37°46′18″N 122°26′01″W / 37.77164°N 122.43357°W / 37.77164; -122.43357
55-459: The Wiggle is a 1-mile (1.6 km) zig-zagging bicycle route from Market Street to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco , California , that minimizes hilly inclines for bicycle riders. Rising 120 feet (37 m), The Wiggle inclines average 3% and never exceed 6%. The path generally follows the historical route of the long since paved-over Sans Souci Valley watercourse, winding through
110-574: A curb extension or other features at intersections to simplify crossing. In the UK, a cycle track is a road specifically for use by cyclists and not motor vehicles. In Ireland the term cycle track also includes cycle lanes marked on the carriageway, but only if accompanied by a specific sign. In the UK, a cycle track may be alongside a roadway (or carriageway ) for all vehicles or it may be on its own alignment. The term does not include cycle lanes or other facilities within an all-vehicle carriageway. In
165-566: A 26-year-old trained civil engineer who had immigrated there. Market Street was described at the time as an arrow aimed straight at "Los Pechos de la Chola" (the Breasts of the Maiden), now called Twin Peaks . Property owners forced O'Farrell to retain the earlier Vioget-drawn north-south Yerba Buena street grid rather than conform the roads to the hilly topography; they also forced him to establish
220-470: A Wiggle Fest, street activist group Safe Street Rebel installed official-looking signs saying "The Wiggle / Yield to Peds & Bikes" on two blocks of Steiner Street. Two days later the signs were removed by the city. Market Street (San Francisco) Market Street is a major thoroughfare in San Francisco , California . It begins at The Embarcadero in front of the Ferry Building at
275-534: A free outdoor concert to a crowd some estimated at 250,000, following a dispute with Oscar Hammerstein . Another historic Market Street event was the New Year's Eve celebration at the Ferry Building on December 31, 1999. Over 1.2 million people jammed Market Street and nearby streets for the raucous and peaceful turn-of-the-century celebration. The San Francisco Pride parade runs down Market Street, attracting many people every year. Victory parades celebrating
330-484: A leading American drugstore retailer. Early in the morning of April 18, 1906, an earthquake lasting less than a minute and subsequent fire left many of the buildings along Market Street in ruins; in some cases, buildings were dynamited to prevent the spread of flames. The burned area extended from Dolores and Franklin east to the waterfront. Within days, prominent citizens and property owners announced plans to rebuild their buildings along Market. United Railroads traffic
385-555: A long-term plan that would include rebuilding much of the street. The transition to a car-free Market Street began on January 29, 2020. Studies released in late February indicated 6-12% travel time savings for transit routes on Market Street after the implementation, with negligible traffic effects on other streets. What to Do About Market Street , published in December 1962, organized Market into five distinct districts, from east to west: In 2013, an updated list of six districts
440-503: A minimum of 1.5-2.5 metres depending on the number of cyclists. Two-way cycle tracks should be a minimum of 2-4 m, depending on the number of cyclists. Cycling by Design covers cycle infrastructure design in Scotland. It specifies a width of minimum width varying from 1.5 to 2.5 metres for one-way tracks and between 2 and 4 metres for two-way tracks. Shared pedestrian tracks should only be used if there are less than 300 cycles per hour at
495-500: A normal road, and can either be a shared route with pedestrians (common in countries such as the United Kingdom ) or be made distinct from both the pavement and general roadway by vertical barriers or elevation differences. In urban planning , cycle tracks are designed to encourage cycling and reduce motor vehicle congestion and pollution, cycling accidents (by alleviating the conflict between motor vehicles and cycles sharing
550-533: A plan which would "put new life into Market Street as a center of Bay Area business, shopping, and entertainment." Halprin and Associates, led by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin , was responsible for "The Look of Market Street" chapter in What to Do About Market Street ; Halprin took a walk from the waterfront to Van Ness to develop his ideas, and realized "the five Market Streets should have five distinctive characters", making suggestions for each district. At
605-491: A specific cycling route over another; thus these different preferences need to be accounted for in order to maximize utilization of new cycling infrastructure. A 2015 study of a street in Toronto , Canada where cycle tracks replaced a painted cycle lane involved a survey of cyclists. Results reported 38% would use other travel modes than cycling before the redevelopment (most of whom would take transit). An improvement to safety
