A20 Event: Fix Fell “Bike Spill”

“For the 11th straight week, protesters will return to the embattled Arco station- owned by BP- at the corner of Fell and Divisadero Streets in San Francisco.  Their simple demand – that the City of San Francisco place the safety of all road users above free private motor vehicle storage and convenient access to cheap gasoline.

While the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) recently painted the existing Fell St. bike lanes green, the conflicts between cars lining up for cheap gas at the Arco station and people riding home along the city’s only level east-west bicycle corridor continue, as documented in the latest video on the group’s website: http://fixfell.wordpress.com/2010/08/16/video-fell-street-with-green-bike-lane-week-9/

Drake Logan, a former Florida Gulf Coast resident who was arrested on July 20th for blocking the Fell St. entrance to the Arco station, says: “We will not forget about BP’s devastating crime in the Gulf, amidst false reports that the oil has somehow ‘disappeared.’  This spill is a warning of what is to come if we continue to bury our heads in the sand in the face of climate change.  We need to re-prioritize our city, so that people can choose to use less oil.  Bike lanes that encourage people to ride in the door zone are no longer acceptable when getting ‘doored’ is the single largest cause of injury to cyclists in the City.

“It was recently revealed that the City’s Dept. of Public Works, which has the authority to revoke driveway permits, is considering exercising this option at gas stations on Fell St. in order to prevent any further injury to people cycling on Fell St., as reported on Streetsblog last week: https://sf.streetsblog.org/2010/08/09/with-all-the-hubbub-over-the-arco-station-why-not-close-the-driveway/

A growing number of SF residents- including those who regularly fill up at the station- are calling for the Fell St. gas station entrances to be closed, setting the stage for a new, safe, separated greenway connecting the “Wiggle” bike route with the Panhandle and Golden Gate Park.  Urgent calls for a safe network for cyclists in San Francisco have intensified following the murder of 21-year-old German tourist Nils Linke last Friday night on nearby Masonic St. by Joshua Calder, a drunk driver.

Stuart Matthews, an IT professional who will be risking arrest on Friday, says: “San Francisco residents have had a vision of a safe, green, landscaped corridor across the City for decades.   As climate change worsens, oil spills foul our country’s shores, and our transportation policies routinely take innocent life, we need to take a closer look at how we treat non-motorized users of our roadways, and provide green, humane streets that are safe for everyone.”