Bike Lanes

The Oak Street protected bike lane was opened to bicycle traffic today -- the SFMTA finished striping and bike traffic signals just in time to welcome commuters on Bike to Work Day tomorrow, according to the agency's Livable Streets Facebook page. Crews got the job done at an impressive pace once it became a top priority, completing nearly all of the work since the first signs of construction appeared last Thursday.

It's clear that the parking-obsessed, anti-bike lane merchants behind the "Save Polk Street" group have no interest in vetting information before making their case. Concrete facts certainly had no place in the fearmongering rhetoric spouted by street safety opponents at the March meeting they staged, encapsulated by Flipp store owner Dan Kowalski's dishonest comparison of the Polk Street project to bike lanes on non-commercial streets in other cities.

The SFMTA expects to have the protected bike lane on Oak Street and the Market Street bicycle counter ready on Bike to Work Day -- next Thursday, May 9 -- according to agency staff.

The protected bike lane on Oak Street may not be constructed until some time after May 19, when the permit for renovation work on the Kelly-Moore paint shop on the corner of Oak and Divisadero Street ends, according to planners from the SF Muncipal Transportation Agency. Because the permit allows the paint shop to occupy the parking lane where the bike lane will go, the bike lane can't be completed until after it's done, agency staff said.

The second open house on the Polk Street safety improvements is tonight. While the agency has said protected bike lanes are not on the table for most of Polk, don't be discouraged from showing up. This is your chance to tell the SFMTA you support protected bike lanes along the entire street. As we've seen, Supervisor David Chiu isn't going to stand up and make that case for you.

The SF Municipal Transportation Agency has taken protected bike lanes off the table for 14 of 20 blocks of Polk Street under its latest design options [PDF].

An important reminder: The SFMTA is presenting its latest proposals for a safer Polk Street tomorrow morning and Tuesday evening.

Opponents who packed a neighborhood meeting last month and booed down those who supported removing car parking to improve safety on Polk Street may have boosted their numbers by inviting misinformed friends and family from out of town to attend the meeting.

The SFMTA installed some green-backed bike stencils and upgraded ladder-style crosswalks at Market Street and Octavia Boulevard, the intersection that sees the most pedestrian and bicycle injuries in San Francisco.