Calm crossings

The problem

In the last 12 years, more than 1,300 units of new housing have been built on the land immediately surrounding the Mission Bay Kid’s Park.

Lots of children and families can now cross the street and play.

But the crossings are dangerous. Dumpsters and illegally parked vehicles regularly block pedestrian sight lines, endangering some of our most vulnerable road users.

This has to change.

We need to redesign the crossings with safety at the center so that children can safely get to the park and play.

Lack of hardened daylighting is a safety problem throughout Mission Bay. Safer Streets in Mission Bay suggests to begin addressing this by focusing on some of our most vulnerable road users, our children, focusing first on the corners surrounding the Kid's Park.

We can harden the red curbs surrounding the playground so that they can no longer be used in dangerous ways, such as for dumpster storage, and can instead be sources of beauty and elements of safety on our streets. This is an AI rendering that is illustrative. In reality, projects like this would not replace street concrete with dirt, though low-level potted plants would be beautiful.

A new program called Community Corners can support the type of safety improvement and beautification that the Mission Bay Kid's Park crossings need.

This schematic, made by Vladimir Vlad, shows what is possible.

Making improvements around the Mission Bay Kid's Park will require neighbors to come together and also to connect with building managers.

Children from across Mission Bay contributed art and messages to Supervisor Dorsey and Mayor Lurie in August 2026 about why it is important to them to be able to get around their neighborhood safely. The kids see; they understand. Some know that a child lost her life earlier this year crossing the street while holding her mother's hand.