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#1732790650461660-666: A turn toward the north or west each time continuing along the forward direction would present a steeper course than turning. Thus, starting at Market Street, this path avoids all steep areas and creates a route to the bike path in the Panhandle of Golden Gate Park, leading to the main routes through the Park itself. Similar "wiggles" can be found using this method for reading the geography in other hill areas. San Francisco Bike Route 30 follows The Wiggle, with signs from Duboce Avenue westbound (at Market Street or Church Street). In some places,
715-613: Is disputed. Studies generally show an increase in collisions at junctions, especially where cyclists are travelling in the direction opposite to the flow of traffic (e.g. on two-way cycle tracks). Protected intersection designs generally improve safety records over non-protected junction types. The Dutch guidance for cycle traffic specifies that one-way cycle paths should be a minimum width of 2 metres. The LTN 1/20 guidance covers cycle infrastructure design in England and Northern Ireland. LTN 1/20 states that one-way cycle tracks should be
770-489: Is now Divisadero Street near Oak Street and at Market Street from Belcher Street to Reservoir Street. Before Europeans settled in San Francisco, a route approximately following what is now known as "The Wiggle" was used as a way to avoid hills while walking. An Indian village called Chutchui existed in the vicinity of Mission Dolores near the area where The Wiggle meets Market Street. The footpath went toward what
825-759: Is now the Panhandle and then connected to the associated village Petlenuc at the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula near the current site of Crissy Field . When the San Francisco Presidio and the Mission Dolores were founded in 1776, the trail became a horseback connector eventually called "the Old Spanish Trail." In the 19th century, the trail was the commute route of military personnel who lived in
880-465: Is the boundary of two street grids. Streets on its southeast side are parallel or perpendicular to Market Street, while those on the northwest are nine degrees off from the cardinal directions . Market Street is a major transit artery for the city of San Francisco, and has carried in turn horse-drawn streetcars , cable cars , electric streetcars , electric trolleybuses , and diesel buses . Today Muni 's buses, trolleybuses, and heritage streetcars (on
935-467: The F Market historic streetcar line. On September 29, 2009, traffic-calming efforts took effect for a six-week test in which private automobiles would be restricted in travelling east from Sixth Street towards the Ferry Building. All eastbound traffic was encouraged to turn right onto 10th Street and then required to do so at 8th Street. Eastbound traffic entering Market from Seventh Street
990-535: The F Market line) share the street, while below the street the two-level Market Street subway carries Muni Metro and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). While cable cars no longer operate on Market Street, the surviving cable car lines terminate directly adjacent to the street at its intersections with California Street and Powell Street. In 1839, the first street grid was laid in the Mexican trading post of Yerba Buena by Jean Jacques Vioget , largely aligned with
1045-535: The Lower Haight neighborhood toward the Panhandle section of Golden Gate Park. The lower end of the route begins at either end of the Duboce Bikeway in the block of Duboce Avenue just west of Market Street. The elevation is approximately 100 feet (30 m) above sea level. It then moves in a zig-zag toward the northwest along Duboce Avenue, Steiner, Waller, Pierce, Haight, Scott, and Fell Streets to
1100-611: The Preparedness Day Bombing of 1916, the parade of the influenza-masked revelers of the first Armistice Day , the 1934 general strike that paralyzed the ports of the Pacific Coast, and the end of World War II. In the days of the first United Nations conferences, Anthony Eden , Vyacheslav Molotov , Edward Stettinius , and Georges Bidault rode up Market Street, waving to the crowds of hopefuls. On Christmas Eve 1910, opera singer Luisa Tetrazzini sang
1155-634: The San Francisco Giants ' World Series titles were held on Market Street in 2010 , 2012 , and 2014 . [REDACTED] Media related to Market Street (San Francisco) at Wikimedia Commons Cycle track A cycle track or cycleway ( British ) or bikeway ( mainly North American ), sometimes historically referred to as a sidepath , is a separate route for cycles and not motor vehicles. In some cases cycle tracks are also used by other users such as pedestrians and horse riders (see shared-use route ). A cycle track can be next to
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#17327906504611210-622: The Fell and Oak Street Bikeways, which dramatically improved the safety of the route. Fell Street previously had a narrow bicycle lane wedged between parked cars and fast-moving vehicular traffic, while high speed Oak Street had no bicycle facilities at all. The Bikeways connect the calm residential streets of the Lower Haight at Scott Street, to the protected bike path in the Panhandle at Baker Street, by replacing three blocks of parked cars with three blocks of cycle tracks . The project showcased
