Masonic Avenue was built for speed, which is exactly what many cars and trucks do as they drive the half-mile or so between Geary Boulevard and the Panhandle, ignoring the 25 mph limit posted on signs and painted on the pavement. A new plan for Masonic aims to slow traffic and make the street safer by installing a median strip, widening sidewalks, adding protected lanes for bikes and creating boarding areas for Muni. [...] it makes room for all those changes by eliminating — or, in the words of transportation planners, “repurposing” — 167 parking spaces and squeezing three lanes of rush-hour traffic into two. Neighbors either love or hate the changes, which have been in discussion or design since 2008 after more than 500 neighborhood residents signed a petition demanding the Municipal Transportation Agency do something about the street. At a community open house Wednesday night, many neighbors said the plan would bring some peace and order to Masonic, which is mainly lined with homes. The community outcry for a safer Masonic preceded the city’s Vision Zero commitment, which aims to eliminate traffic fatalities by 2024, but still the street is a poster child for the program. [...] the emphasis, transportation agency officials say, is on safety — for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians. The stretch of Masonic due for the overhaul carries two lanes of traffic in each direction for most of the day with cars parked along the curbs. Under the new plan, parking will be eliminated on both sides and green-painted bike lanes, raised 2 inches above the traffic lanes, will be installed. Michael Helquist, 67, a writer who lives on Masonic near Golden Gate Avenue, has been an active participant in the planning process for about 10 years. Some drivers and residents accustomed to parking on Masonic wondered where delivery trucks, garbage trucks and construction workers would park and predicted they would double park, which would create chaos when combined with just two lanes of traffic.