Renderings from the Better Market Street Project show what the updates on Market Street could look like, including expanded sidewalk areas which will include bike lanes.

Renderings from the Better Market Street Project show what the updates on Market Street could look like, including expanded sidewalk areas which will include bike lanes.

Photo: Better Market Street Project

Renderings from the Better Market Street Project show what the updates on Market Street could look like, including expanded sidewalk areas which will include bike lanes.

Renderings from the Better Market Street Project show what the updates on Market Street could look like, including expanded sidewalk areas which will include bike lanes.

Here is what Market Street will look like car-less, according to newly approved plan

Scroll through the slideshow above to see renderings of what the updated Market Street is projected to look like.

The plan to make Market Street a safer thoroughfare for pedestrians and cyclists who traverse the street each day has been a work in progress. But on Tuesday afternoon, SFMTA unanimously approved the Better Market Street Project that would push private vehicles off a 2-mile stretch of Market Street.

But what would that exactly look like? Although removing private vehicles including Lyft, Uber and other rideshare options from Market Street should help reduce the amount of traffic and vehicle-involved collisions, Muni buses will continue to operate along on that street, and taxis will be able to use the roadway as an option, as well as paratransit and commercial vehicles.

Market Street is at the heart of our city, and we need to do everything we can to make it a safer, more livable, and more vibrant place for our residents, workers, and visitors, said Mayor London Breed in a released statement. Last year, there were 123 injury collisions on Market Street and the majority involved people walking and biking. Better Market Street and the projects near-term improvements are critical to achieve our Vision Zero goals and ensure everyone can feel safe on our most traveled street.

While Market Street won't be completely free of cars, the approved plan will implement a number of changes.

Here's a breakdown of the plan, according to the presentation to SFMTA on Tuesday:

Those who braved the bustling downtown stretch of Market Street in their cars will be kept off the street between 12th and Steuart streets, with two exceptions: Cars will be able to head east on Market Street between 11th and 10th streets, and Drumm and Steuart streets. Private vehicles and commercial vehicles will also be restricted eastbound from 12th to 11th streets, and westbound from Hayes to Franklin Street.

See the map of the full car-free zones, below:

Vehicle restrictions on Market Street, once the entire Better Market Street plan is in place.

Vehicle restrictions on Market Street, once the entire Better...

Cars will be allowed to cross Market Street on most streets, with some traffic changes in store. Jones Street, north of Market, will become a new two-way street, as will Spear Street, just south of Market. Ellis Street, north of Market, will become a one-way street for cars near Market.Loading zones for commercial vehicles and passengers using rideshare services like Lyft and Uber will be added to a number of cross streets.

Most, but not all, of the car-free zones will be implemented in early 2020 as part of a "quick build implementation" of the Better Market Street Project. Those early car-free zones heading east on Market Street will last from 10th to Main streets, while the westbound closure will be slightly longer, stretching from Steuart Street to Van Ness Avenue. Turn restrictions will happen on Page and Franklin streets, Valencia Street and South Van Ness Avenue, as shown in the map of 2020 changes below:

This map shows the length of Market Street that will be closed to most private vehicles beginning in early 2020.

This map shows the length of Market Street that will be closed to...

The center lanes will be reserved for Muni only, while outer lanes closest to the sidewalks will be turned into open roadway for Muni buses, taxis and commercial vehicles (although commercial loading on Market Street will only be allowed during off-peak hours). In early 2020, a Muni-only lane will be extended east to Main Street.

Closer to Van Ness Avenue, the four lanes will go down to two "Muni and taxi-only lanes" to make way for improved crossings for pedestrians and an "improved bike connection between Market Street and 11th Street."

A new F-line loop will also be built on McAllister and Charles J. Brenham streets, just east of United Nations Plaza to "[enable] short-turns for additional service where ridership is highest." (F-line service will continue on to the Castro area, as before.)

There will be both curbside bus stops at "nearly every block," as well as center transit boarding islands, with plans to upgrade transit stops and make them ADA accessible. Here's how the new roadway is expected to function, as seen this video from San Francisco Public Works, below:

Bicyclists and pedestrians stand to see some of the bigger changes to Market Street, with a widening of the sidewalk from 35 to 37 feet. The red-bricked sidewalks will also be replaced with "gray concrete pavers that are easier to clean and repair," The Chronicle recently reported. Bicycle lanes will now be at sidewalk level, removing them from the roadway and keeping bicyclists from mixing with buses and other vehicles. The bikeway will have a 4-foot buffer that will also separate it from the roadway and will typically by 8 feet wide. The bikeway will be made of an asphalt material to clearly identify it as a bike lane.

Bicyclists will also be given a buffer zone to keep them away from pedestrians, with "flex zones" available for trucks and paratransit vehicles to park on the sidewalk, while still allowing bicyclists to continue around them. There will also be a dedicated bikeway near the transit stops close to Van Ness Avenue, as well as an "improved bike connection" between Market and 11th streets.

"Future generations will see that we had a clear choice," said Brian Wiedenmeier, executive director of the San Francisco Bike Coalition, in a statement. "Today, we chose to redesign our streets in a way that improves safety and stems the bloodshed, and we chose to approve policies like expanding car-free space that encourage more people to walk, bike and take transit. This choice will save lives, and set an example not only for the way we can reimagine streets across our city, but an example of how cities across our country can reimagine theirs."

Phase one of the Better Market Street Project, between Fifth and Eighth streets, will break ground in late 2020 or early 2021, which includes all new infrastructure and the F Market streetcar turnaround loop.

Scroll through the photos in the slideshow above to see renderings of what the updated Market Street is projected to look like.

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Here is what Market Street will look like car-less, according to newly approved plan - SF Gate