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Octavia Boulevard
Rating Details »
Category: Local Flavor [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Hayes Valley, MissionOctavia Blvd & Market St
San Francisco, CA 94102
- Good for Kids:
- No
31 reviews for Octavia Boulevard
The cynic in me wants to say FTF but it has immensely made my access to Golden Gate Park and the other half of SF much easier and frankly i go more before it's easy. Okay and it's on my route to work so I'm on this bad boy every weekday. Besides, it's pretty. Anyways...
But you know what chaps my hide? It's the side lane. What purpose does it serve? Oh I know, it's for cheaters and scalliwags who roll through the stop signs, SPEED through as if it's their personal fast lane, and generally ignore all those stop signs/stop lights because those don't make any fucking sense in the first place. WTH.
This is what bugs me. To me, it's best for cyclists. It just makes sense. The rest of you tools who just race through to make that quick left onto Fell, stick it, jerkfaces. The rest of us are all backed up because those ambiguous left turn markers are so confusing while you cut in front of us. Oh and thanks for all those drivers on Haight going westbound onto the freeway? YELLOW MEANS SLOW DOWN AND STOP. It doesn't mean QUICKLY ALL OF YOU LEMMINGS PULL INTO THE INTERSECTION AND BLOCK IT FOR THE REST OF US. Don't forget the Stare Ahead so it's like we don't see you blocking the intersection. Good job.
And they compared this to a Parisian boulevard? Crack. Is Wack.
Who's the dip-shit that designed this Octavia Street nightmare between Market St and Fell St
These rocket scientists should build housing for registered sex offenders with built-in wall-mounted binoculars across the street from elementary school playgrounds?
I'll bet the guy who approved that playground across the street from The New Century whore house / strip club is the same person that approved Octavia Boulevard.
Can't someone just admit that they designed the worst freeway exit / entrance in history and go back to the drawing board?
Sidenote: Funny how the link for more info on the sf gov website directs you to a bunch of PORN links. Seriously! I shit you not. Go to http://www.sfgov.org/s... then click on the WWW.OCTAVIACENTRAL.ORG link and you'll find nothing but links for...
Older Women
Hidden Cams
Camgirls
Live Chat
Women
Slavegirls
It's like they designed their site ALMOST as well as Octavia Boulevard itself
Let's all give thanks (especially those of us who have grown up in this neighborhood, or lived here pre-earthquake) for the removal of those ramps/hooker hideouts. For all of it's faults, we now have trees, grass and a playground - and yes, a nice looking boulevard. Of course, Octavia Park is more of a Dog Toilet, and the traffic on Oak is packed with rude, angry commuters who love honking in *someone else's* neighborhood, but let's direct these complaints and **constructive ideas for change** toward the City and our Supervisors, shall we?
I'd love to hear a better idea for getting the entire western population of the city onto the 101 everyday - short of moving them all to the Peninsula or the East Bay. Perhaps a truly "rapid transit"? Anyway, I call it an overall improvement, that could use some more improvement.
1) It's a freeway offramp - slash - playground. Kids and cars!! Who's the genius??
2) It doesn't take you across Market Street but rather has you wait at the light -- filling the above-mentioned park with your exhaust as you idle along.
3) The "local access" road is a perfect place to die while crossing the street, as some confused driver makes a right hand turn.
4) It got voted in after at least three failed initiatives. During the boom. When the population was more passionate than informed and the Hayes Valley Merchant's Association could sweet talk them with this park bullshit. "I like parks not freeways! I'll vote yes!"
The old Fell Street offramp was ugly and the dark sidewalks underneath were full of pee. It's been replaced by a classic San Francisco compromise that essentially works well for no one but makes some smug mofos feel like they discouraged driving when all they really did was put more smog on the street. And now the sidewalks are sunny, but they're still full of pee. I wonder why an offramp didn't solve homelessness...?
I don't really know what people's problem with Octavia Boulevard is. I know it took a long time to complete, that it's a huge old compromise between warring factions, and that it's the not the safest street to cross.
Still, it looks nice, and I actually think it's much more efficient than the old Fell Street offramp. After a few years in existence, it's still in pretty good shape, and everyone's worst nightmares about traffic bottlenecks haven't come true. I know what poorly designed offramps are like (I'm from L.A.), and this isn't one of them. No, it's not an efficient way to exit the freeway portion of the 101 north, but besides the old beast that cut through the city, what would the best solution be?
I think my favorite part about Octavia Boulevard is that it really made some people's apartments (and views!) a lot nicer. Now, the people who lived in those apartments when the old offramp was still up probably don't live there anymore, but maybe they do--rent control?--and the redesign added a beautiful surface-street freeway approach to an area that used to boast a truly disgusting raised highway.
