Tenderloin Community Wins $8 Million Safe Streets and Roadways Grant from US Department of Transportation
Earlier today, the Federal Department of Transportation announced that the SFMTA has been awarded an $8 million federal grant from the Safe Streets 4 All program for the Tenderloin Community Safe Streets Project. These funds will help address pedestrian safety issues in the Tenderloin, where pedestrians are 10 times more likely to be injured or killed by a car than elsewhere in the city.
Back in July, Supervisor Preston’s office submitted a letter to Secretary Buttigieg in collaboration with 18 organizations in the Tenderloin to express their strong support for the SFMTA’s Tenderloin Community Safe Streets Project.
"We are incredibly grateful to Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the U.S. Department of Transportation for prioritizing the Tenderloin neighborhood in this grantmaking, and for the Transportation Authority and the MTA for all of their work coordinating the grant application,” said Supervisor Preston. “The funding from this project will fund crucial improvements to make the Tenderloin safer for pedestrians while also creating much-needed green space. I look forward to working with the SFMTA to implement the projects included in the Tenderloin Community Safe Streets project as quickly as possible.”
In November, the Transportation Authority Board programmed over $2 million in Prop L funds in the Signal Maintenance 5-Year Prioritization Program (5YPP) to provide the local match if the Safe Streets 4 All program was approved. Now that the federal grant has been confirmed, the Prop L funds will be leveraged to deliver the projects in the 5YPP.
Over 79% of households in the Tenderloin do not own a car and the neighborhood has a high number of pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders who are exposed to high vehicle volumes and speeds, resulting in high fatal and near-fatal collisions. Every street in the Tenderloin is on the City’s High Injury Network, and this one neighborhood accounts for 68% of all fatal crashes in San Francisco.
The Tenderloin Community Safe Streets Project will include a combination of traffic signal upgrades along Larkin and Polk Streets, bike safety improvements along Turk Street and Golden Gate Avenue, and a road diet on the 100 block of Golden Gate Avenue, also known as the Golden Gate Greenway. The traffic signal upgrades will include left-turn phasing, larger 12-inch signal heads, and mast arms to enhance signal visibility and pedestrian signal improvements, upgraded curb ramps, and street lighting. The bike safety infrastructure improvements at intersections along Turk Street and Golden Gate Avenue will include protected corners that slow turning vehicles and separate bicyclists from traffic and bike signals.