The previous post on Route 11 running on 7th Street southbound and 8th Street northbound, and light rail Gold Line for six stations and Blue Line for three stations on these same streets, reminds us the idea of making 7th and 8th into transit streets. We wrote about that years ago (2017): Transit Streets on 7th & 8th and Transit streets on 7th & 8th, revised. We will note that these posts have stood the test of time, but that nothing has happened on those two streets to implement either STAR’s ideas of the city’s plans.
Light rail should not run in general travel lanes. Interference by private motor vehicles always slows light rail somewhat, and sometime very much. Dan has watched light rail trains northbound on 8th Street stuck behind illegally parked private motor vehicles for about 10 minutes, multiple times. We have heard reports from people who work downtown, and SacRT staff, that this is not uncommon. Even when there is not actual blockage, there is slowing. We were unaware until recently that there have been a number of collisions between private motor vehicles exiting garages, driveways and alleys, and light rail trains. A transit street design would not necessarily prevent all such collisions, but would greatly reduce them.
The question remains about how to accommodate bicyclists on these two streets. Where bus traffic is low to moderate, many cities create shared bus and bike lanes. Neither mode is completely happy, but they do get along better than with private motor vehicles and their unskilled drivers. The couplet of 9th and 10th Streets provides a nearby solution for bicyclists traveling north-south. The quality of the separated bikeways on 9th and 10th varies, but could be improved. But it does not solve the issue of easy bicyclist access to the Golden One Center/DOCO, which is very weak.
STAR again proposes that 7th and 8th be designated and re-designed as transit streets. The light rail tracks on the left hand side of the street should be exclusive, not shared with private motor vehicles. Wherever possible, the light rail tracks should be protected from encroachment by hard curbs. The bus-only, or bus-and-bike, lane on the right should also be exclusive, not to be used by private motor vehicles except to access on-street parking. We would expect that on-street parking would continue but be reduced.
On 7th Street southbound, the dedicated light rail lane would extend from H Street to O Street, and the dedicated bus lane from F Street to T Street. On 8th Street northbound, the dedicated light rail lane would extend from O Street to H Street, and the dedicated bus lane from T Street to G Street. The details at the south end would depend on whether Route 11 continues to Land Park and City College Station, as it does currently, or ends at Broadway, or turns north again at Q Street.
Creating dedicated light rail and bus lanes on 7th and 8th does not preclude them being changed to two-way streets, but it would probably make sense to leave them as one-way, though one-way streets are less safe.
The Streetmix diagram in the original post seems to have been lost, so we recreated it, below. Again, the measurements of the total street width and the individual elements are not exact, but the diagram provides the correct impression.
Sacramento Transit Advocates and Riders (STAR) 