The poster child for stupidity in San Francisco. STILL not finished after 25 or so years???
Unsafe at any speed for:
1.pedestrians
2.bicycles
3.scooters
4.motorcycles
5.marmosets
Sure, it's pretty and tree-lined. BFD. It adds more stress than it takes away! Can't turn right off Market because bicyclists won't stop for red lights? Just put a charnel pit on either side to scrape the bodies into, and make sculptures from the frames. That's Art.
Stop signs AND lights on the side streets? Doesn't make a difference for most San Francisco drivers, who can't be bothered to get off their cell phones anyway, and haven't used a blinker since the days of bias ply tires (this means you- BMW Owners).
This has become one of those areas in the CIty to avoid at all times, like Van Ness and Mission St. Cheers to the morons in City planning and all the pusswipes who allowed this crap to be built.
OHMiGOD are you kidding?? Wow, I looked up this review expecting to see half a star and a lovely littering of 'fuckity fuck motherFUCKER,' wowwweee...everyone i talk to in person HATES this addition...
Why we hate the new Octavia Blvd:
1. It is confusing. What is with the extra mini-side lane next to the regular lane? Are you allowed to switch back and forth at liberty? What is the purpose of this mini lane?
2. Why are there traffic lights AND stop signs in front of the mini-lane? When there's a traffic light and a stop sign, which one wins?
3. The traffic on Octavia Blvd, coming from the freeway, is always atrocious. It doesn't matter what time of day it is. Something about it's ingenious design allows it to remain backed up 24 hours a day.
4. If you don't play your cards right, you WILL get forced onto the freeway. You just think you're along for an innocent ride, and then , BAM, Octa-Nazi Blvd has you marching along in its gigantic oppressive middle lane and it wil NOT let you out, no matter how much you beg.
I don't get it, I don't get it! What's going on with this street monster?
PEOPLE please stop honking your horns! I realize this is a very poorly designed freeway on-ramp, but honking will get you nowhere and will only disturb the poor people who neighbor Oak/Octavia.
Instead, write Ross Mirkarimi or the city or the Chronicle OR anyone who is willing to listen and ask them WTF??? Why does only one lane turn from Oak to Octavia (until that very last 10 feet which just confuses everyone and almost gets me hit every morning)? And why has no one thought to make any improvements?
Way to go DPW! Transforming this urban blight into a community open space and park. Not to mention the return of an onramp to the Freeway once more on this side of town.
I had a friend who lived for years in pre-earthquake / post-earthquake Hayes Valley on Octavia Street in the shadow of the loud, dirty and dilapidated freeway overpass/mess. Under the freeway was superfluous parking galore where the junkies came to hide and get a fix. The whole area was bedecked with gloom, smog and dirt.
It took them 13 years to get this project going (whoa maybe not so "way to go" there) and although things were brightening up all along with the demolition of the overpass--it was not until it was completed that the neighborhood took on a whole new shine.
Look, you can see the sky! The buildings are clean and spruced up. There are people and children (also people, I know) and dogs in the park. People are sitting at the tables and benches--the Hayes Green is in use--everyone looks happy and neighborly.
This is what new city planning can start to do ~ turn a disconnected strand of businesses, residents and blight into a warm and interesting community. The next step in urban planning -- Get rid of the cars! -- then this city will really be on the cutting edge of community design.
I am not thrilled with the quantity of overly priced and fairly useless stores. I suppose there is something to the traffic confusion issues (do something about that right turn lane off of Fell--nobody seems to get it DPW!! One lane, two lanes--why are people parking in the right turn lane?--the lights are confusing). But 5 stars nonetheless.
Others may be disgruntled. Many complaints are valid. But were you here when it was a disaster zone even before the earthquake? Believe me this is unusually forward thinking for city government. They even decorated for everyone's enjoyment (okay weird yellow grid thing I don't really get).
Hey, I live on this street asshole! Ooh, it is so pretty. La la la. But you better slow the f*^k down and stop at the stop signs. Crossing the street is taking your life in your hands. Pedestrian friendly my ass.
Aviva, I bet you'll feel like a real racecar driver with my Ulock embedded in your windshield.
I appreciate everyone else's concerns about Octavia Boulevard, but I'm no city planner, I don't live in the neighborhood, and I don't drive.
5 stars for helping me to achieve a lifelong goal: making out on a jungle gym in plain view of EVERYONE ON 101.
---
Edited: Looking back on this review ... it's now a lie! I DO live in the neighborhood. But, um, I still don't drive, so I will continue to only review the makeout potential of the park area.