1265-504: The Market Street RailRoad Company) down the length of Market Street; the two operators each operated their own pair of rail tracks down that thoroughfare, which came to be known as the 'roar of the four'. The two Union Railroad tracks were on the inside and the two San Francisco Municipal Railway tracks were on the outside. In 1892 The Owl Drug Company was established at 1128 Market Street and later grew into
1320-541: The Mission District and worked at the Presidio. In the 1860s, it finally was widened to become a toll road, passable by carriages, and going by the name "Divisadero" or "Devisadero" Street. In the 1870s, a grid of streets was imposed in its place, one retaining the old road's name, across a newly formed neighborhood with all the sandy hills and steep gullies filled or scraped flat. In 2012, construction began on
1375-717: The Panhandle Bikeway, 215 feet (66 m) above sea level. After climbing 50 more feet, the peak of The Wiggle is reached near Stanyan Street at the peninsular drainage divide , i.e., the dividing point between surface water flowing to the San Francisco Bay on the east side and flowing to the Pacific Ocean on the west. Bicyclists can travel The Wiggle between major eastern and central neighborhoods (such as Downtown , SoMa , The Mission District , The Castro ) and major western neighborhoods (including
1430-628: The Panhandle, Haight-Ashbury , Golden Gate Park, and The Richmond and Sunset Districts ). Mint Hill and the hill of Alamo Square on the northeast side are made of underlying serpentine rock, whereas Lone Mountain , Corona Heights , and Buena Vista Hill on the southwest are of the Franciscan chert formation. These hills are the northernmost manifestation of the San Miguel Hills (including Twin Peaks), which themselves comprise
1485-642: The United States, an academic analysis of eight cycle tracks found that they had increased bike traffic on the street by 75 percent within one year of installation. Rider surveys indicated that 10 percent of riders after installation would have chosen a different mode for that trip without the cycle track, and 25 percent said they were biking more in general since the installation of the cycle track. However, scientific research indicates that different groups of cyclists show varying preferences of which aspects of cycling infrastructure are most relevant when choosing
1540-452: The Wiggle, which severely backed up traffic. Protesters called for San Francisco to legalize the practice of bicycles treating stop signs as yield signs . A protest organizer, Morgan Fitzgibbons, said, "The thing you say you want — every cyclist to stop at every stop sign — you really don't want that." The "stop-in" protest, along with 100 cyclist comments at a public meeting, brought a halt to
1595-455: The area around Second and Montgomery, and then by David "Steam Paddy" Hewes ; Hewes purchased the steam shovel (nicknamed "Steam Paddy" as it was reputed to be able to do the work of a dozen Irishmen) that had been brought to San Francisco by Cunningham during the earlier period. The sand removed was used to fill Yerba Buena Cove between Portsmouth Square and Happy Valley at First and Mission Street ; Mission Bay at Fourth and Townsend; and for
1650-465: The cardinal directions, with blocks measuring 412 by 275 feet (126 by 84 m). Yerba Buena was renamed to San Francisco in 1847 after it was captured by United States troops during the Mexican–American War . Market Street, which cuts across the city for three miles (4.8 km) from the waterfront to the hills of Twin Peaks, was laid out originally in an 1847 survey by Jasper O'Farrell ,
1705-549: The city banned private vehicles from turning onto Market Street between Third and Eighth streets. In December 2013, the city launched free Wi-Fi internet access along Market Street. A project called Better Market Street was started under Gavin Newsom 's administration to improve transportation on the corridor for people who walk, use bicycles, or ride public transit. Early efforts included traffic circulations trials in 2009 which disallowed right turns for automobiles on parts of
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1760-515: The city government's commitment to safer pedestrian and bicycle travel ( Vision Zero ), and also demonstrated the political power of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, which had lobbied for it for many years. The Wiggle follows Duboce Avenue westbound, Steiner Street northbound, Waller Street westbound, Pierce Street northbound, Haight Street westbound, Scott Street northbound, and Fell Street westbound. The route makes
1815-585: The city, what was regarded as the abnormal width of the proposed street excited part of the populace, and an indignation meeting was held to protest against the plan as wanton disregard for rights of landowners; and the mob, for such it was, decided for lynch law. A friend warned O'Farrell before the crowd had dispersed. He rode with all haste to North Beach, took a boat for Sausalito, and thence put distance behind him on fast horses in relay until he reached his retreat in Sonoma. He found it discreet to remain some time in
