"With the huge demand for biking improvements, we're disappointed that the Court didn't completely remove the handcuffs, but we're pleased that some streets can now be improved for biking," said Leah Shahum, Executive Director of the SF Bicycle Coalition. "A three-year backlog means San Francisco has some serious catching up to do and we are eager for this dark cloud over sustainable transportation to be completely lifted."

In his order, Superior Court Judge Peter J. Busch said the completion and certification of the Bike Plan EIR had "changed the circumstances," but he disagreed with the City Attorney's argument "that the proper response is to unconditionally dissolve the injunction" before the outcome of a hearing now set for June to determine if the 2000 page document fully complies with CEQA.

However, Busch said it would be "unreasonable to leave the City completely unable to advance what it has determined is an important policy initiative in light of the changed circumstances," so he modified the injunction, allowing some projects to go ahead.

"This is an important step in the right direction that enables the City to enact significant safety improvements for bicyclists and pedestrians in San Francisco," City Attorney Dennis Herrera said in a statement.

The MTA issued a statement quoting Mayor Gavin Newsom, promising to begin the projects early next week, and provide a time line and schedule Monday.

"While we had hoped for the complete removal of the injunction, this order paves the way for real growth in bicycling in San Francisco," said Newsom.

Most of the projects considered to have "minimal impact to traffic flow and parking loss" outlined in a declaration [PDF] by MTA traffic engineer Damon Curtis, who works in the agency's bicycle program, will be installed in the next year, hopefully by June, with the exception of bike lanes on Fremont Street (from Folsom to Harrison), Kirkham Street (from 6th Avenue to the Great Highway), and Sloat Boulevard (from the Great Highway to Skyline). It's unclear why Busch refused to allow those. The projects that will move forward include new bike lanes on Beale, Howard, Otis, Scott, Mississippi, Kansas, Claremont and Clipper Streets, along with 7th Avenue and JFK Drive.

The authorized projects include a total of about 3.7 miles of bike lanes, compared to the roughly 14 miles the city had originally hoped to paint in the first year. The full bike plan includes 34 miles of new bike lanes. Only one of the authorized projects, JFK Drive, is greater than a half mile in length, while 9 of the 11 first-year projects that are still on hold are greater than half a mile in length, and five of them are greater than a mile in length.

The order also allows the city to install sharrows and hundreds of bike racks, "which is a big deal," said Marc Caswell, the SFBC's program manager. "This is what a lot of bicyclists have been waiting for, a place to park their bikes."

Here's a complete list of the projects the city can begin working on, as well as a list of projects the city had hoped to complete in the first year, but which will remain blocked at least through June 2010. Lengths are included for each project, but we calculated them quickly using Google Maps, so please let us know of any errors.

Bike lanes projects the city is prioritizing for the first year after the injunction is lifted:
• Beale Street southbound bicycle lane, Bryant Street to Folsom Street (Project 2-5) (.2 mi)
• Howard Street westbound bicycle lane at 9th Street (Project 2-8) (<.1 mi)
• Scott Street, northbound left turn bicycle lane, Fell Street to Oak Street (Project 3-5) (<.1 mi)
• Mississippi Street bicycle lanes, 16th Street to Mariposa Street (Project 4-5) (.2 mi)
• Kansas Street bicycle lanes, 23rd Street to 26th Street (Project 5-8) (.3 mi)
• Clipper Street bicycle lanes from Douglass Street to Portola Drive (Project 6-2) (.4 mi)
• 7th Avenue bicycle lanes and sharrows from Lawton Street to Lincoln Way (Project 7-2) (.5 mi including sharrows)
• John F. Kennedy Drive bicycle lanes, Kezar Drive to Transverse Drive (Project 7-4) (1.4 mi)
• Otis Street westbound bicycle lane, Gough Street to South Van Ness Avenue (Project 2-15) (.1 mi)
• Claremont Boulevard bicycle lanes, Dewey Boulevard to Portola Drive (Project 6-1) (.3 mi)

