Walter U Lum Place Public Space Study

Introduction

The Walter U Lum Place Public Space Study was initiated in 2023 at the request of former Transportation Authority Board Member Aaron Peskin (District 3) and funded through the San Francisco County Transportation Authority’s Neighborhood Program. Transportation Authority staff collaborated with the Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC), the San Francisco Department of Public Works (SFPW), and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) on this study.

The study examined various scenarios for a community-first Walter U Lum Place and moved forward recommendations from the Portsmouth Square Community-Based Transportation Plan (2020) to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment on Walter U Lum Place. The study presents a design recommendation for the alleyway that responds to community priorities.

1.1 Study Area and Existing Planning Efforts

Walter U Lum was an activist and was the first Chinese American to have a street named after him. Walter U Lum Place is a one-block connection between Washington Street and Clay Street that borders the west side of Portsmouth Square in Chinatown, providing access to the park through entrances at the corners of the east side of the alleyway (Figure 1-1). The alleyway hosts the street carnival during the Chinese New Year’s celebration. The alleyway is also used by vehicles to access Portsmouth Square Garage, which is located on Kearny Street between Washington Street and Clay Street. There are a number of restaurants and local businesses located on the alleyway, as well as the Chinese Congregational Church and office space for the non-profit organization, Chinese for Affirmative Action.

Figure 1-1. Location of Walter U Lum Place in Chinatown

1.2 Related Projects

The study builds on previous studies of Chinatown alleyways and Portsmouth Square and considers other major projects in Chinatown that will bring significant changes to the neighborhood. Below is a summary of the main takeaways for related studies and projects.

Chinatown Alleyways Project, led by SFPW in the 1990s. This project inventoried 41 alleyways within Chinatown, highlighting alleyways as community assets, places for recreation and gathering, and pedestrian walkways. The report found that Walter U Lum Place is wider than most other alleyways in Chinatown and is unique due to its proximity to Portsmouth Square. The report recommended better enforcement to monitor illegal parking that could potentially block the alley.

Portsmouth Square Area Existing Conditions and Feasibility Report, completed by the San Francisco Planning Department and the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department (RPD) in 2014. The report assesses existing conditions and identifies key issues to inform the future re-imagining of the park. The report identifies the opportunity to better integrate Walter U Lum Place with Portsmouth Square and provide more public space opportunities.

Portsmouth Square Community Based Transportation Plan, completed by SFCTA in 2020. The project identified solutions to improve transportation safety and circulation around Portsmouth Square and access to Chinatown as a whole. The report found that Walter U Lum Place serves an important function for drivers accessing Portsmouth Square Garage. Although Walter U Lum Place borders Portsmouth Square, pedestrian access to the park is hindered by steep grades between the park and the street. The report recommended widening sidewalks on Walter U Lum Place and creating a raised speed table to make the alleyway more of a shared space with low speeds.

Portsmouth Square Improvement Project, led by RPD. The Portsmouth Square Improvement Project is a complete renovation of the existing park. Planning for the project began in 2017, with construction expected to start in late 2025 and complete in late 2027. On Walter U Lum Place, the project will widen the sidewalk on the east side of the alleyway, create a new mid-block entrance to the park, and add a raised crosswalk at the Clay Street corner.

1.3 Community Engagement Approach

Community engagement was key to developing a community-first design concept for Walter U Lum Place. Transportation Authority staff collaborated with CCDC to conduct two phases of community engagement. Both rounds of engagement targeted Chinatown residents and users of Walter U Lum Place, including merchants and business owners in the alleyway. CCDC staff also organized and convened a seven-member steering committee composed of merchant and organizational stakeholders to provide feedback on the community engagement approach, outreach findings, design alternatives, final recommendation, implementation plan, and next steps. The steering committee met five times at major milestones throughout the study. The project team held additional one on one meetings for steering committee members as needed.

