diff --git a/blog/2024-05-24-community-led-design-of-safe-school-streets-for-mission-bay-elementary-school.mdx b/blog/2024-05-24-community-led-design-of-safe-school-streets-for-mission-bay-elementary-school.mdx index 8b311b36..db41533f 100644 --- a/blog/2024-05-24-community-led-design-of-safe-school-streets-for-mission-bay-elementary-school.mdx +++ b/blog/2024-05-24-community-led-design-of-safe-school-streets-for-mission-bay-elementary-school.mdx @@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood is one of the fastest growing areas i But there’s one glaring omission in Mission Bay – there are no schools. “There currently are no elementary, middle, or high schools, public or private, in the Mission Bay area,” said Matt Haney in 2017, then President of the Board for SF public schools. “This is unacceptable. This is a community that urgently deserves and needs a school.” [3] ![](./images/2024-05-24/mission-bay-es-empty-site.jpg)
-The future site for an elementary school building in Mission Bay, San Francisco is currently a parking lot sitting on top of rocky fill covering what was once part of an actual bay and tidal wetlands. [9] +The future site for an elementary school building in Mission Bay, San Francisco is currently a parking lot sitting on top of rocky fill covering what was once part of an actual bay and tidal wetlands. [4] 25 years after being proposed in a 1998 Mission Bay redevelopment plan, construction on a school in the neighborhood has finally begun! The $90 million Mission Bay Elementary School project is expected to be completed in time to open for the school year starting August 2025. [5] @@ -49,22 +49,20 @@ Local community members are excited about the prospect of improving street condi ## Community Groups Envision a Better Future Change -However, community leaders were disappointed with the limited resources dedicated to improving street safety ahead of construction of the new school. While the City committed to fund a study [7] to identify problem areas and suggest possible designs for a few trouble spots, it fell short of community expectations by not delivering a comprehensive, neighborhood-wide plan for safe walking and biking access to the school. +However, community leaders were disappointed with the limited resources dedicated to improving street safety ahead of construction of the new school. While the City committed to fund a study [6] to identify problem areas and suggest possible designs for a few trouble spots, it fell short of community expectations by not delivering a comprehensive, neighborhood-wide plan for safe walking and biking access to the school. -The community took it upon themselves to create their own designs. “We started by rethinking the traffic circle neighboring the new school and originally designed to accommodate peak vehicle flows after ball games. With a school going in next door, we wanted to re-imagine it as best-in-class infrastructure that separates modes, providing a safety buffer for vulnerable road users while allowing residents to access nature and planned affordable housing without the need for a car,” explained Nik Kaestner, the former Director of Sustainability at SFUSD. +The community took it upon themselves to create their own designs. “We started by rethinking the traffic circle neighboring the new school and originally designed to accommodate peak vehicle flows after ball games. With a school going in next door, we wanted to re-imagine it as best-in-class infrastructure that separates modes, providing a safety buffer for vulnerable road users while allowing residents to access nature and planned affordable housing without the need for a car,” explained Nik Kaestner, the former Director of Sustainability at SFUSD. ![](./images/2024-05-24/mission-bay-es-traffic-circle-hand-drawings.jpeg)
A hand-drawn sketch by Nik Kaestner to illustrate core concepts of a proposed project to add separated cycling facilities to an existing traffic circle at the intersection of Mission Bay Drive and Owens St. ## From Idea to Prototype with 3DStreet Rapid Prototyping Service -“We were inspired by ‘Dutch-style’ roundabouts [8] with full separation continuing through the intersection, not only along approaching streets,” continued Kaestner. “But we were limited in our ability to convert our vision from hand-drawn sketches into a practical prototype that would excite fellow advocates and be taken seriously by City staff.” +“We were inspired by ‘Dutch-style’ roundabouts [7] with full separation continuing through the intersection, not only along approaching streets,” continued Kaestner. “But we were limited in our ability to convert our vision from hand-drawn sketches into a practical prototype that would excite fellow advocates and be taken seriously by City staff.”
-Animation generated by 3DStreet showing the evolution from existing conditions of a mixed-mode traffic circle to a mode-separated traffic circle. +Animation generated by 3DStreet showing the first-person animation of traffic circle usage at a child's height. ## Is it Feasible? From 3D Prototypes to Civil Drawings @@ -107,6 +103,10 @@ This project is just starting. The school has broken ground with more than a yea Fortunately, 3DStreet gives stakeholders a head start as they consider more detailed civil plans. “3DStreet’s ability to export to other popular file formats allowed us to jumpstart the manual process of preparing baseline conditions so that our valuable engineer time can be better spent on project-specific requirements,” said Jorge Romero-Lozano, a civil engineer and executive director of GreeningProjects.org, who also consulted on the project. +## Make Your Next Community-Led Project a Success + +Let us help you with your next community-led improvement project. Our team is available to provide assistance as you navigate the community-led development process, from ideation to prototyping, stakeholder communication, and community outreach empowered by next generation technology. [Learn more about our Rapid Prototype Service to quickly move your project to the next stage.](/docs/services/) + ### References [1] https://www.potreroview.net/mission-bays-population-almost-doubled-in-last-decade/ @@ -115,14 +115,13 @@ Fortunately, 3DStreet gives stakeholders a head start as they consider more deta [3] https://www.potreroview.net/new-mission-bay-public-school-to-be-launched-within-five-years/ +[4] https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Filling_The_Bay_Along_San_Francisco%E2%80%99s_Southern_Waterfront + [4] https://www.sfusd.edu/about-sfusd/sfusd-news/press-releases/2022-10-27-construction-set-begin-new-sfusd-school-mission-bay [5] https://sfyimby.com/2023/02/sitework-underway-for-mission-bay-school-in-san-francisco.html -[6] The SFCTA is a SF County agency, separate from the SF Municipal Transportation Agency. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_County_Transportation_Authority - -[7] https://www.sfcta.org/mission-bay-school +[6] https://www.sfcta.org/mission-bay-school Plan provided by the SFCTA, a SF County agency which is separate from the SF Municipal Transportation Agency. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_County_Transportation_Authority -[8] https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2015/10/13/explaining-the-dutch-roundabout-abroad/ +[7] https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2015/10/13/explaining-the-dutch-roundabout-abroad/ -[9] https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Filling_The_Bay_Along_San_Francisco%E2%80%99s_Southern_Waterfront \ No newline at end of file