I was wondering what those lanes on the sides of Valencia were supposed to be used for.  For all we know, they could have been meant for Segways.  One of the painters suggested to me, “You should take that home and paint it on your wall.”  Thanks for the idea!  I just might do that!  I think he was joking, though, because then he wouldn’t give it to me.

Previously:

Getting A Feel For The New Valencia

Valencia Doing Work

The New Valencia Is Shaping Up Quite Nicely

The construction crews have finished re-paving the street and have commenced painting the new boundaries for vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians.  At first glance, it might look a lot like the old Valencia.  However, the discerning viewer can appreciate the myriad improvements here. 

First of all, that wide, unnecessary, center-dividing “parking lot” has been eliminated in favor a simple, sensible yellow line that widens only at intersections to allow for left turns.  Sorry bros, no more parking in the center divider just so you can pop into Puerto Alegre for a quick marg.  Gonna have to stick with the party bus from now on.

As a result, this creates significantly more space for vehicles in the middle of the road, which consequently allows the bicycle lanes to not only be wider but also further away from the rogue suddenly-swinging-open parked car doors that have a nasty habit of clotheslining unsuspecting cyclists. 

Vehicles still have enough space to park (as before), while pedestrians also manage to come out ahead since they get a few extra feet of sidewalk space.  So if I see you and 4 of your friends all walking towards me on the sidewalk in a horizontal line so you can all pleasantly chat together, I’ll still think you’re an asshole, but at least I’ll be able to get by you.

So, what’s the final equation, Prof? 

[Valencia] – [center divider] = [more fucking space for everybody]

Of course, I’m all for the “greening” of San Francisco, but I think the city planners might have taken things a little too far in this case . . .

Previously:

Coming Soon: Valencia Streetscape Improvements

Valencia Doing Work

Getting A Feel For The New Valencia

I accidentally turned left onto Valencia from 15th Street this afternoon, and it was like I was teleported into the post-apocalypse version.  What could have caused all this havoc to take place?  Luckily, intrepid MM “videographers” provide a peek below into the process behind the repaving of Valencia for the Streetscape Improvement Project:

1. Humongous cement buster pneumatic drill to loosen up the pavement
2. Group of foremen standing around chit-chatting
3. Scoop shovel breaks up the street concrete into chunks, which are then scooped into an adjacent disposal truck for removal
4. Cement crew gets busy and springs to action, with more cement trucks mixing in reserve

Previously:

Coming Soon: Valencia Streetscape Improvements

Getting A Feel For The New Valencia

Ardent commenter and Ski Free expert MrEricSir captured this crew planting some trees on the recently renovated sidewalk of Valencia between 16th and 17th St.  While this definitely looks better than:

. . . Am I the only one who’s worried about where to lock up my bicycle now that all those parking meters are gone?

UPDATE!!! I am an idiot and the parking meters were reinstalled last week!  Leave it to the City to maximize parking revenue efficiency!

And this black asphalt will allegedly contain the new Días de los Muertos bike-racks!  Rad!  Nice surface area!