Round 1 of community engagement was focused on: 1) understanding how Chinatown residents, visitors, workers, and students use Walter U Lum Place, and 2) gathering feedback on community goals for the project, key evaluation metrics, and initial preference for design elements. Round 1 also engaged with merchants to inform them of the project, hear their initial concerns about using the alleyway, and understand their needs. Engagement with Chinatown residents, visitors, workers, and students was conducted via an online and paper survey and presentations at community meetings. Engagement with merchants was conducted via a site walk on Walter U Lum Place followed by a focus group discussion. The summary and findings from this round of engagement are presented in Section 3.1.

Round 2 of community engagement collected feedback on three draft designs developed by SFPW. Engagement with Chinatown residents, visitors, workers, and students was conducted via two open house events, pop ups on Walter U Lum Place, presentations at community meetings, and an online survey. Engagement with merchants was conducted via two focus group discussions. The summary and findings of this round of engagement are presented in Section 4.3.

Existing Conditions and Travel Patterns

The project team conducted an existing conditions analysis for Walter U Lum Place with multimodal counts, site observations, and feedback from community engagement. This section presents analysis of pedestrian, vehicle, and loading behavior and summarizes findings on travel patterns and community priorities from the first round of community engagement.

2.1 Existing Conditions

Walter U Lum Place is a one-block alley connection between Washington Street and Clay Street. The street is about 20 feet wide, with a 4.5 ft wide mid-block loading zone that cuts into the western sidewalk and accommodates about six vehicles. There is a steep cross slope from the west side of the street to the east side, with a grade of almost 10% on both ends of the block, and between 3 and 8% mid-block.

Aerial, satellite photo of Portsmouth Square. There are labels for Washington Street, north of the park, Kearny Street to the east, Clay Street to the south, and Walter U Lum Place to the west. On the left side of Walter U Lum Place, there is a cut-in loading zone occupied by six vehicles. At the intersection of Walter U Lum Place and Clay Street, on the southwest corner of Portsmouth Square, there are two left turn lanes turning onto Clay Street. The lane closest to the park on Clay Street is labeled “Garage only lane”. The entrance to Portsmouth Square Garage is labeled at about the halfway point on Kearny Street. — Figure 2-1. Aerial view of Portsmouth Square and Walter U Lum Place.

The sidewalk on the eastern side is currently about 4.5 feet wide and will be widened to 8.5 feet in the Portsmouth Square renovation. The sidewalk on the western side is about 11.5 feet wide at the widest point and 6.75 feet wide at the mid-block cut-in loading zone. There are also steep cross slopes on the western sidewalk, with grades of about 6% on either end of the block and about 2% mid-block.

There are two southbound left turn lanes at the corner of Walter U Lum Place and Clay Street and a marked crosswalk at this intersection. The eastern turn lane feeds into a “garage only” lane with access to Portsmouth Square Garage and the western turn lane merges into through traffic on Clay Street. The crossing at Walter U Lum Place and Washington Street is unmarked. The Portsmouth Square renovation (expected completion late 2027) will add a raised crosswalk at Walter U Lum Place and Clay Street.

At the time of analysis, the pavement condition of the street was poor. The street received a Paving Condition Index (PCI) score of 11 out of 100 in the last survey, conducted in October 2023. Based on historical PCI data, the last time the street was paved was likely prior to the 1990s. Most recently, SFPW repaved the street in March 2025.

A view of the street surface on Walter U Lum Place. The pavement is cracked in many places and littered with leaves, paper, and plastic bags. There are four cars parked in the loading zone in the background. — Figure 2-2. Example of poor paving condition prior to street repaving in March 2025. Photo taken February 2025

2.2 Data Collection and Evaluation

SFMTA conducted vehicle counts over one week in June 2024 and multimodal (pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicle) counts and parking/ loading analysis over one weekday and one weekend day in September 2024. The weekend day in September was during the Autumn Moon Festival in Chinatown, and represents a particularly high visitation day in Chinatown. The project team also looked at data from the Portsmouth Square Garage over the same time period, which included the number of vehicles in the garage by hour and by day.

Vehicle counts in June 2024 found that approximately 500 vehicles per day used Walter U Lum Place and average vehicle speeds were around 10 mph. For comparison, other alleyways in Chinatown (e.g., Waverly Place) see about 100 vehicles per day and Clay Street sees about 200 vehicles per hour during weekday peak hours. This indicates that Walter U Lum Place has higher vehicle usage than the typical Chinatown alleyway, but much less traffic compared to other main streets in Chinatown.

