Around 1907, the private United Railroads opened its Parkside Shuttle line, which split from the #17 line on 20th Avenue and ran along Taraval Street, 33rd Avenue, Vicente Street, and 35th Avenue. This trackage, which saw irregular passenger service, formed a barrier to continued expansion of the city-owned Municipal Railway into the Parkside district. On November 25, 1918, the city and the private URR signed the "Parkside Agreements", which allowed Muni streetcars to use URR trackage on Taraval Street and on Ocean Avenue in exchange for a cash payment and shared maintenance costs. Muni's L Taraval line opened to 33rd Avenue on April 12, 1919. The URR discontinued their Parkside Shuttle in late 1927.
Planned changes
Like many stations on the line, Taraval and 26th Avenue has no platforms; trains stop at marked poles before the cross street, and passengers cross travel lanes to board. In March 2014, Muni released details of the proposed implementation of their Transit Effectiveness Project, which included a variety of stop changes for the L Taraval line. The stops at 26th Avenue would be moved to the far side of the cross street as boarding islands, with a traffic signal with transit signal priority replacing the existing stop signs to prevent trains from stopping twice. On September 20, 2016, the SFMTA Board approved the L Taraval Rapid Project. Construction will occur from 2018 to 2020. Boarding islands are planned to be built at 26th Avenue; contrary to the original plan, the stops will remain on the near side of the cross street. Early implementation of some project elements, including painted clear zones where the outbound boarding island will be located, was done in early 2017. In response to merchants complaining about the loss of parking spaces to allow for boarding islands, the Board agreed to an experimental pilot program on the inbound side at five stops: 26th, 30th, 32nd, 35th, and 40th Avenues. Painted stripes and signage were added to indicate that vehicles should stop behind trains to allow passengers to board and alight safely. If 90% of vehicles were observed to stop behind trains, Muni would not construct inbound boarding islands at the five locations. The six-month testing period ran from April 3, 2017 to October 2017. In November 2017, the SFMTA released the results of the study: only 74% of drivers stopped safely behind trains, and boarding islands will be built. Painted clear zones will be added at the remaining four inbound stops in 2018.
