Final Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration BART Market Street Canopies and Escalators Modernization Project State Clearinghouse Number 2018042081 San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District June 2018 Final Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration BART Market Street Canopies and Escalators Modernization Project State Clearinghouse Number 2018042081 Prepared for San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 300 Lakeside Drive, 21st floor Oakland, CA 94612 Prepared by AECOM 300 Lakeside Drive, Suite 400 Oakland, CA 94612 June 2018 Introduction The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) is acting as the Lead Agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for the BART Market Street Canopies and Escalators Modernization Project (proposed project). BART is working in cooperation with the City and County of San Francisco to install canopy covers over the majority of the entrances/exits at the four downtown San Francisco BART/Muni stations (Embarcadero, Montgomery Street, Powell Street, and Civic Center/UN Plaza), as well as replace/refurbish existing street-level escalators. On April 30, 2018, BART published a Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) which analyzed potential environmental impacts associated with the proposed project. The Draft IS/MND was available for a 30-day public review period from April 30, 2018 to May 30, 2018 pursuant to Section 15073 of the State CEQA Guidelines. The Notice of Availability and Notice of Intent (NOA/NOI) to adopt the IS/MND was posted with the City and County of San Francisco Clerk and the State Clearinghouse, mailed to all residents and businesses within ¼-mile of the project site, emailed to the project’s listserv of relevant stakeholders and interested people, made available on the BART website, and provided for public review at the San Francisco Main Library at Civic Center. A public meeting was held on May 16, 2018 in the Latino/Hispanic Community Room in the San Francisco Main Library from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to provide the public an opportunity to learn more about the project, discuss project features with project staff, and collect public comments on the Draft IS/MND. No oral comments were received at the public meeting. The transcript of the meeting is included below under Comments and Responses. This Final MND for the proposed project has been prepared in compliance with CEQA and includes the following information: • A copy of each public comment letter received during the public review period and a response to each substantive issue raised. • A Final IS/MND including edits to provide clarification or additional detail made in response to comments. In this Final IS/MND, new or revised text is shown with underline for additions and strikethrough for deletions. This document constitutes the proposed Final MND for the proposed project. The BART Board of Directors will consider the proposed Final MND, including the responses to comments, and may adopt the proposed Final MND if it finds, on the basis of the whole record before it, that there is no substantial evidence that the proposed project will have a significant effect on the environment. BART Market Street Canopies and Escalators Modernization Project Page i-1 Final Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration June 2018 Comments and Responses Comments Received on the Draft IS/MND This section includes all comments received on the Draft IS/MND. Comment letters and their associated commenters are listed in Table A. Comments within each comment letter are bracketed by topic and assigned a number in the margin. No oral comments were received at the public meeting. Table A. Comments Received on Draft IS/MND Letter # Commenter Date 1 Ana Noles May 7, 2018 2 San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) May 30, 2018 3 David Pilpel May 30, 2018 4 Governor’s Office of Planning and Research May 30, 2018 Responses to Comments This section contains responses for each comment identified in the comment letters. Each response provides a response to the comment and identifies if revisions to the Draft IS/MND are required or if revisions have been made for clarification. The CEQA Guidelines do not require written responses to comments received on an MND; however, BART has reviewed the comments received and has prepared these responses to provide full information to the decision-makers and the public. BART Market Street Canopies and Escalators Modernization Project Page i-2 Final Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration June 2018 Comment Letter 1: Ana Noles BART Market Street Canopies and Escalators Modernization Project Page i-3 Final Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration June 2018 Response to Comment Letter 1: Ana Noles Response to Comment 1.1 Comment noted. This comment states the commenter’s support of the proposed project and does not concern the adequacy of the Draft IS/MND. No revisions to the Draft IS/MND are necessary. BART Market