Based on garage vehicle counts, the project team found that on a typical weekday during our study period, Portsmouth Square Garage reached capacity (456 parking spaces) between 12 and 1 pm and reached over 80% occupancy between 11 am and 3 pm. During the Autumn Moon Festival, the garage was at maximum occupancy from 11 am to 4 pm and reached over 80% occupancy from 10 am to 8 pm. Many vehicles use Walter U Lum Place to access the garage, but not all vehicles on Walter U Lum Place are going to the garage. On Saturday morning, a little more than half of the vehicles on Walter U Lum Place turned to the “garage only” lane on Clay Street, while the remaining vehicles continued straight on Clay. On Saturday evening, one-third of vehicles on Walter U Lum Place traveled to the garage, with the remaining two-thirds of vehicles continuing straight on Clay.

The project team observed that a high number of pedestrians use Walter U Lum Place and cross at both the Clay Street and Washington Street corners. On a typical weekday during lunchtime (11 am – 12 pm), approximately 350 pedestrians crossed Walter U Lum at Clay Street and over 800 pedestrians crossed Walter U Lum at Washington Street. The highest pedestrian traffic was observed during the Autumn Moon Festival on Saturday from 10:30 – 11:30 am. During this time, almost 700 pedestrians crossed at Clay Street and 1,500 crossed at Washington Street.

The project team also observed a high incidence of double parking (i.e., parking in the travel lane next to a parked vehicle or parking at a red curb). On both the weekday and weekend day in September, double parking was observed close to 100% of the time. The purpose of double parking varied by time of day: there was more goods loading in the morning, passenger loading during the Autumn Moon Festival and weekday evenings, and primarily parking in the evenings. The average dwell time of double parked vehicles was between 10 and 20 minutes, except weekdays from 8 – 9 am when the average duration was 60 minutes. This was likely due to goods loading/unloading at the wholesale grocer on Walter U Lum Place.

The project team observed that most of the vehicles in the loading zone are parked for multiple hours, rather than vehicles that are stopping briefly for goods or passenger loading. As a result of the improper use of the loading zone for parking, vehicles that need to stop for loading purposes are forced to park in the second travel lane or look for spaces on nearby streets.

Based on the pedestrian, vehicle, and loading behavior, the project team determined that the second turn lane at Clay Street and the informal “second lane” on Walter U Lum Place often is not being used for circulation. This “lane” closest to the west side sidewalk is primarily used for parking and loading and is blocked close to 100% of the time.

A view of Walter U Lum Place showing a full view of the street. There is a large, green box truck double parked in the street with the cargo area open. The loading zone to the right of the box truck is fully occupied by parked vehicles. A white sedan passes the box truck on the left side, using the remaining open space in the street. There is a person walking on the sidewalk to the left of the sedan. — Figure 2-3. Example of box truck loading on Walter U Lum Place. Photo from Saturday, September 14, 2024.

Community Needs and Priorities

3.1 Community Engagement Round 1

Round 1 of community engagement was focused on: 1) understanding how Chinatown residents, visitors, workers, and students use Walter U Lum Place, and 2) gathering feedback on community goals for the project, key evaluation metrics, and initial preference for design elements.

The first round of community engagement consisted of an online survey for community members and a combined focus group and site walk with local merchants. The survey and in-person events were conducted in both English and Cantonese. The survey was distributed between June and July 2024 via WeChat, email lists, flyers, and in-person at community meetings. Over the same time period, project staff presented on the project and shared the survey at meetings with the Single Room Occupancy (SRO) Families United Collaborative and the Community Tenants Association. The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department also shared the survey at a Portsmouth Square community meeting in July 2024.

