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Circulation, Transportation, and Parking
Pedestrian
On the core campus, the University has established a pedestrian-oriented vehicle-free zone within the central area of the campus.
This zone is defined by barrier gates at vehicle boundaries to the pedestrian zone, as well as outstanding landscaping that greatly
enhances pedestrian amenity within the central core of the campus. The landscaping can be extended to other areas of the greater
campus, including the University Park North and University Park South areas. Landscaping can also be used for traffic calming,
particularly along Holloway.
To further enhance pedestrian amenity within the core campus, there is a need for more places to sit, eat, and gather. Locating
these amenities along pedestrian pathways, near building entrances, shuttle/transit stops and potential gathering places can promote
campus interaction and activity.
Pedestrian connections and conditions outside of the main campus core are less than favorable, with poor pedestrian safety along
arterial roads with heavy traffic. In the vicinity of campus, Winston Drive and 19th Avenue experienced the most reported pedestrian
and bicycle collisions during 2004-2005. Excessive lane widths on 19th Avenue, Lake Merced Boulevard, Buckingham Drive, 20th
Avenue (through Stonestown), Font Boulevard and North and South State Drive also reduce pedestrian safety and amenity by
encouraging vehicles to travel faster and making pedestrian movements more difficult.
Heavy traffic and high vehicular speeds also create severance impacts and reduce pedestrian connectivity between the University
and surrounding areas. For example, 19th Avenue creates a pedestrian barrier due to large volumes of high-speed traffic, fencing,
long blocks, and lack of mid-block crossings. Pedestrian connectivity between the campus and neighboring areas, including University
Park North and University Park South, Stonestown, and Ocean Avenue retail outlets can be improved with attractive paths and removal
of barriers such as carports and fencing. Currently, access between the main campus and University Park North is impermeable due
to a lack of access streets, a steep escarpment on the campus side and a continuous, concrete brick carport wall on the University
Park North side of the boundary. Removal of this barrier and installation of steps or accessways would allow the campus to embrace
this newly acquired area, enhance visual amenity within University Park North, improve neighborhood pedestrian connectivity, and
facilitate campus access to a range of residential locations and key commercial destinations to the north.
To access the main campus, most people approaching campus from the northwest must pass through lots 19 and 20 in order to reach
the main campus. The discontinuous pedestrian pathway between the garage and baseball field forces pedestrians to walk through the
garage itself. In contrast to its lakeside setting, this route is aesthetically unpleasant. Furthermore, there is an absence of any safe,
direct, clearly marked, or accessible pedestrian pathways through the garage.
Although most campus pedestrian routes are accessible, there are deficiencies in paths at a number of locations throughout
campus—around the parking garage, to playfields, from Winston Drive to the Corporation Yard / Lakeview Center, around the Fine Arts
Building, at the HSS courtyard, between Science and HSS, and between Mary Park Hall and Mary Ward Hall. These areas either are
too steep to meet ADA requirements or are hazardous. The main entrances to several major buildings are not wheel-chair accessible,
such as HSS, Business, Student Center, Gymnasium, Science, and Hensill Hall. In these cases, access is provided at an alternative
building entrance.
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