As a resident of the North Panhandle, I think it's good not great. It's certainly better for Hayes Valley than the Central Freeway. You really have to connect with it via Oak Street if you're headed TO the 101, otherwise you'll get all tangled up. That's probably what the people from Caltrans and the City had in mind, so I'm OK with that.
Coming FROM the 101, there's always a backup as the traffic snakes down Octavia and onto Fell. That's annoying, but unless it's rush hour, you'll do OK once you get on Fell.
While I don't share Megan W's vehement opposition to the project, if she starts a petition to make it a boulevard all the way to California street, I'll sign it. I won't live to see that boulevard happen even if I live to be 100, but I'll sign the petition. Heck, maybe I'll even show up to one of those community meetings the City is always having.
I don't see how the boulevard could be any more pedestrian or transit-friendly given the need to dump cars off of 101, onto Octavia, and westward, so I think they did a pretty good job balancing all the interests.
Maybe the sucess of Octavia will encourage city planners to build those dedicated bus lanes on Geary boulevard.
I really don't know why everyone is whining about this... there are trees, a playground and no elevated highway running through a nice, sunny part of the city. The traffic lights and signs could be a little less confusing, but if you actually take a minute to understand the flow through the area, the design actually makes sense. I deeply apologize if you must slow down to 25 in lieu of a few more blocks of 60.
Quit whining, take a walk.
P.S., For reference, while making out on top of the Octavia Blvd jungle gym, your privacy from the prying eyes of motorists will be protected by a thin veneer of tencious shrubbery.
This is NOT the haven for cyclists and pedestrians the city touts it as being. Whose idea was it to build the off ramp at street level? It should be RAISED and go over Market or they should build some kind of blockade so that people coming east on Market absolutely can't try to make a right onto the highway and clip pedestrians and cyclists. That single spot is a death trap.
t's pretty and it's great that it's not a shithole anymore but this is seriously some urban planning gone awry. The shared bike/car lanes on the outside would be great if the cars that drove in them weren't complete idiots. Sharrows mean it's my lane too, buddy, so don't honk at me and tell me to get on the sidewalk, don't rev your engine behind me, and don't speed up to 20 to squeeze by me. The middle lane is for fast driving of cars, not the outer lanes. Unfortunately people are unable to grasp this concept and choose to terrorize pedestrians and cyclists who are trying to enjoy the sections of the project supposedly designed to make things better for us.
And the light/stop sign combo... what the hell? It's maddening. If this is supposed to benefit cyclists, why make it so difficult to make a left onto Market? One must cross Octavia and go onto the sidewalk then cross Market and make the left there, or cross Market then cross the on/off ramp via Market. That second option wouldn't be so bad except for the fucktards coming down Market who don't understand what NO RIGHT TURN means and repeatedly take out cyclists at the same spot as they try to turn onto the highway.
The area used to be a dump, but with the newly added park, it feels like a whole new world.
JONASAPPROVED!
Wow, i was really starting to wonder who held up traffic 4 blocks up Oak because they can't figure out which lane is which and what a stop sign does versus a traffic light. No amount of F bombs and funny clueless ramble will change the fact that A) there has to be a way to catch the ugly highways to this town B) urban planning that took 20 years of pettiness to agree on, is never perfect.
The project is not even complete yet, but still a huge improvement because it looks so much better and won't come crashing down on your noggin when the next quake comes. What do you miss most from before? the neighborhood avoiding offramp? the huge concrete overpass? the sketchy dirt patches, empty lots and fences underneath? the mid-market blight before the Castro? or did you just move here? People will drive fast, welcome to city life, please look both ways.
Every day I say thank you to God for this beautiful addition to our city.
It has completely changed the neighborhood for the better and improved my daily commute.
Not a big fan of children, I am pleased however that it includes a children's park at the end so everyone can feel welcome. It has beautified this area, such that a giant building on the corner of Haight & Octavia was sold, bought and promptly beautified from a dank white shell with hanging shingles to an ornate, turn of the 20th century style molding work in warm shades of green.
I can't wait to wait other inspiration it yields next.
DANGER lurks here...don't be race car driving on Octavia.
It takes a long time to get from the beginning to end of the Blvd because I have to stop and look in every different kaleidoscope on the way. Clearly put there for some stoners amusement. This is why I typically have to ride my bike down Octavia. It's not perfect with the lights being a bit on the catawompus side and drivers being very confused or just downright idiotic. It is quite pretty though.
As one of the sane drivers in the city, I gotta say that the outer lanes are just stupid, and the timing of the lights is horrible. Why is there a stop sign and a blinking light? Does it mean that you can proceed through once you have stopped, even if the lights are green going the other direction? It's not like there are any signs telling you what to do. I've been driving and valet parking in the city for years, so I am used to the quirky, weird, and insane street planning, but I fear for those tourists who have never driven into the city before, and this is their first city street after getting off the freeway? Oy!
