Planning Department

The meeting San Francisco bicycle advocates and commuters have been waiting three years for, the first of several steps required to lift the bike injunction, will take take place at City Hall Room 400 at 6:30 pm tonight.

Three years after a judge prohibited any bicycle improvements in San Francisco, the MTA Board and the Planning Commission are expected to finally approve and adopt the EIR and the Bike Plan this week, and legislate at least 45 of the 56 projects, which could bring up to 34 miles of new bike lanes to the city, hopefully within the next fiscal year.

We’ve been waiting for years now to see some physical changes to accommodate the huge increase in daily bicycling. We did get an odd set of painted bike lanes and green bike route signs, and a significant number of bike racks for parking, before it all came to a halt due to the injunction three years ago. After perusing the much-anticipated Draft Bicycle Plan and its dense bureaucratese, full of overlapping redundant promises, I’m afraid we’ll be waiting a good while longer to see the kinds of changes that we ought to be getting.

A portion of 17th Street in the Castro is being closed to cars at Market this weekend, marking the beginning of San Francisco's first trial street closure. The two DPT workers installing the new signs late this afternoon were a little taken aback by my excitement at first, but they happily directed me around. The street will be transformed into a pedestrian plaza by Tuesday afternoon, according to DPW. A press conference with Mayor Gavin Newsom is scheduled for Wednesday morning and a community celebration is planned for next Saturday. It will include a speech by Supervisor Bevan Dufty and a blessing by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

Don't look now, but NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan's magic may have rubbed off on DPW Director Ed Reiskin, to San Francisco's benefit.  Reiskin has been leading a multi-agency effort to close a small portion of 17th Street where it meets Market Street to vehicle traffic and convert the space into a trial pedestrian plaza, which he hopes to see operational by May. 

One of San Francisco's cherished literary icons -- poet, painter and City Lights publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti -- is celebrating his 90th birthday today, and I thought it would be fitting to bring you his vision for transforming a small block of Vallejo Street in historic North Beach into what would be called the Piazza Saint Francis. 

As we reported last week, several city agencies have begun to look at ways to improve Market Street when it is repaved, including an inter-agency process spearheaded by DPW and the Planning Department.  Yet, we've still heard nothing from Mayor Gavin Newsom that suggests he'll make the transformation of San Francisco's most significant street an urgent priority. 

In a closed meeting of agency staff this morning, the DPW agreed to delay the construction of a median fence on Potrero Avenue between 25th Street and Cesar Chavez until they conduct further community outreach in conjunction with Supervisor David Campos' office. 

How hard is it to fix the most important street in San Francisco, one that is vital to transit, that is the spine of the bicycle network, and that could be the crowning jewel of the city, a Champs d'Elysee or a newly pedestrianized Broadway?  Without Mayor Gavin Newsom spearheading the process, it doesn't bode well.