1870-404: The construction of the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad . Over those years, up to 2,500 short tons (2,300 t) of sand were moved per day, clearing approximately 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of sand dunes, some of which had risen up to 60 feet (18 m) above the present-day level of Market Street. Hewes was also granted the right to lay tracks on Market to Beale to carry away the sand he
1925-532: The country before venturing to return to the city. At the time, the Market Street right-of-way was blocked by a sixty-foot sand dune where the Palace Hotel is now (at the intersection with New Montgomery), and a hundred yards further west stood a second sandhill nearly ninety feet tall. The dunes were leveled between 1852–54 and 1859–73, first by James Cunningham, who was responsible for levelling
1980-619: The development of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system in the late 1960s. Construction of the Market Street subway commenced in July 1967. Prolonged disruption to what had traditionally been the social and economic center of the city contributed to the decline of the mid-Market shopping district in later years. On June 4, 1968, voters in San Francisco approved Proposition A, which issued $ 24.5 million in bonds to pay for
2035-414: The diagonally-offset grid south of Market with larger 600-by-400-foot (180 by 120 m) blocks aligned with Mission Street for Happy Valley . Market was laid out to transition between the two competing street grids, parallel to and one block north of Mission. O'Farrell first repaired Vioget's original layout of the settlement centered around Portsmouth Square , and then established Market Street as
2090-603: The highly ornamental poles to permit the much-opposed overhead trolley wires. Shortly after voters approved the creation of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District in 1962, the report What to Do About Market Street was published by the San Francisco Planning and Urban Renewal Association (SPUR). A group of businessmen and property owners had commissioned SPUR to lead a team of city planners, designers, and real estate experts to form
2145-401: The most recent iteration of the project began implementation in 2020 under Mayor London Breed 's administration. The project initially proposed three alternative designs for Market Street: two that would provide transit priority and improved bicycle infrastructure in the form of raised cycle tracks , and one that would separate bicycle infrastructure onto Mission Street instead. In 2018,
2200-629: The northeastern edge of the city and runs southwest through downtown, passing the Civic Center and the Castro District , to the intersection with Portola Drive in the Twin Peaks neighborhood. Beyond this point, the roadway continues into the southwestern quadrant of San Francisco. Portola Drive extends south to the intersection of St. Francis Boulevard and Sloat Boulevard, where it continues as Junipero Serra Boulevard . Market Street
2255-506: The northern tip of the Santa Cruz Mountains . Over thousands of years, the gentle valley bottom was formed through a process of gradual erosion of the soft, crumbly serpentine. This flat creek bed contained, until roads and other construction obliterated them, the intermittent stream of the creek itself and two ponds. As with all such flat valleys, the location of ponds tended to shift, but they were generally located at what
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2310-540: The police crackdown at the time, but was unsuccessful in permanently changing city policy after a proposed City ordinance by Supervisor John Avalos to legalize bicyclists treating stop signs as yield signs was vetoed by Mayor Ed Lee . Twice a year, the Steiner Street segment of The Wiggle closes to cars for Wiggle Fest, a four hour neighborhood street fair that doubles as a demonstration of what The Wiggle could be if cars were excluded. In April 2024, shortly after
2365-572: The project is expected to cost at least $ 500 million and also include repaving the sidewalk and reconstructing sewer and utility lines under the street. In March 2019, a draft environmental impact report (EIR) for the project was released, with a final approval for the EIR expected later in 2019. The full plan was approved by the city in October 2019, including a short-term implementation plan that would disallow private automobiles on most of Market Street and
2420-414: The project was redesigned with a new alternative that would keep the cycle tracks on Market Street but would implement them as sidewalk-level bicycle lanes. The project would also reconfigure the transit boarding islands for buses and streetcars with two sets of boarding islands: a set on the inside for rapid service with larger stop spacing, and a set on the outside for local service. If implemented fully,
