The Californer - San Francisco: Mayor London Breed Announces Completion of Octavia 'Open Street' Project

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San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed and Supervisor Vallie Brown today announced the completion of the Octavia 'Open Street' Project in Hayes Valley. The Open Street Project was designed by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) to reopen a portion of Octavia Street as public space to be enjoyed by the neighborhood and community.

"Our neighborhoods deserve to have public spaces that benefit our residents, visitors and local businesses," said Mayor Breed. "Before Octavia Street, this was the Central Freeway, a space dedicated to moving cars quickly through this neighborhood. Today, we are creating a space for friends and family to play, shop, and enjoy Hayes Valley. This is one example of our larger efforts to create more open space in San Francisco to benefit the community."

"Patricia's Green is the Heart of Hayes Valley," said Supervisor Vallie Brown. "It is where neighbors and friends meet and dogs and children play. With this project the City expanded the heart of Hayes Valley and made a critical investment in a future in which the community can safely enjoy open space in the center of a thriving dense neighborhood."

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"We are very excited to see this pilot project made permanent," said Tom Maguire, SFMTA Interim Director of Transportation. "Anytime we can add more public space for our city and improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists is a win for everyone. The successful short term closures of Octavia around Patricia's Green showed us that this truly is an improvement to the area and the added space is a huge upgrade for the neighborhood."

The project is part of the Octavia Boulevard Enhancement Program, which seeks to make the boulevard and surrounding streets safer, more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, and supportive of the needs of the Hayes Valley community. The 'Open Street' Project provides an extension of public space at Patricia's Green.

"San Francisco is joining cities from around the world that are creating car-free people-first places," said Jodie Medeiros, Executive Director of Walk San Francisco. "This supports climate goals, boost local economies and helps reduce severe and fatal traffic crashes. This small but significant stretch of Octavia Street is just the beginning of a long list of streets where we can establish more car-free streets that prioritize people."

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"Patricia's Green is the heart of the neighborhood," said Craig Hamburg of the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association. "This project will expand on its success, providing much needed open space to locals as well as visitors from near and far. Like the original Market and Octavia Area Plan, this effort further prioritizes people walking and biking in the neighborhood. We are happy to see the City and public come together to make Hayes Valley a safer and more vibrant place, and would like to thank all involved in making this project, and the new open space a reality."

In addition to the 'Open Street' portion, the project includes safety improvements such as shorter pedestrian crossings and improved intersection visibility. The redesigned street will also allow bicycles to make a safe, protected connection from South of Market through Hayes Valley. This project mirrors others efforts around the City to reprioritize how streets are used. For example, the first phase of the Better Market Street project will be implemented in January, prioritizing transit, biking, and walking by removing private vehicles from a large segment of the street.

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