The four star rating makes up for this mess, because it is a beautiful area and a great example of urban renewal gone right! Just fix the timing of the lights so the traffic doens't spill out into Market from the freeway!
Anything that makes my life easier - while looking this nice - definitely deserves five stars.
Now I know why they call it a "model" in street refurbishment: pretty but stupid. Octavia: freeway on-ramp you can get on. Joy.
On the plus side, it's taken some pressure off the Duboce exit. On the minus side, we've been reduced to reviewing streets.
i really have no opinion on octavia boulevard one way or another. my 5 star rating is for the jungle gym in the park!!
it had been sooooo long since i'd climbed a jungle gym or hung upside-down, but the octavia blvd jungle gym helped me relive my monkey moments of childhood. be careful as the rope does burn your hands (and legs).
also, there's a sign that says all adults must be accompanied by a child under __(insert some very young age appropriate for a playground). of course, that didn't stop me or my friends!! in fact, we were so exhilarated by the jungle gym that we were inspired to go to the metreon and ride the carousel right afterwards!!
Is anybody else with me on this? I am totally overjoyed to the point of tears with the opening of the new Octavia Boulevard connections to 101. For those of us who live in the mid-City neighborhoods of Haight, Cole Valley, USF/Lone Mountain, North Panhandle, Hayes Valley or Western Addition, the new ramps on and off 101 are long-awaited and welcome relief from the gauntlet of street routes we've suffered through since the '89 earthquake closed down the Fell-Oak ramps, our only direct interface with the freeway. Hooray for Caltrans (did I just say that?) and for the voters of San Francisco who passed the 1998 measure authorizing the construction of the Octavia project! And it looks great too - what a boost this will give to Hayes Valley.
I miss the old freeway exit the way it used to be in the 80s where you exited the freeway and it threw you onto Fell St. then the opposite direction you could take Oak St. and get on the freeway going the other direction. Oh, the good ol' days. Now it is so fucked up nobody wants to drive to SF because it is too confusing. Good job people.
The project which transformed Octavia Street between Market Street and Fell Street into a tree-lined boulevard is a godsend! Not only does it provide great freeway access, but the views from here are gorgeous, and are finally now unobstructed!
Thumbs down to this product of poor planning. Didn't they do studies beforehand to mitigate traffic problems? Its a nightmare getting through there. The no right turn from market street rule is gonna get someone killed because drivers ignore it. The freeway they rebuilt through my neighborhood is lower and wider than the one that stood there before.
Residents of Hayes Valley are cheering about no more prostitution and drug dealing, when all it did was move to the other side of Market.
What really takes the cake is that a certain individual from Hayes Valley is trying to divert ancillary funding to improve parcels of land under the ramp to conduct more traffic studies on the Boulevard. Its not going to happen though, but I still can't believe the nerve of this guy.
I realize that the reconstruction of the freeway provides convenience to a large number of residents as well as the weekend warriors coming up from the Peninsula, but please consider that while Hayes Valley is getting such a great 'boost' the North Misson has been dealt a harmful blow.
complete farce: childrens playground next to highway on ramp?
keelll zat 20 points ....heet zat....10 points ...plus don't like the fact that some skeezy20-somefinUkrane/Russohitandrunnerdroveoffgo tcaughtinEmeryvillevia911callwithlicensenumber.
hit yelpee michelle when she was on her bicycle.
drivers are insane here...then there's the crazy notion of a bike lane to alternative road kill hell.
Ol' debil doan take ma soul away i wuz jes lookin for J's Pots of Soul, den got hit bya 4x4 ton a blueeeessss ana wheelchair ya ya on 6-6-06.
sara g. has it right. I abhor this freeway entrance/exit, its constantly backed up and even though its the closest entrance to me I will save the 15 minutes stuck in those 4 blocks and drive the 5 minutes down to the 10th street entrance. How was this thing supposed to be beneficial again?
it is only in the past few weeks that I have come to realize the true beauty of the Octavia Blvd offramp. such wonderful access to Market St.! and such easy access to the Sunset and the Richmond! such a wonderful racecar-driver-like feeling I get coming from 101 North! I only wish that I had more occasion to use it.
The only reason why I haven't given one star instead of two, is that it isn't a freeway overpass like the one it replaced, but Octavia Blvd. no better. As I bicyclist's, I have to worry about the people who knowingly make an illegal right turn to the freeway, and many bicyclist have been injured, and fatalities have occurred. When at the times that I take MUNI going inbound from Haight St. I find that it takes 10 minutes going 4 blocks prior to Octavia because of all the traffic that wants to go to Octavia.
