This Week: McLaren Park, Transportation Safety, South of Market

Here are this week’s highlights from the Streetsblog calendar:

• Wednesday Exploring McLaren Park. The second-largest park in San Francisco is undergoing a community engagement process to better understand how to spend $10 million in improvement funding. Join SPUR to explore the park and discuss how it can be enhanced. Wednesday, Feb. 15, 10 a.m. Meeting details to be sent ahead of tour. RSVP required.
• Wednesday Make Me Feel Safe. Helping people feel safe is a key aspect of making transit, biking, and walking appealing transportation options. While it’s common to think that safety depends on law enforcement, groups such as Vision Zero (and Streetsblog, we hope!) are demonstrating that street and urban design is key. Hear an in-depth discussion about the many dimensions of safety and how we can make people who bike, walk, or take transit feel protected. Wednesday, Feb. 15, 12:30 p.m., SPUR Oakland, 1544 Broadway, Oakland.
• Wednesday SoMa Committee, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. Folsom St., Howard St., Townsend St., and 11th St. are all candidates for protected bike lanes in the next year. Not only will these improvements make our streets safe in the near-term, but they will help drive and inform a long-term vision for all of SoMa. Join the SFBC to talk about near-term bike lane protection options. Wednesday, Feb. 15, 6-7:30 p.m., SF Bicycle Coalition, 1720 Market St., SF.
• Thursday Touring the Historic Browning Courthouse. It survived the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes. It was fully restored and given a complete seismic retrofit in 1996. Today, this fully operational landmark remains one of the best examples of American Renaissance architecture in the country. Join SPUR for a tour of this historic building and learn about base isolators and other earthquake retrofitting that should assure the courthouse will survive the next big one. Thursday, Feb. 16, 3 p.m. Meeting details to be sent ahead of tour. RSVP required.
• Saturday Help Maintain SF’s Historic Trail. Team up with the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and Sutro Stewards and give some love to the Lower Historic Trail. Maintenance will be done on the trail and habitat on the lower portion of Mt. Sutro in the Interior Greenbelt. Saturday, Feb. 18, 9-12 p.m., meet at Woods Lot, 100 Medical Center Way, SF.
• Saturday Spring Ride with Bike East Bay: Bay Trail from MacArthur BART. This ride will be a flat twenty-mile ride from MacArthur BART out onto the Bay Bridge path, then continue up the Bay Trail to Point Isabel, ending at El Cerrito Plaza BART station. There will be an option to continue to Point Richmond. Bring a working bike and helmet, water and snacks, sunscreen, etc. Saturday, Feb. 18, 10-1 p.m., 555 40th St, near MacArthur BART, Oakland.
• Sunday Historic Bernal Heights Hike and Ice Cream Delights. Join Walk SF veteran walk leader Ellen Campbell for a “monthly members walk” hike around Bernal Heights. Walk SF’s website says to check in later for more details, but this one involves walking and ice cream in one of SF’s most scenic neighborhoods, so we figured it’s worth checking out regardless. Sunday, Feb. 19, 10-12:30 p.m., Martha’s Coffee Shop, 745 Cortland Ave, S.F. Walk will proceed rain or shine, barring high winds or dangerous weather. RSVP required.

Got an event we should know about? Drop us a line.