The way that tradeoffs of how we allocate scarce resources are sorted out is through the political process. Private agencies commissioning studies on select alternatives short circuits the reasonable give and take that is going on broader based forums like this and would be brought to bear in the political process involved in scoping and carrying out a study.

Instead of putting forth pre packaged solutions where criticism of that promoted alternative is neutralized as NIMBYism by a full court press of paid staffers and erstwhile interns, why aren’t we planning these projects from the ground up in the public sector, under sunshine,where political decisions are supposed to be made?

It is through this kind of short-circuiting of the public process by the private sector that is promoting a decidedly narrow interest that communities get disenfranchised. The broader based public sector is where these conversations need to be originating.

SPUR’s demonstrated track record is of promoting some of the least livable “improvements” to our “urban fabric” by such “built environments” as the dysurban hell that is 4th and King that has every desired livability “treatment” in the book, residential density, BRT on steroids, regional transit, ground floor retail, mixed use jobsites, yet fails miserably as a neighborhood. It isn’t even “vibrant,” what, for “livability treatments.”

-marc

And the green paint might be needed to show that the bike lane isn’t just another spot to double park.

Also the green paint needs to go. It’s just another high maintenance item for the City.

The plan makes no mention of truck access to the Ferry Plaza market. At the moment it’s a delivery only/permit parking area.

I hope this new bike lane comes about. At the same time, let’s have cyclists pass a written test on the rules of the road, have plates on their bikes, and have to maintain a minimum of liability insurance.

The issue here is that the promenade is also part of the regional Bay Trail (which means that bicycles are permitted on the promenade) and it has a very broad range of users. The conflict really is between the pedestrians and the bicyclists whom don’t feel comfortable riding on the street and chose to ride on the promenade. I completely agree that this conflict has become worse over the years and needs to be resolved, I just personally would prefer that in order to address the conflict on the promenade, the bicycle lane on the street not be eliminated. Some bicycles tend to act more like pedestrians and some bicycles like to think that they are cars and I think that mixing those two types of users is just shifting the conflict.

All of this really is just my personal opinion as someone whom had commuted along that route for years. I appreciate all of the design efforts that have gone into this and if all the transportation planners (we have a bunch of great ones in SF) support this as the best solution (even if its not the perfect solution) then I will support it as well.

Wheelchair girl,
It seems to me getting bikes off the sidewalk will make all sidewalk users a lot happier. Again, it depends on the amount of encroachment. In general I’m happy for wide sidewalks because they create an important shared public space where people interact with each other on a human rather than mechanized level.

StuartH,
From my point of view, reducing the CO2 produced by private cars before we render our planet uninhabitable for ourselves and the majority of other species is far more important than the convenience of individual motorists. We can do this many ways–bicycles, electric bicycles, walking, public transit–but we’ve got to do it fast. In addition, Peak Oil and Peak Credit mean that within five years very few people will be able to afford gasoline. If you expect to be in the wealthiest 5% of the population,then arguing for private cars makes sense. If you expect otherwise, you might want to get other things in place.

Is the sidewalk there seriously “shared”? I don’t get down there very often, but I was under the impression that there wasn’t a sidewalk-marked bike path for the whole length yet, and I’m still under the impression that it is technically illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk in this town.

I look at those proposed dividers, and I assume that the bicycles are supposed to stay in there, just as the cars are supposed stay on “their” part of the road. I can easily see how motorists would get very annoyed at bicycles deciding arbitrarily to ride in the street *even when they have a designated path of their own* (and possibly more prone to ignoring non-fenced bike lane privileges as a result). Sidepath law is going to be pretty obscure to most motorists – especially considering that the Embarcadero is going to have a high percentage of tourist traffic (what sane local would drive down there?).

@taomom: No amount of over-engineering is going to make it possible for some of us to ride a bike. And some of us need more sidewalk room.

@Chris: Why do you commute on the Embarcadero when you know it’s going to be clogged with tourists? Is it actually so important a navigational throughway despite that hazard? I go a block or two out of my way to avoid tourist-clogged sidewalks and usually still save time. It seems to me that the Embarcadero shouldn’t be a commuter route for any sort of commuters. Is there any alternate route, or anything being proposed?

If this works out, I’d love to see a tourist-friendly bike rental down on the waterfront, and some more bike rickshaws for those who can’t ride.

The bad news is, cyclists can expect tremendous harassment from motorists who don’t know (1) cyclists are not required to use the sidepath, and (2) cyclists have the right to control a full lane if it’s too narrow to share.

It doesn’t look too elaborate to me; it looks exactly like Kent Street in Brooklyn.

Let’s bump the parking as this plan requires, then paint the entire curb lane, both sides of the street, green with sharrows. Take back the streets, don’t throw up a “separate but equal” barrier which only gives motorists more justification to keep us off streets they already see as theirs alone.