.'" And indeed, Hart says, community input suggests some drivers are taking advantage of the lack of stop signs.

Acknowledging that this transitional phase calls for more education, the SFBC plans, for starters, to install pop-up Stop for Pedestrian signs to remind motorists that peds still have the right of way. In general, Hart says, "our position right now is, let's take a cautionary approach to the circles. At this point they probably need the Stop signs still, until we can install additional traffic-calming measures" such as corner "bulb-outs," sidewalk extensions that would reduce pedestrian crossing time. Unfortunately, according to Hart, the DPT says the BAAQMD grant makes reinstating the Stop signs problematic, since the idea was to cut down on emissions by cutting them out of the picture.

Fiscal and safety issues aside, proponents also face a third hurdle: aesthetics. Page Street resident Ed Korthof, a newly sworn fan of the circles, says he likes "that they replace Stop signs." Other residents, though, proud of their neighborhood's visual charms, are turned off by the current traffic circles' appearance. However, Hart says the community need not fear. Should the neighborhood vote in favor, permanent ones will be landscaped. In Seattle, communities have even competed over who has the prettiest circle. Will a similar competitive streak turn Page Street into a gorgeous exemplar of landscaping chic? Neighborhood residents will soon decide. For updates check the SFBC Web site at www.sfbike.org or the DPT site at www.ci.sf.ca.us/dpt.

Rebecca Sills

Reporting assistance provided by Melissa Broder.