A community meeting with SRO Families. Members are seated around tables in a classroom-like setting. Two presenters stand in front of a screen, discussing a project purpose and goals, with text displayed in both English and Chinese. The room is decorated with red paper lanterns and traditional ornaments. Attendees, some wearing face masks, listen attentively and take notes. — Figure 3-1. Project staff presenting at SRO (Single Room Occupancy) Families meeting, June 2024

A community meeting attended by a large group of seniors, many of whom are wearing face masks. The audience is seated in rows of chairs in a spacious room, with some attendees sitting on tiered steps in the back. A speaker, seen from behind, stands at a podium addressing the crowd. Most attendees are holding a paper version of the outreach survey. — Figure 3-2. Project staff presenting at Community Tenants Association (CTA) group meeting, July 2024

Project staff also conducted a site walk on Walter U Lum Place and focus group discussion in June 2024. Focus group attendees included three merchants with storefronts on the alleyway and a board member of the Portsmouth Square Garage. Focus group participants were compensated with a $50 gift card.

3.2 Survey Demographics

A total of 223 community members responded to the survey. The majority of respondents were Chinatown residents (58%). There was a small number of respondents who said they were churchgoers (7%) and users of Portsmouth Square Garage (6%).

About three-quarters of survey respondents identified as female and 64% were over 65 (Figure 3-3). In comparison, about 30% of Chinatown residents are over 65 and 53% are female (2022 American Community Survey Five-Year Estimates). The disproportionate number of senior responses is a result of the project team presenting to the CTA Action Group, a primarily senior organization. Youth were underrepresented in the survey, with only 8% of respondents under 18.

Although seniors and female respondents are overrepresented in the survey, the study team analyzed the responses of these groups separately and found only slight differences.

A graph showing the age distribution of survey respondents. Almost two-thirds of all survey respondents were over the age of 65. 8% of respondents were under the age of 18, 3% were 18 – 24, 4% were 25 – 34, 8% were 35 – 44, 6% were 45 – 54, 4% were 55 – 64, 64% were over 65, 11% selected prefer not to say. — Figure 3-3. Age of survey respondents

The survey also asked respondents about their annual household income. More than half of respondents left this question blank or selected “prefer not to say.” Of the respondents who did answer, 43% had an annual household income of less than $50,000 (Figure 3-4).

A graph showing the annual household income of survey respondents. 43% of respondents earn less than $50,000 per year, 36% earn between $50,000 and $99,999, and 21% earn over $100,000. — Figure 3-4. Annual household income of survey respondents

3.3 Travel Patterns on Walter U Lum Place

Survey respondents were asked about their travel patterns on Walter U Lum Place, including how often they used the alleyway and why, and what type of transportation they used to get there.

Survey respondents were evenly split between those who rarely or never used the alleyway (i.e., a few times a year or less), those who were occasional users (i.e., a few times per month), and frequent users (i.e., more than a few times per week) (Figure 3-5). Among the 13% of respondents who said they never use the alleyway, 38% said it is because they do not go to destinations on Walter U Lum Place, 34% cited personal safety concerns (e.g., crime) and 28% cited traffic safety concerns for people who walk or bike.

A graph showing survey responses to the question, “About how often do you use Walter U Lum Place?” 20% of respondents use Walter U Lum Place a few times a year, 35% use it a few times per month, 22% use it a few times per week, 9% use it every day or almost every day, 1% use it multiple times per day, 13% have never used the alleyway. — Figure 3-5. Responses to “About how often do you use Walter U Lum Place?”

The most common reason for using the alleyway was to go to Portsmouth Square (Figure 3-6). One-third of respondents also said they go to destinations on Walter U Lum, such as restaurants or the church, and 28% of respondents use the alleyway as a “pass through” on the way to or from other destinations. About a quarter of respondents also use the alleyway as a place to relax outside or socialize with friends and family.

The majority of survey respondents walk to get to Walter U Lum Place (77%), 36% take public transit, and only 11% drive. Although the alleyway is commonly used for cars passing through to get to Portsmouth Square Garage, 87% of respondents who used the alleyway as a “pass through” said that they walked. In comparison, 24% of those passing through say they are driving.

A bar chart showing survey responses to the question. “For what purposes do you use Walter U Lum Place? Please select all that apply.” 64% of respondents use the alleyway to go to Portsmouth Square, 33% use it to go to destinations on Walter U Lum Place, 28% are just passing through, 25% use it to relax outside, 24% use it to socialize with friends and/or family, 10% use it to go to Portsmouth Square garage, 2% use it to make deliveries. — Figure 3-6. Responses to “For what purposes do you use Walter U Lum Place? Please select all that apply.”