2475-400: The reconstruction and improvement of Market Street to follow the completion of the double-decked subway. In 1980, Muni's surface operations were partially routed underground with full service changes occurring in 1982. While there were initially no plans to retain the surface tracks, several Historic Trolley Festivals in 1980s had proven popular enough to reinstate operations in the form of
2530-479: The same road space) and general confusion and inconvenience for road users. Cycle tracks may be one-way or two-way, and may be at road level, at sidewalk level, or at an intermediate level. When located alongside normal roads, they usually have some separation from motor traffic in the form of bollards, car parking, barriers or boulevards. Barriers may include curbs, concrete berms, posts, planting/median strips, walls, trenches, or fences. They are often accompanied by
2585-719: The same time, the City Planning department commissioned the architecture firm led by Mario Ciampi to create the Downtown Plan , which was published in 1963 and recommended that Market be limited to buses and emergency vehicles; it also called for extending the Central Freeway under Van Ness and the downtown area via a new tunnel. The limited-access Market would extend all the way from The Embarcadero to Van Ness. The San Francisco Municipal Railway streetcars were moved underground as Muni Metro in concert with
2640-457: The signs also read "The Wiggle." In 2011, sharrows were painted on top of green pavement marking the route, making navigation easier for cyclists and alerting drivers to the presence of cyclists. In 2015, the Wiggle was the site of a "stop-in" protest in response to a police crackdown on bicycles rolling stop signs. Hundreds of cyclists maliciously complied with the law by taking turns coming to complete, foot-down stops at every stop sign along
2695-404: The street. With Gavin Newsom stepping down as mayor in 2011, Mayor Ed Lee continued planning for Better Market Street and announced a series of public workshops. Originally, the street redesign was intended to be implemented around 2013-2014 when Market Street was scheduled to be repaved. By 2013 the project had been delayed twice; first to 2015 and subsequently to 2017. After further delays,
2750-415: The widest street in town: 120 feet (37 m) between property lines. However, the width of Market also aroused the ire of property owners, who felt the new street was excessively wide and potentially encroached on their holdings; they made preparations to lynch O'Farrell. In Forgotten Pioneers , T. F. Prendergast recounts: When the engineer had completed his map of Market Street and the southern part of
2805-583: Was clearing. The Hewes Steam Paddy line carried 150 short tons (140 t) of sand per 18-car load, with trains running every half-hour. The first horsecar -powered railway line to open in San Francisco commenced running down the thoroughfare on July 4, 1860, operating under the Market Street Railroad Company . By 1918 Muni was in direct competition with the United Railroads of San Francisco (the successor company to
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#17327906504612860-582: Was published by the Better Market Street initiative. The list extends the western boundary to Octavia and largely follows the boundaries laid out in 1962: Central Market Community Benefit District extends from Fifth to Ninth Streets, and is considered part of either the "Mid Market" or " South of Market " areas. Market Street parades have long marked global events, such as the Panama–Pacific International Exposition ,
2915-454: Was required to exit Market at Sixth. These efforts followed recent urban planning trends seeking to make streets safer and more pleasant. Drivers failing to comply faced fines. These changes were later made permanent. Planning efforts began in 2012 to ban private automobiles from Market Street altogether between Franklin and Steuart streets, in order to provide a better environment for transit, cyclists, and pedestrians. On August 11, 2015,
2970-625: Was temporarily rerouted to Fillmore Street, and repairs to the tracks on Market were underway by April 22. Willis Polk designed the Path of Gold Street Lamps in 1908 for United Railways’ trolley poles with street lights. The tops were designed in 1916 by sculptor Leo Lentelli and engineer Walter D'Arcy Ryan . The Winning of the West bases were designed by sculptor Arthur Putnam and feature three historical subjects: covered wagons, mountain lions, and alternating prospectors and Indians. The City required
3025-500: Was the most commonly cited reason. Recent studies generally affirm that segregated cycle tracks have a better safety record between intersections than cycling on major roads in traffic. The increase in cycling caused by cycle tracks may lead to a "safety in numbers" effect though some contributors caution against this hypothesis. Older studies tended to come to negative conclusions about mid-block cycle track safety. The implications for road safety of cycle tracks at intersections
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