Street Canopies and Escalators Modernization Project Page i-4 Final Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration June 2018 Comment Letter 2: SFMTA BART Market Street Canopies and Escalators Modernization Project Page i-5 Final Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration June 2018 Response to Comment Letter 2: SFMTA Response to Comment 2.1 SFMTA has expressed concerns that the canopies proposed for the station entrances/exits on the near-side of a select number of intersections and in close proximity to existing crosswalks may result in reduced driver visibility of near-side traffic signals and impact a driver’s view of pedestrians preparing to step into the crosswalk. SFMTA has also expressed concerns that the overhang of the proposed canopy roofs that are in close proximity to existing crosswalks on the near-side of intersections may interfere with the visibility of future near-side signals planned as part of the Better Market Street project, as well as interfere with pedestrian’s views of oncoming traffic. The proposed canopies that were identified by SFMTA during their review of the 35% design plans as having potential impacts are shown in Table B. BART Market Street Canopies and Escalators Modernization Project Page i-6 Final Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration June 2018 Table B. Station Entrance/Exit Escalator and Canopy Count Planned Future Better Distance Market to Existing Street Canopy Side of Crosswalk Nearside Nearside Number Station Intersection Street (Feet)1 Signal? Signal? 2 Spear Street South 45 No Yes 3 Davis Street North 65 No Yes Embarcadero 4 Main Street South 53 No Yes 6 Beale Street South 54 No Yes Sansome Street/ 7 West 35 No N/A Sutter Street Montgomery Pedestrian Crosswalk 8 South 70 No Yes Street to Sutter Street 12 New Montgomery Street South 6 Yes Yes Pedestrian Crossing 15 th South 54 No Yes Midblock before 4 Street Powell Pedestrian Crossing 16 South 55 No Yes Street Midblock to Powell Street 17 5th Street South 19 Yes Yes Civic Center/ Hyde Street/ 21 North 17 No Yes UN Plaza Grove Street Source: STV, Inc., 2018 Note: 1. Distance from closest canopy enclosure element to nearside of crosswalk. In order to assess SFMTA’s concerns, a signal visibility assessment is being conducted as part of the BART Market Street Canopies and Escalators Modernization Project. The plans for the future Better Market Street project are still under development; as the plans for the Better Market Street project progress, the proposed canopies will be re-assessed (if necessary) for potential signal and pedestrian visibility conflicts. BART Market Street Canopies and Escalators Modernization Project Page i-7 Final Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration June 2018 Currently, the Better Market Street project proposes to widen existing sidewalks thereby placing near-side signals further away from the proposed canopies resulting in improved sight lines for both signal and pedestrian visibility. Signal Visibility Assessment Signal visibility requirements are defined in the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) 2014 Edition Revision 3 (March 9, 2018). The MUTCD requires a minimum of two signal faces be provided for the major movement on an approach to an intersection. Signal heads placed in accordance with the MUTCD should be visible to all motorists approaching the intersection from a minimum distance as prescribed by Table 4D-1 of the MUTCD (reproduced as Table C below). In the case of Market Street, the 85th percentile speed is set as 25 mile per hour (mph) with a minimum sight distance of 215 feet for two primary signal faces. There is also a "cone of vision" requirement that states that at least one traffic signal must be not less than 40 feet beyond the stop line and not greater than 150 feet from the stop line and within a 40-degree cone of vision centered on the center of the approach lanes. Table C. Station Entrance/Exit Escalator and Canopy Count 85th Percentile Speed Minimum Sight Distance (mph) (feet) 20 175 25 215 30 270 35 325 40 390 45 460 50 540 55 625 60 715 Source: Table 4D-1, California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) 2014 Edition Revision 3 (March 9, 2018). Note: Shading indicates minimum sight distance for Market Street BART Market Street Canopies and Escalators Modernization Project Page i-8 Final Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration June 2018 Potential Issues with Proposed Canopies and Primary Signal Faces Of the eleven proposed canopies identified in Table B, eight are in close proximity to intersections on the approach side. The signal visibility assessment determined that all but one has the required two overhead primary signal faces where the canopies would not impair the visible sight distance at 215 feet. Montgomery Street Station canopy #7, proposed for the intersection of Sansome Street and Sutter Street, is the exception. The primary overhead signal (far right side) for southbound Sansome Street is not centered on the approach lane, but offset to the west.