S.F. is gearing up for bike lane plans

[garbon]

Time to get out...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/24/BAVQ16LMV9.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

New bike lanes and bike racks could come to San Francisco streets as early as July, ending a court-imposed ban on bicycle improvement projects in the city, officials said Monday.

Just over 1,000 days have passed since a San Francisco Superior Court judge blocked implementation of the citywide bike plan until City Hall analyzed how each of the nearly 60 proposed projects would affect everything from traffic flow to parking availability.

The study was demanded by a small group of citizens who sued over the plan. They are upset at what they view as the city's willingness to appease cyclists at the expense of motorists. San Francisco's official Transit First policy discourages the use of the private automobile.

In addition to adding more bike lanes and bike parking, the city also is looking at setting up a bike-sharing program and allowing two-wheelers on the Municipal Railway's light-rail system. Certain traffic signals also would be retimed to benefit cyclists.

"We want to make bicycling an integral part of life in San Francisco," Timothy Papandreou, assistant deputy director of planning and development for the Municipal Transportation Agency, said at a City Hall hearing Monday.

The impact study is expected to be adopted as early as June, with the first projects uncorked in July or August, Papandreou said.

However, the agency faces a $129 million deficit in the new fiscal year, and budget officials said that implementation of the bike plan may have to be slowed.

The planned projects carry a combined price tag of about $13 million over five years. Officials don't know where they will get all of that, said agency spokesman Judson True.

In the proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1, $2.9 million in transportation sales tax funding has been dedicated to bike improvements, True said.

True said San Francisco hopes to get federal stimulus money to pay for some of the bike projects, but because of the injunction the city has yet to apply for that funding.

Bicycle advocates, a potent political force in San Francisco, have criticized city officials for not aggressively completing the court-mandated review. The advocates want assurances that the projects will move forward quickly once the injunction is lifted.

It has been nearly three years "since the city has striped a new bike lane, installed a new bike rack, put up new signage," said Leah Shahum, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. "I think we all share the irony of that when the city has set very strong environmental, health, livability and congestion-decreasing goals and still we've been held up."

[PRC]

Never been to S.F. but isn't the stereotype that the place has to many hills?  That's hard on the cyclists.

[Eochaid]

What's wrong with bike lanes? 

Kevin

[The Brain]

You can't remain the gay capital without always striving to gay up the town that little bit more.

[KRonn]

Bicycle advocates, a potent political force in San Francisco, have criticized city officials for not aggressively completing the court-mandated review. The advocates want assurances that the projects will move forward quickly once the injunction is lifted.
Nothing against bikes or riders,good idea over all if someone wants to ride. But sometimes "advocates" take on an overly zealous attitude about things.

[Josquius]

Never been to S.F. but isn't the stereotype that the place has to many hills?  That's hard on the cyclists.

My thoughts too, god could have chosen a better city to prove to America that this is a good thing.

[fhdz]

I'd like to see a feasability study of the plans they've proposed.  It's always good to add more bike options, but not usually good to add them at the expense of the rest of traffic.

[garbon]

What's wrong with bike lanes? 

Kevin

My street already has bike lanes, however bicyclists don't stick to them. They bike wherever the fuck they feel like. I hate bike riders so much!  In fact, a lot of city traffic is generated because they move so fucking slow. 

[fhdz]

My street already has bike lanes, however bicyclists don't stick to them. They bike wherever the fuck they feel like. I hate bike riders so much!  In fact, a lot of city traffic is generated because they move so fucking slow. 

Yeah, cyclists should be ticketed more aggressively.

[garbon]

Never been to S.F. but isn't the stereotype that the place has to many hills?  That's hard on the cyclists.

My thoughts too, god could have chosen a better city to prove to America that this is a good thing.

The key areas of San Francisco (i.e. downtown and then up market, castro, mission, hayes valley and lower haight, marina) aren't really that bad for biking. The most militant bicyclists are all in the mission, which is not coincidentally almost entirely flat.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Is it Seattle that has that occasional mob of cyclists who intentionally shut down as much of the city as possible by blocking all the major car lanes to make some sort of point about cars=bad? Mass Effect or some such.

[garbon]

Is it Seattle that has that occasional mob of cyclists who intentionally shut down as much of the city as possible by blocking all the major car lanes to make some sort of point about cars=bad? Mass Effect or some such.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass

It rides down my street. I'm so thankful that it always occurs at a time that I'm safely at home.

[Caliga]

= I'm so glad this smilie is back.

[Iormlund]

In a perfect world cities would be off limits for cars and only those who need it to work would be allowed to use one.

It would cut down on stupid drivers, split workdays and fat people.

[Neil]

In a perfect world cities would be off limits for cars and only those who need it to work would be allowed to use one.

It would cut down on stupid drivers, split workdays and fat people.

Only an ignorant fool would say such a thing.