Bike lanes projects the city had prioritized for the first year after the injunction is lifted, but which the injunction will continue blocking:
• Kirkham Street bicycle lanes, 6th Avenue to The Great Highway (with sharrows only between 18th and 20th Avenues) (Project 7-5) (2.5 mi)
• Fremont Street southbound bicycle lane, Folsom Street to Harrison Street (Project 2-7) (.1 mi)
• Sloat Boulevard bicycle lanes, The Great Highway to Skyline Boulevard (Project 8-5) (.6 mi)
• Illinois Street bicycle lanes from 16th Street to Cargo Way (Project 4-3) (1.5 mi)
• Laguna Honda Boulevard bicycle lanes from Clarendon to Woodside Avenue, and from Portola Drive to Woodside Avenue (Projects 6-3 and 6-4) (.7 mi)
• Portola Drive Bicycle Lanes, from Corbett Avenue to O'Shaughnessy Boulevard (Project 6-5) (.6 mi)
• Townsend Street bicycle lanes, 8th Street to The Embarcadero (Project 2-16) (1.2 mi)
• Alemany Boulevard bicycle lanes, Bayshore Boulevard to Rousseau Street (Project 5-2) (1.4 mi)
• Ocean Avenue bicycle lanes, Alemany Boulevard to Lee Avenue (Project 5-9) (.9 mi)
• Potrero Avenue and Bayshore Boulevard bicycle lanes, 25th Street to Cesar Chavez Street (Project 5-11) (.3 mi)
• North Point Street bicycle lanes, The Embarcadero to Van Ness Avenue (Project 1-3) (1 mi)

Updated 9:13 p.m.

This afternoon, the City Attorney's office filed a brief [PDF] requested by Busch at a recent hearing on his authority to order the MTA to reverse the improvements it puts in place should he later determine the EIR -- a nearly 2,000 page document that cost $1.5 million to produce -- is not adequate:

If the court were to find that the Bicycle Plan EIR did not fully comply with CEQA, the Court, based on appropriate findings under Public Resource Code Section 21168.9(b) and after the parties presented evidence regarding the propriety and equity of such a remedy, could issue an order requiring the City to remove any bicycle facilities installed between the lifting of the Injunction and a hearing on the merits of the EIR.

It's troubling the judge would want to reverse the improvements (the City Attorney's office has constantly argued it's for the safety of bicyclists in San Francisco) but he essentially wants to make sure case law backs him up, and that he can lift injunction without first conducting the hearing requested by attorney Mary Miles. Last week, the City Attorney's filed a brief outlining which Bike Plan projects the MTA plans to implement in the first year.

The SFBC remains cautiously optimistic the judge will lift the injunction. Program Director Andy Thornley points out Busch would not have asked for the briefs if he wasn't about to offer some kind of relief.

"He wouldn't have asked for that information if he was not leaning toward giving the city a green light. It does seem very plausible that the judge will grant some if not all relief soon," said Thornley.

We'll be monitoring the court for its ruling, which could come as early as tomorrow. Follow us here and on Twitter.

Flickr photo: Thomas Hawk

At a hearing on lifting the three-year-old injunction on Monday, a judge instructed the City Attorney's office to produce a declaration of the city's plans for immediate bicycle network improvements once the injunction is lifted. Rob Anderson and Mary Miles have challenged the adequacy of the city's Bike Plan EIR, and Superior Court Judge Peter J. Busch is still pondering whether to let the city begin work on the bike network before a hearing sometime next spring. Based on Judge Busch's line of questioning Monday, reversibility could be key to his ruling on lifting the injunction before then.

Miles argued on Monday that the city would complete many of the planned bike improvements before then, and should be stopped from installing any bike lanes in the meantime. The document released today suggests that the city would complete only a third of the projects in the Bike Plan within the first year, and any of those projects would be reversible in the unlikely event that Busch finds the EIR inadequate.