3.4 Community Priorities and Preference for Design Elements

The first round of community engagement also focused on developing an overarching community vision for the project and a set of evaluation criteria that would assist the project staff in recommending a final design.

Survey respondents were asked about their priorities for what the future Walter U Lum Place design should accomplish to establish the community vision for the project. The top priorities were safety, connectivity and circulation, and community identity. The top priority of merchants, stated in the focus group, were safety and cleanliness.

Survey respondents were also asked to indicate the importance of evaluation criteria which would be used to evaluate different design options. Similar to the community vision, criteria related to personal safety, traffic safety, and circulation (i.e., access to destinations on Walter U Lum and access to Portsmouth Square) were considered the most important. The criteria considered the least important included access for deliveries and access to Portsmouth Square Garage. However, the survey did not capture many garage users (only 6% of respondents said they used the garage). In the focus group, merchants expressed their desire to maintain access to the alleyway for deliveries.

Finally, survey respondents were asked to select their top three preferences of design elements that could be included in the future renovation of Walter U Lum Place. These design elements were: street murals, outdoor dining with extended sidewalks, pedestrian use of street during occasional timed street closure, specialty lighting, and landscape improvements. The three most popular options were landscape improvements (selected by 65% of respondents), specialty lighting (55% of respondents), and street murals (35% of respondents).

In comparison to the other design elements, occasional timed street closure was the least popular among survey respondents, with only 27% of respondents selecting this design option. However, the project team received feedback from the steering committee and other stakeholder groups to leave the option open for occasional street closures in the recommended design (e.g., by including infrastructure such as retractable bollards or temporary fencing). Members of the steering committee believed that the major upcoming renovation of Portsmouth Square could change how street closures would be perceived, and that the design of Walter U Lum Place should allow for the possibility of street closures in the future.

An image of Fern Street, an alleyway in San Francisco. The ground of the alleyway is decorated with a pattern of green and blue circles painted onto the asphalt. There are also trees lining the alleyway and a row of parked cars on the left. — Figure 3-7. Street mural on Fern Street

A parklet in San Francisco. There are red tables and chairs set up on an extension of the sidewalk. The parklet is separated from cars in the street by wooden planters. There are trees separating the parklet from the rest of the sidewalk, where there are a few pedestrians. — Figure 3-8. Outdoor dining with extended sidewalks

Diners sit at temporary tables set up in the street. There are small groups of two to five people seated at each set of tables. There are orange cones in the background that prevent cars from driving on the street. — Figure 3-9. Pedestrian use of street during occasional timed street closure

View looking down Grant Avenue in Chinatown. In the foreground, there is a street lamp that is decorated with a Chinese-style lantern and dragons around the lamppost. There are strings of red lanterns hanging horizontally across the street, all the way up and down the street. — Figure 3-10. Specialty lighting

An image of newly planted trees on the edge of a sidewalk in San Francisco. The sidewalk is wide and newly repaved. There is a long, articulated Muni bus passing by in the background. — Figure 3-11. Landscape improvements

3.5 Community Vision

The community vision was finalized using feedback gathered from the first round of community engagement. These principles represent the community’s overall goal for what the future Walter U Lum Place should accomplish and were used as guidance throughout the entire design process.

Pedestrian Safety: Create an environment that feels accessible and safe to pedestrians, bicyclists, and people with disabilities.
Connectivity and Circulation: Ensure it is easy to get between Walter U Lum Place and Portsmouth Square or other locations in Chinatown. Meet merchant needs for delivery access.
Livability: Create more flexible multi-use community space for pedestrians, residents, and visitors.
Community Identity: Build a united community identity and sense of place by creating a visual, engaging connection between Walter U Lum Place and Portsmouth Square and other locations in Chinatown.

3.6 Evaluation Framework

The project team used an evaluation framework to guide design concept development and selection. The criteria in the evaluation framework align to the four principles of the community vision and were selected using feedback from the first round of community engagement. The project team added a category for project implementation to capture construction impacts and project timeline.

