Busy Stretch Of San Francisco Mission Street Getting Makeover
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- Changes are underway along busy Mission Street in San Francisco to make it less congested.
The street is now color-coded. Right-turn arrows are diverting traffic off Mission Street and onto nearby, and more manageable, Van Ness Avenue.
The traffic lights have been synchronized, and Muni's Mission Rapid Project is now in the third week of a six-week implementation.
The belief is that bus riders will eventually save five to 10 minutes each way.
"If you take it round trip, that's 10, 20 minutes a day you can do other things," John Haley of the SFMTA said.
But drivers love to double-park, gumming up all the lanes. Then, there's the question of whether anyone will actually follow the new signs.
The red lane is for buses and taxis.
"I feel like half the people are confused and half the people just don't care," Ben Udelson of San Francisco said.
Muni says it may take a while for people to adjust. They may end up getting a little push.
"And that doesn't necessarily mean ticketing people - not at all - what it means is good education for a period of time and then after a while, we can always go to the enforcement side," Haley said.