Perhaps even more interesting for cyclists, however, are the details of the city's plans. According to the declaration, which is comprised of testimony from Bike Plan Acting Implementation Manager Damon Curtis, an MTA traffic engineer, the city can paint bike lanes on about one-and-a-half miles of street per month, on average. At most, the city could paint about 30 percent of the 20 miles of bike lanes approved by the MTA Board this summer before March 2010.

According to Curtis, the city can also paint approximately 20 sharrows per day, and can install about 5 bike racks per day. The city also plans to implement a bike sharing program and experiment with colored bicycle lanes and innovative design treatments once the injunction is lifted, the declaration said.

Any of these changes would be "completely reversible," Curtis wrote, which may make Judge Busch look more favorably on lifting the injunction before a 2010 hearing on the EIR.

The implementation schedule isn't set in stone, Curtis wrote, and is dependent upon five major factors: safety considerations, funding, coordination with DPW paving schedules, connectivity and importance to the bicycle network, and weather. Installing bike lanes or sharrows requires two rain-free days before they can be painted, though removing existing paint can be done under wet weather conditions.

On November 12, both parties must produce short briefs on whether they believe the court would have the legal authority to reverse any new bike infrastructure installed before the EIR hearing, if it finds the EIR is inadequate (which is seemingly unlikely.) Once Busch reviews today's declaration and the November 12 filings, he could make a decision on whether the lift the injunction before the lengthy EIR hearing process is complete.

Below is a complete list of the projects the MTA is prioritizing within the first year after the injunction is lifted, according to the declaration filed today.

Bike lane projects the city is prioritizing for the first year after the injunction is lifted:

• Beale Street southbound bicycle lane, Bryant Street to Folsom Street (Project 2-5)
• Howard Street westbound bicycle lane at 9th Street (Project 2-8)
• Scott Street, northbound left turn bicycle lane, Fell Street to Oak Street (Project 3-5)
• Illinois Street bicycle lanes from 16th Street to Cargo Way (Project 4-3)
• Mississippi Street bicycle lanes, 16th Street to Mariposa Street (Project 4-5)
• Kansas Street bicycle lanes, 23rd Street to 26th Street (Project 5-8)
• Clipper Street bicycle lanes from Douglass Street to Portola Drive (Project 6-2)
• Laguna Honda Boulevard bicycle lanes from Clarendon to Woodside Avenue, and from Portola Drive to Woodside Avenue (Projects 6-3 and 6-4)
• Portola Drive Bicycle Lanes, from Corbett Avenue to O'Shaughnessy Boulevard (Project 6-5)
• 7th Avenue bicycle lanes and sharrows from Lawton Street to Lincoln Way (Project 7-2)
• Kirkham Street bicycle lanes, 6th Avenue to The Great Highway (with sharrows only between 18th and 20th Avenues) (Project 7-5)
• John F. Kennedy Drive bicycle lanes, Kezar Drive to Transverse Drive (Project 7-4)
• North Point Street bicycle lanes, The Embarcadero to Van Ness Avenue (Project 1-3)
• Fremont Street southbound bicycle lane, Folsom Street to Harrison Street (Project 2-7)
• Otis Street westbound bicycle lane, Gough Street to South Van Ness Avenue (Project 2-15)
• Townsend Street bicycle lanes, 8th Street to The Embarcadero (Project 2-16)
• Alemany Boulevard bicycle lanes, Bayshore Boulevard to Rousseau Street (Project 5-2)
• Ocean Avenue bicycle lanes, Alemany Boulevard to Lee Avenue (Project 5-9)
• Potrero Avenue and Bayshore Boulevard bicycle lanes, 25th Street to Cesar Chavez Street (Project 5-11)
• Claremont Boulevard bicycle lanes, Dewey Boulevard to Portola Drive (Project 6-1)
• Sloat Boulevard bicycle lanes, The Great Highway to Skyline Boulevard (Project 8-5)

Projects that would have "minimal impacts to traffic flow and parking loss" according to the declaration:

• Beale Street bicycle lane from Bryant Street to Folsom Street (Project 2-5)
• Fremont Street bicycle lane from Folsom Street to Harrison Street (Project 2-7)
• Howard Street westbound bicycle lane at 9th Street (Project 2-8)
• Otis Street westbound bicycle lane, Gough Street to South Van Ness Avenue (Project 2-15)
• Scott Street, northbound left tum bicycle lane, Fell Street to Oak Street (Project 3-5)
• Mississippi Street bicycle lanes, 16th Street to Mariposa Street (Project 4-5)
• Kansas Street bicyclelanes, 23rd Street to 26th Street (Project 5-8)
• Claremont Boulevard bicycle lanes, Dewey Boulevard to Portola Drive (Project 6-1)
• Clipper Street bicycle lanes from Douglass Street to Portola Drive (Project 6-2)
• 7th Avenue bicycle lanes and sharrows from Lawton Street to Lincoln Way (Project 7-2)
• John F. Kennedy Drive bicycle lanes, Kezar Drive to Transverse Drive (Project 7-4)
• Kirkham Street bicycle lanes, 6th Avenue to The Great Highway (with sharrows only between 18th and 20th Avenues) (Project 727)
  
• Sloat Boulevard bicycle lanes, The Great Highway to Skyline Boulevard (Project 8-5)
  

Judge Busch could partially lift the injunction for now, allowing the city to paint sharrows but not bike lanes. Flickr photo: BikePortland.org

Today's hearing came two months after the City Attorney's office filed a motion to lift the bike injunction, arguing the city had met all its legal obligations by completing an exhaustive environmental impact report (EIR) on the bike plan, which was approved by the Board of Supervisors and the MTA Board this summer. Bicycling advocates had hoped Superior Court Judge Peter J. Busch would lift the injunction today, clearing the way for the MTA to begin rolling out the 45 bike projects recently approved by the agency's board.

The injunction was first implemented when Miles sued the city for failing to complete an EIR for the bike plan, which the MTA had treated as a series of discrete projects.

Deputy City Attorney Kristen Jensen argued before the court that a hearing on the adequacy of the EIR, which Miles is seeking, should be dealt with separately. "The burden shifts to the petitioners once the EIR is presented," said Jenson. "The lens through which the court must look changes dramatically."

Jensen also cited the rising number of injuries to cyclists in the past two years, which she said was unexpected even given the rising popularity of cycling, adding extra urgency to lifting the injunction. "The city has been unable for the last three-plus years to do virtually anything for the safety of bicyclists in San Francisco," Jensen said. "The city needs the ability to start making the city safer."

"The rule is the public entity goes ahead while the review goes on," Judge Busch told a courtroom filled mostly with MTA representatives, reporters, SFBC staff and Rob Anderson. Busch said his concerns were mostly procedural: Can he dissolve the injunction and then order the MTA to reverse bike projects if he later sides with the plaintiff's weak contentions the EIR doesn't comply with CEQA?

Miles argued that the court does need to first certify the adequacy of the EIR before lifting the injunction, and that an eventual hearing, perhaps in March 2010, would be pointless since the city would likely implement most of the plan by then, perhaps irreversibly.

When pressed by the judge on what projects the city plans to go forward with immediately, the City Attorney's office replied that the MTA plans to first move first on painting sharrows and installing bike racks. Deputy City Attorney Audrey Williams Pearson said the MTA has determined it can paint 20 sharrows, install 5 bike racks and stripe 400 feet of bike lanes per day. The City Attorney's office pointed out that bike racks and sharrows don't require the removal of traffic lanes, so they would be less likely to impact traffic before a final hearing on the EIR in March 2010.

