Better Market Street detour ➡️ fixing Folsom

Construction on Market Street for the watered-down Better Market Street project began in February 2023. The current Better Market Street plan does not reflect the transformative changes we fought for for over a decade and won in 2019. Due to budget constraints, in 2021, several improvements were cut from the plan, including the sidewalk-level bike lanes and transit-first design. We rallied our members and other organizations to ask the city to restrengthen the project, but the funding did not come through. 

We continue to press the City to prioritize the safety of people biking on Market. Over the last year, we have been working with the Department of Public Works (DPW) to make sure any construction-related bike detours are safe and accessible. 

One of those detours is coming up, and we are asking for your help to make sure that detour is safe. From October 14 to October 28, 2023, Market Street will be completely shut down between 5th St and 8th St. There will still be sidewalk access and you can cross Market at each intersection, but you will not be able to bike down Market between those blocks. Buses will also be detoured off of Market. 

You can find details on the detours on the DPW website, and we have included a summary and map at the bottom of this post. 

The primary detour route for people riding eastbound on Market (toward the Embarcadero) will be Folsom Street. The Folsom bike lane is in very poor condition, with many potholes, cracks and faded paint. We urged DPW to do some spot treatments on Folsom months ago when the construction began. Since then, we have seen little change in the condition of the bike lane. 

Folsom needs to be up to standards for the volume of bicycle traffic it will be receiving throughout all of construction and especially during the complete shut down. 

Join us in calling attention to the issue and help us fix the Folsom bike lane by reporting any potholes or faded paint to DPW through the 311 app. 

There will be a few more complete shutdowns throughout the remainder of construction and we will continue to keep you informed and involved. 

Summary of the detours:

DPW asks for eastbound bikes to detour right off Market by 11th, 10th or 8th Street then left onto Folsom. Continue on Folsom until 2nd Street, turn left onto 2nd and continue to Market. We recommend turning off Market at 11th or 8th Street. 

For westbound bikes, DPW asks people biking to detour off of Market Street onto Turk, then turn left onto Polk and continue to Market. Another detour option will be to take Howard St in SOMA.

You can also walk your bike on the sidewalk on Market Street in either direction. Pedestrian sidewalk access will not be impaired at all during this process.