Sounds pretty darn ‘shovel-ready’ to me, and fulfill those Livability Principles various federal agencies have been talking about.

http://fastlane.dot.gov/2009/06/livability-principles-will-guide-federal-housing-environmental-and-transportation-policy-.html

I think that’s the main reason it is so lightly used.

I’ve always kind of thought it’s because the northern path feels more open than the other – the southern path seems to be more tightly flanked by trees. I can’t quite put my finger on it, as I admit I’ve only been on that path a couple times, but I think it’s just not as pleasant.

Get_Some_Perspective,

It’s definitely a promising idea and I think I heard in a past article that a cycle track is one already in the discourse with the NoPa people or something. But my thought is: how about one way cycle lanes, on Oak and Fell respective to their flow? (Whether or not they remain one-way.) That way, more room could be given to each lane for passing, and space could be consolidated more evenly on each thoroughfare (as opposed to taking a bunch of space from one and not the other). Passing bicyclists wouldn’t even have to worry about others oncoming.

My other beef with the Panhandle is at the Masonic crossing – besides the illegal left turns – cars blocking the crosswalk in the middle lane! Something needs to be done, as it’s guaranteed to happen every time there’s enough traffic to fill it up. (I’ve begun signaling with my hand for drivers to stay back from the intersection when it’s filling up – seemed to actually have worked today.)

As it is, bicycles are forbidden from the southern route, but few joggers/pedestrians/dog-walkers choose THEIR dedicated path.

Anyone care to speculate why this is?

But I’m with you…We need to figure out a way beyond bollards.

(OK, take a deep breath, resist commenting on the death-bollards and how they would be tough to see at night or during a rainstorm or how they would inhibit travel by cargo bike or with a bike trailer or could harm just about anyone who’s inattentive or unlucky for even a split second).

Personally, I find the traffic jam at the gas station works as a pretty effective traffic calming system. I find the block leading up to Divisadero much more pleasant than the 2 blocks after. Once you pass Divis you have people driving 1-2 feet from you going up to 40 mph.

I don’t get bollards on bike paths at all. What’s the point of deliberately creating a situation where users of the path have to dodge an obstacle that could cause serious injury if they hit it?

The last time I rode from GGB down to Crissy Field I was delighted and dismayed. The new path had bollards. A path used by many, many, many inexperienced tourist cyclists was designed to be an obstacle course.

You’re probably right about the Panhandle, and the picture of the buffered bike lane you linked to doesn’t look too bad. (Way better than no buffering.) Still, it’s so nice to able to bike away from car fumes and noise and through lovely grass and trees instead. Ah well.

yes, the bollards are black, but it looks like they have reflectors on top (you are riding with a light at night, right?). yes, they could use dotted stripe rather than solid… and yes, there could be some more obvious indication that pedestrians are also welcome. i suspect if it is a shortcut, peds will use it anyway.

sometimes it is best to build a space, wait and see how it gets used, then do another round of changes to adapt to reality. case in point: the panhandle: someone above mentioned that the path through the panhandle is getting a little overcrowded with uses, particularly at peak hours.

in my opinion, the time has come to cede the panhandle path to the joggers and dog walkers and little tikes on little bikes. and don’t take this as a bad sign for cycling in sf, on the contrary, take it as growing pains from massive success. there are simply so many bikes going through this route that even weren’t it for the walkers, it would still be at capacity sometimes. the solution for bikes is fairly straightforward: take the leftmost lane of oak (now parked cars), separate it with parking barriers or ‘j’ barriers from the car lanes. paint a new, 2-way bike path in this space, linking it on one side to the oak/fell/stanyan intersection (where the existing path ends), and ending the other side of the dedicated path all the way down on scott street. just like this one in montreal:

http://www.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/moved/buffered_bike_lane4.jpg

this would finally bridge the safety gap going eastbound between the panhandle and the wiggle, provide an alternative to the fell street slog with gas station of doom, and separate runners/joggers/tikes from freely moving bikes in the panhandle.

if the car people freak about the displaced parking, simply move the left side parking one lane to the right…oak street will still run smoothly with 3-4 lanes instead of 4-5 lanes (still so many lanes for cars!)

Cyclists riding south on Route 75 to SFSU have 3 options:
-Ride the 19th Avenue sidewalk
-Take the lane on 19th
-Take the official route which winds through the Stonestown parking lot (the least desirable option in my opinion)

It looks like this path was constructed to appease cyclists so that they can’t ask for the better option in Project 8.1 (namely parking removal along 19th so a dedicated bike lane could be installed).

It’s the equivalent of stiping a bike lane for 3 inconvenient blocks of Page and discouraging bike use on Oak.

and i agree that it appears walkers are being shortchanged. we want walkers and bikers to both feel welcomes, and ideally, to both be able to walk/ride two-abreast when they can. that’s life, man! we’re social animals — let the car drivers have their alone time — i want to ride together with my peeps.

maybe just paint something to make walkers feel more welcome? maybe drop the ‘bike lane’ markings altogether, but leave the middle paint — or make it striped?

adding a ‘SLOW’ sign in the area would work.

and yes, painting those bollars white or yellow would work. and light them, ideally.

and I wonder how much lighting would cost? wouldn’t mind a nice night shot of the area so see what the lighting is like.

thanks to all who made it happen. that’s the toughest part. hopefully a few tweaks and we’ll be golden.

this area was desperate for some bikey treatment. bravo!