Fed up with Valencia bike lanes, business owners look at breaking up SFMTA

SAN FRANCISCO - Business owners along Valencia Street are saying a pilot bike lane program is killing their businesses. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency says it's looking for a solution to keep cyclists safe and businesses operating.

San Francisco's Valencia Street is one of the city's major north-south corridors; now a year-long pilot program with a bike lane running down the center of Valencia is underway through August 2024.

But business owners along the stretch with the center bike lane between 15th and 23rd streets, like Nikki DeWall, who owns Blondie's Bar, say that lane is killing their businesses. "Over the course of the last six months, our business has dropped anywhere between 30% and 50% depending on what day, which is a huge impact," said DeWall. The timeline given by DeWall slightly precedes the implementation of the bike lane pilot project. 

Mission District business owners held a rally in the bike lane to call attention to their concerns. At that rally, DeWall said she and the other businesses aren't anti-bike, but say the bike lane and the changes it's brought are now impacting all types of businesses along the corridor. "They're all getting the same feedback from their patrons," said DeWall. "There's nowhere to park, it's too complicated to figure this street out."

Even bike lane users say they're not fans of the center lane configuration. "Hell no, it's not really safe because people here just don't care," said Hal Nguyen. "There's always construction up here, and people get hit by cars and I've seen more accidents since this lane has been here."

SFMTA Director Jeffrey Tumlin said the bike lane is a work in progress and that the SFMTA is committed to finding a balance to keep cyclists safe and businesses healthy. "That's what we're trying to find with this pilot, and we're going to keep making adjustments until we get the dials fine-tuned to create the greatest public good while recognizing the street is of limited right of way, and has a lot of needs," said Tumlin.

Organizers of the protest say the problems with the bike lane are symptomatic of deeper problems within the SFMTA, and are looking at breaking up the SFMTA and or seeking changes to how the SFMTA is run and leadership is picked.

SFMTA's director says the solution to frustration with a bureaucracy isn't to destroy the entire department, but to work with leadership to find a way forward.

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