A big change is coming to S.F.’s controversial Valencia Street bicycle lane

San Francisco Chronicle

A big change is coming to S.F.’s controversial Valencia Street bicycle lane

Maliya Ellis •

The polarizing center-running bike lane on a section of Valencia Street in San Francisco will be scrapped and replaced with protected bike lanes on the edges.

Constructing the new side-running lanes is expected to cost just over $1 million and take two to three months

…

The construction will involve three phases: removing the rubber bollards around the existing center lane, repaving the middle of the road and installing the new lanes.

I had sticker shock reading that it would cost $1M to redo this bike lane experiment. Doing the math:

  • Valencia is 82.5 feet wide. The bike lane takes up less than 1/3 of that, but let's be generous and say it does.
  • The 8 block stretch is about 0.8 miles.
  • 0.8 miles × 27.5 feet = 116.16k ft²
  • Let's say asphalt costs ~ $5 ft².

That's about $581k just in asphalt.

Turns out, that's about the right cost estimate.

$1M is starting to look like a good deal.

The ban on left turns, another point of contention for merchants, is also here to stay for now. The board will only consider allowing them if signal improvements, like left-turn arrows, are implemented at intersections, but Stanis said upgrading signaling would come at the tune of at least $1 million — per intersection.

I'm not sure I see the math on this one though.

Traffic Signal Construction Costs are on the Rise in the Bay Area

Traffic Signal Construction Costs are on the Rise in the Bay Area

Jaime Rodriguez •

Traffic signal construction costs in the San Francisco Bay Area are on the rise. If you’re lucky enough to get bids for your project you can expect costs that are reflective of up to a 30 to 40% rise in construction costs compared to costs this time last year (late-Spring).