Table 3-1. Evaluation Framework for Concept Development and Selection
Community Goals	Evaluation Criteria

Pedestrian Safety	Pedestrian comfort and priority ADA access
Connectivity and Circulation	Connectivity to Portsmouth Square and other destinations in Chinatown Vehicle circulation
Livability	Amount of flexible use, community space Amount of green space
Community Identity	Type and presence of design elements with cultural relevance
Project Implementation	Construction impact Estimated maintenance required

Concept Development

4.1 Site Opportunities

The existing conditions analysis and feedback from community engagement identified a number of challenges in the alleyway that could be improved with design. The SFPW design team found some of the opportunities for improvement include:

Increase sidewalk space by shifting the loading zone and curb.
Flatten sidewalk slope to make it accessible for all users.
Enhance pedestrian crossing experience at Clay Street and Washington Street.
Add trees and planting areas to extend the park to the street.
Add overhead lighting to enhance safety.
Use materials to add to the character of the alleyway and contribute to the larger network of Chinatown Alleyways.

Creating a united sense of community identity was one of the community priorities for the project. SFPW inventoried the decorative elements of Chinatown alleyways, including paving, lighting, murals, and furnishing, forming the design vocabulary for the project. SFPW used this design vocabulary to ensure that the proposed designs for Walter U Lum Place would fit within the character and context of Chinatown and its alleyways. Examples of these decorative elements are shown below.

Table 4-1. Inventory of decorative elements seen in Chinatown alleyways.
Furnishings	Murals	Lighting	Paving

4.2 Design Concepts

SFPW developed three design concepts to capture a range of options for the alleyway renovation that respond to community priorities from round 1 of community engagement.

This section summarizes the key features for each design concept and presents the evaluation of the concept against the community vision using the evaluation framework.

Design Concept 1: Welcome to Walter U Lum Place

A top-down plan view of design concept 1. The street has two travel lanes and a cur-in loading zone that can accommodate three vehicles. The loading zone is labeled “Replace some of loading zone with community space”. The buildings on Walter U Lum Place are shown on the top of the plan. From left to right, three buildings are labeled: Golden Star Vietnamese, Chinese Congregational Church about mid-block, and Yu’s Cafe near the Washington Street corner on the right side of the plan. Clay Street is labeled on the left side of the plan and there is a raised crosswalk shown in beige with white striping and labeled “Raised crosswalk (same as Portsmouth Square design)”. To the right of the crosswalk, there are three small pink squares, with the label “Use expanded community space for seating or playful sculptures”. The sidewalk in front of the businesses is striped in a hatch pattern, labeled “4 ft wide, flat sidewalk area”. There are trees shown between the sidewalk area and the curb with the label “Use expanded community space for planting”. On the right side of the plan, there are more small pink squares and circles, labeled “Share historical information through street decorations”. At the Washington Street corner, there are new curb ramps and a crosswalk decorated with white and various shades of blue, labeled “New crosswalk (can be decorative or standard)”. Portsmouth Square is shown at the bottom of the plan with lots of trees and a new open plaza in the middle of the street. There are simple string lights shown criss-crossing the length of the alleyway. — Figure 4-1. Main features of Design Concept 1

This cross section shows the relative width of sidewalk and street for Design Concept 1. The view looks from the Clay Street to Washington Street side of Walter U Lum Place, with the buildings on the left side and Portsmouth Square on the right. On the left side, the sidewalk is 11 feet and 3 inches wide, with a 4 foot wide pedestrian access route in the middle of the sidewalk and a 4 foot wide flex zone. There is the silhouette of a person walking in the PAR and the silhouette of a person sitting on a pink square in the flex zone, with a tree in the background. The street has a steep slope down from the left to right side of the image. The street is 20 feet wide and there is a car shown coming out of the page. The sidewalk on the right side of the image is next to Portsmouth Square and it is 8 feet 5 inches wide. There is the silhouette of two people walking on the sidewalk, one person that has a cane. Above the street, there is a string of six blue flower lights between the buildings and light pole in Portsmouth Square. — Figure 4-2. Cross-section of Design Concept 1.

