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SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – A San Francisco supervisor wants to speed up traffic safety projects in parts of the city that are considered to be dangerous. Supervisor Connie Chan says she’s still waiting to get approval on a project that she proposed more than four years ago.
Chan says San Francisco has an emergency on its streets. She says while traffic-related deaths continue, red tape is stopping a lot of safety improvement projects from getting done. She says she wants immediate action to prevent more people from dying.
“Given what we have experienced in the last two weeks we can no longer wait,” she said.
Chan wants the city to speed up Vision Zero projects to make city streets safer for all. Vision Zero is a policy aimed at eliminating traffic deaths altogether.
However, this year there has been an uptick in deadly crashes, including the one that killed a family of four at a bus stop in West Portal. Over the weekend, a man was injured by a car at a bus stop in the district Chan represents.
Chan is now asking the city attorney’s office to draft legislation that would authorize an emergency declaration to prioritize projects that haven’t been completed.
“We’re saying if we have these planned projects, we know they’re designed, they’ve been planned and planned, well, let’s move with it. Let’s finish them without further delay,” she said.
Chan says she is frustrated several projects in her district haven’t been completed, including a project on Fulton Street to build yellow bulbs extending sidewalks for pedestrians. Project planning for this began in 2019.
“Here we are the last five years. Traffic fatalities have significantly increased. It is time to move and declare this emergency,” she said.
Chan also wants the city to speed up the installation of two speed cameras on Fulton Street. And she wants to install lights for people crossing in the busy Fulton corridor, so pedestrians won’t have to wait too long to cross.
“We want flashing pedestrian beckons with the flashing lights so when they cross people will be aware there is a crossing,” Chan said.
Chan has criticized the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), saying it has a lack of urgency and has failed to successfully complete major projects. KRON4 reached out to SFMTA but did not hear back by Tuesday night.
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