Proposed new bike lanes across the city. Image: SFBC

The judge asked the City Attorney's office to submit a four-to-five-page declaration by this Friday detailing the MTA's likely immediate activity on bike infrastructure if the injunction is lifted before a March hearing. In addition, on November 12, both sides will present the judge with short briefs on whether they believe the court would have the legal authority to reverse any new bike infrastructure installed before the March hearing, if it finds the EIR is inadequate (which is seemingly unlikely.) The judge also asked both sides to agree upon a schedule for the EIR hearing by November 12. The City Attorney's office said it could submit a brief by this Friday instead, but Miles cited her busy schedule with another case and requested the additional time to complete the brief.

It's possible the judge would neither completely lift nor entirely preserve the injunction after the November 12 briefs are in. He suggested the possibility of a partial lifting of the injunction, perhaps allowing sharrows and bike racks but not bike lanes to be installed, for instance, until the March 2010 EIR hearing.

Despite dashed hopes for an end to the injunction today, the SFBC's Andy Thornley remained optimistic about the hearing. "The line of questioning we were hearing today indicated that he is considering whether there is a way to relieve the injunction partially or totally with an eye to the reversibility of these change," said Thornley. "It's just paint, it's just bike racks, and I think the judge in his questioning is indicating that he would be open to some relief to the injunction, because we can always erase them. That would be at the city's risk, of course."

While the additional delay is a significant disappoint to the city's bicycling advocates, the City Attorney's filing this Friday could provide an interesting view into the MTA's timeline for rolling out the bike plan projects - and a hint of whether Judge Busch's apparent preference for reversible projects could influence that timeline.

"The rule is the public entity goes ahead while the review goes on," Superior Court Judge Peter J. Busch told a courtroom filled mostly with MTA representatives, reporters, SFBC staff and Rob Anderson. Busch's concerns were mostly procedural: Can he dissolve the injunction and then order the MTA to reverse bike projects if he later sides with the plaintiff's weak contentions the EIR doesn't comply with CEQA?

Deputy City Attorney Kristen Jensen argued passionately that the injunction needs to be lifted as soon as possible to make the city's streets safer for "bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists."

When pressed by the judge on what projects the city intended to go forward with immediately, the City Attorney's office replied that the MTA plans to move on painting sharrows and installing bike racks. Deputy City Attorney Audrey Williams Pearson said the MTA has determined it can paint 20 sharrows, install 5 bike racks and do 400 feet of striping per day.

The city was ordered to submit a brief on what projects the MTA plans to implement between now and when a final hearing is held to determine the adequacy of the EIR in March.

From the press release:

Herrera's motion argues that the completion of the environmental review underlying the original injunction, together with the growing number of bicycle-related injury accidents in San Francisco, justify dissolving the injunction. The dissolution would allow the City to move forward with the implementation of 45 separate bicycle route improvements that are intended to enhance the safety and usability of City streets for the bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists who make use of them.

A hearing on the motion has been tentatively set for September 24th at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Peter Busch.

"After years of environmental review and public participation, the San Francisco Bicycle Plan reflects an unprecedented consensus to create a City that is safer, healthier and more environmentally responsible," Herrera said in a statement. "I am confident that the exhaustive process we've now completed will finally enable us to move forward."

Andy Thornley, the program director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, got a look at the massive filing, which includes all of the documents related to the EIR and Bike Plan, and was pleased the legal ordeal might be coming to an end soon.

"It's been a hell of a long time. A little while longer won't kill us, but it just feels good to finally have all of that work delivered back to the judge, and the psychological benefit of saying 'here ya go judge'," he said, adding that it's still hard to predict what Rob Anderson's attorney, Mary Miles, may have up her sleeve.

"It's certainly no time to be complacent about how this thing is going to turn out," Thornley said. "But we feel pretty comfortable that the City Attorney and Planning and MTA and all of the folks who've been working on this for so long have done a great job and made a good case...but we're not clear of this thing until the judge takes the handcuffs off."

The MTA Board certified the EIR and approved the Bike Plan June 26th, legislating 45 of the 56 priority projects, and the Board of Supervisors later followed, voting to reject two appeals. When Judge Busch lifts the injunction, the MTA has said it is ready to begin striping bike lanes and installing bike racks, though it has not released a detailed time line.