Table 4-2. Evaluation of Design Concept 1
Criteria	Concept Evaluation

Pedestrian experience
Pedestrian comfort and priority
ADA access
Connectivity & Circulation
Connectivity to park and Chinatown
Vehicle circulation
Livability
Amount of flexible use, community space
Amount of green space
Community Identity
Community identity
Project implementation
Minimize construction impact
Minimize maintenance required

The first design concept maintains the existing street width of 20 feet but partially widens the west-side sidewalk into the loading zone area. The wider sidewalk is a total of 11 feet wide, with a 7-foot-wide area for pedestrians and a 4-foot-wide community space with furnishings, specialty paving, and street trees. The pedestrian area includes a 4-foot-wide ADA accessible zone. The street has one travel lane and two turning lanes for cars onto Clay Street. The loading zone accommodates three cars, with space for additional loading at the curb. The design introduces a new crosswalk at the Washington Street intersection which can be either a standard design or decorative to introduce art into the alleyway. At the Clay Street intersection, there is a raised crosswalk, consistent with the design for the renovated Portsmouth Square. Overhead lighting features add to the art and character of the alleyway.

A close up of a decorative pedestrian crosswalk. There are colorful blocks painted in between the standard white markings of a crosswalk. There is a pedestrian crossing in the crosswalk and a sedan stopped in front of the crosswalk. — Figure 4-3. Decorative pedestrian crosswalk

Pedestrian Experience

This design widens and re-grades the sidewalk to meet ADA compliance, changes that improve pedestrian comfort and priority and ADA access. The new crosswalk at Washington Street and raised crossing at Clay Street enhance pedestrian safety by making pedestrians more visible. The overhead lighting features also provide an additional sense of safety.

Figure 4-3 above is an example of a decorative pedestrian crosswalk.

Connectivity and Circulation

Design 1 maintains the same number of loading spaces as the existing cut-in loading zone, but shifts some of the loading capacity to the curb instead. This would create loading spaces in the informal second travel lane on the west side of the street and prevent vehicle circulation on this side of the street in some places. However, the project team observed that double parking in the second travel lane already occurs frequently, so the loading zone changes in Design 1 are not anticipated to have a significant impact on overall vehicle circulation. Meanwhile, the crosswalks in Design 1 strengthen pedestrian connections to Portsmouth Square and to other places in Chinatown.

Livability

The increased sidewalk space in this design allows for additional street trees on both the east- and west-side sidewalks, increasing the amount of green space. This design also introduces a 4-foot-wide section of community space on the expanded sidewalk, where specialty paving and historical markers can add to the community identity of the street. The community space can contain small furnishings such as seating or playful sculptures (see below) that can attract a wide range of ages.

A close up of a stone sculpture in Portsmouth Square. The sculpture is a cube shape with an abstract face carved into the front. The sculpture is mounted on top of a larger stone base. — Figure 4-4. Example of playful sculpture, seen in Portsmouth Square

A close up of two small seats on a sidewalk. The seats are small stone cubes. They are mounted on the edge of the sidewalk on top of a strip that has been paved with small stone tiles. The sidewalk on either side is beige. — Figure 4-5. Example of seating zone with small furnishings

Community Identity

This design adds community identity to the street through historical markers sharing information about the community activist Walter U Lum (example shown below), and through art elements that can be introduced in the decorative crosswalk at Washington Street.

A top-down view of a historical marker inlaid on a sidewalk and a person’s feet standing on the sidewalk. The historical marker is a metal drain with the year 1995 inscribed and text in German. The sidewalk is paved with light grey tiles. — Figure 4-6. Example of a historical marker that can be incorporated into the street or sidewalk.

Project Implementation

The project team considers this design as the baseline construction scenario. This design would require, at minimum, re-grading the sidewalk, repaving the street, and expanding part of the sidewalk into the loading zone. The furnishings, new street trees, and art elements would require maintenance. The Bureau of Urban Forestry within SFPW could maintain the street trees, but furnishings and art elements would need to be maintained by a local merchant or community group.

