Fell and Oak bikeway won’t eat up traffic lane

Riding through the Fell and Oak corridor on a bicycle can be a terrifying experience.

Traffic is heavy, drivers are frustrated, and cars crossing the well-used bike lanes at Divisadero are often aggressively turning left or into one of the corners’ three gas stations.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has been working with the SFMTA to design a bikeway through the corridor that helps protect cyclists without dragging to a halt heavy rush-hour car traffic.

Last month, the MTA sought community input on a few the proposed bikeway, including an option that would have turned one lane of traffic on Fell and Oak into a bicycle lane between Scott and Baker.

Planners have ruled out eliminating a lane of traffic as the redesign of the Fell and Oak corridor bikeway moves closer to reality. Instead, residents can say goodbye to a lane of parking in each direction through the three-block stretch.

One unresolved is whether to have separate one-way bike lanes on Oak and Fell between Baker and Divisadero, or to have westbound bike traffic flow out of the Panhandle onto a two-way bikeway on Fell until Divisadero, where it would turn right and continue west on Oak.

Also still on the table are the final designs for the intersections. Streetsblog commenter Prinzrob outpoints a YouTube video showing how nifty Dutch-style “junction” treatments can help bikes and cars interact without taking up additional space.