Geary Community Advisory Committee

I joined San Francisco Transit Riders because I am one! I fully depend on public transit to get around the city, and this organization supports Muni and other Bay Area Public Transit systems. I’m also a member of the Geary Community Advisory Committee, and I want to spread the word on what goes on in those meetings. I joined this CAC because I was interested in getting updates on the Geary Boulevard Improvement Project straight from SFMTA.

An introduction to the Geary Community Advisory Committee

The Geary Community Advisory Committee, or Geary CAC, provides input to the project team through varied perspectives from the surrounding community and the city. The nature of the Geary CAC is advisory and advises SFMTA staff on two projects, the Geary Rapid Project and the Geary Boulevard Improvement Project. The Geary Rapid Project was completed in Fall 2021, but the Geary Boulevard Improvement Project will continue until late 2027 or early 2028.

The newly painted red transit lanes from the Geary Rapid Project in 2021. (SFTR)

The Geary CAC shares the community’s interests with the project team and relays project information to its respective communities. The SFMTA keeps members informed, listens to and acknowledges concerns and aspirations, and provides feedback on how public input influenced project decisions, drafts, and proposals.

Geary CAC meetings are quarterly meetings that are open to the public to attend. Agendas and meeting materials will be posted on the project website one week before the scheduled meeting.

To summarize, here are a few things that were discussed at the recent Geary CAC meeting on January 14th:

The Geary CAC had minor updates to the project, including adding lights around 20th Avenue and 17th Avenue, and some community and business outreach regarding the heavy construction on Geary. They’ve also published a blog about the student decorations. If you click the link, you can see the cool artwork that students from Washington High School have made that is going to be on the sidewalks and bus bulbs. Here’s a link to the presentation SFMTA gave.

Previews of student art being adapted from their original form for installation with lithocrete, a mosaic-like form of decorative concrete. (SFMTA)

I also got a follow-up email from Daniel Mackowski, SFMTA project manager who works with the Geary CAC, with an update on why sometimes parts of Geary only have one lane of travel open. Basically, contractors are replacing incredibly old sewer lines, and sometimes the trench they dig has to be large enough for them to work safely. The lane closures are temporary, and they shouldn’t last very long.

The reason why this CAC is so great is that you can give your direct feedback to SFMTA and let them know how good (or bad!) of a job they’re doing. Of course, the feedback should be related to the work they’re doing on the Geary Boulevard project, but if you’ve felt any improvements to the 38/38R in the last five years, you should join a meeting and let them know! I know I was really excited when they added a bus-only lane on the later avenues a couple of years ago. I’m also super excited for more bus bulbs and sidewalk art in the future!

Feel free to contact me, and I can give your feedback to the SFMTA.