Design Concept 2: Art Walk

A top-down plan view of design concept 2. The street has one travel lane and one loading lane next to the curb. The previous curb line is shown with a red dotted line, and the existing cut-in loading zone has been replaced by a widened sidewalk. The loading lane is labeled “Convert cut-in loading zone to loading lane”. The buildings on Walter U Lum Place are shown on the top of the plan. From left to right, three buildings are labeled: Golden Star Vietnamese, Chinese Congregational Church about mid-block, and Yu’s Cafe near the Washington Street corner on the right side of the plan. Clay Street is labeled on the left side of the plan. There is a raised crosswalk shown in grey with white striping and yellow strips on either side. The width of the crosswalk is aligned with the entry plaza to Portsmouth Square. The crosswalk is labeled “Wider raised crosswalk with bollards”. The sidewalk in front of the businesses is striped in a hatch pattern, labeled “4 ft wide, flat sidewalk area”. There are trees shown between the sidewalk area and the curb with the label “Maximize space for street trees”. The surface of the street is covered in a blue, purple, and red geometric pattern, labeled “Decorative street art”. On the right side of the plan, there is a label pointing at the sidewalk labeled “Wider sidewalk (add 3 ft)”. At the Washington Street corner, there are new curb ramps and a crosswalk decorated with a geometric white, pink, green, and purple pattern, labeled “New crosswalk (can be decorative or standard)”. Portsmouth Square is shown at the bottom of the plan with lots of trees and a new open plaza in the middle of the street. The sidewalk on the Portsmouth Square side is shaded red, indicating space where emergency vehicles can drive onto the sidewalk if needed. There are simple string lights shown criss-crossing the length of the alleyway. — Figure 4-7. Main features of Design Concept 2

This cross section shows the relative width of sidewalk and street for Design Concept 2. The view looks from the Clay Street to Washington Street side of Walter U Lum Place, with the buildings on the left side and Portsmouth Square on the right. On the left side, the sidewalk is 13 feet and 3 inches wide, with a 4 foot wide pedestrian access route in the middle of the sidewalk and a 3 foot wide planting area. There is the silhouette of two people walking in the PAR. There is the silhouette of a tree in the 3 foot wide planting area. The street has a steep slope down from the left to right side of the image. There is a loading lane next to the sidewalk on the left side with a car parked, facing out of the page. The loading lane is 8 feet wide. The travel lane is 10 to 12 feet wide. The sidewalk on the right side of the image is next to Portsmouth Square and it is 8 feet 5 inches wide. There is the silhouette of two people walking on the sidewalk, one person that has a cane. Above the street, there are four dotted red and yellow lights indicating simple string lights between the buildings and light pole in Portsmouth Square. — Figure 4-8. Cross-section of Design Concept 2.

Table 4-3. Evaluation of Design Concept 2
Criteria	Concept Evaluation

Pedestrian experience
Pedestrian comfort and priority
ADA access
Connectivity & Circulation
Connectivity to park and Chinatown
Vehicle circulation
Livability
Amount of flexible use space
Amount of green space
Community Identity
Community identity
Project implementation
Minimize construction impact
Minimize maintenance required

The second design increases the sidewalk width by expanding the sidewalk fully into the existing cut-in loading zone. The west-side sidewalk is widened to 13 feet along the entire length of the street. There is a narrow, three-foot-wide area for more street trees and specialty paving. The pedestrian area is 10 feet wide, with a 4-foot-wide ADA accessible zone. At the Clay Street intersection, the raised crosswalk in the Portsmouth Square design has been expanded to match the width of the new plaza at Portsmouth Square, creating a stronger connection between the street and Portsmouth Square. Bollards would be installed for safety on either side of the crosswalk at the curb. Design 2 also adds art elements to enhance the identity of the street, including a street mural, decorative crosswalk, and overhead art installation.

The overall street width is 18 feet. This design shifts loading from the existing cut-in loading zone to an eight-foot-wide loading zone at the new curb line, maintaining a 10-foot-wide travel lane. There is space for up to six cars in the loading lane. To create space for fire truck access, this design removes five street trees from the east-side sidewalk, which were proposed in the Portsmouth Square design.