2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 Bicycle Advisory Committee
Regular Meeting
Thursday, April 20, 2006
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
1. Roll Call: Andy Bindman (D1), Frank Chan (D3), Susan King (D5), Hitesh Soneji (D6), Bert Hill (D7), Jerry Ervin (D8).
2. Announcements & Acknowledgments: none.
3. Approve Minutes: Minutes for
March 16, 2006 and
April 6, 2006 were approved with the addition of Casey's request to change the meeting date at the very end of the April 6 meeting.
4. Public Comment:
Kimberly Castillo: Kimberly is SF State student journalist covering today's committee meeting. She is also a bicyclist and requests BAC member contact information for follow up.
Andy Thornley (SF Bicycle Coalition): Andy was riding home on the Panhandle the previous night (Wednesday, April 19, 2005) when an eastbound cyclist and a westbound car turning left (south) collided at the infamous Fell and Masonic intersection.
Mike Sallaberry (MTA): Bert Hill asked if that intersection had the most reported crashes, and Mike confirmed that it was in the top three.
5. Chairman's Report (Information): none.
6. Committee Member Reports (Information):
Hitesh Soneji (D6): none.
Andy Bindman (D1): none.
Jerry Ervin (D8): The 14th Street bulbout has been shaved, and Jerry will discuss this as part of the MTA report.
Frank Chan (D3): It has been a thrilling week for bike issues.
Bert Hill (D7): Supervisor Sean Elsbernd has agreed to ride both in and out on Bike To Work Day. On the way out, he plans to use Alemany and possibly San Jose, around Lake Merced, and onto Portola. Supervisor Bevan Dufty may use a tandem bike.
7. Reports on the Bike Plan
a. MTA Report (Mike Sallaberry)
Frank Chan: A.2. Frank was glad to see the North Point lanes pass at Monday's CONS committee hearing without discussion and inquired about the early merchant objections. Mike said he had met with the Fisherman's Wharf Association to answer questions prior to any public hearing. The street will be repaved and the bike lane legislation will be ready in time for the repaving.
Jerry Ervin: A.6. What are the metrics of the 6 month trial? Mike says the main criteria are public comment and reaction as well as traffic measurements, speed measurements, and bicycle counts.
Hitesh Soneji: A.6. Hitesh is glad to see this stretch striped.
Hitesh Soneji: B.1. What are the location for the racks? Mike responded that some may be allocated, but any suggestions to the MTA for locations are welcome.
Bert Hill: A.2. What about Keith Saggers initial opposition to North Point? Mike said Keith just warned MTA that there might be some opposition in the neighborhood.
Bert Hill: B.3. What are these unused pole locations? Mike responded these are just the banners where Bike To Work Day will be advertised starting early May.
Bert Hill: D.2. Bert asked about bicycle access on LRVs. Mike's sense was that unfortunately no one is taking charge of this project at upper levels of MTA. Even though the late February trial went well, Mike just heard of some objections from accessibility or disability advocates. The committee talked about hosting those groups that objected to address their concerns.
Bert Hill: E.3. While SF has not received official notification, Mike reported that the city is in line to receive a gold level designation.
Susan King: E.3. Susan confirmed with Mike that this was the city's first Bicycle Friendly Community application.
Susan King: A.4. Mike said most of the Wiggle project will be implemented, but the northbound full left turn bike lane on Scott between Fell and Oak has been deferred due to community concerns about parking removal. There will still be the northbound bike box on Scott at Fell.
Susan King: A.3. Susan asked about Market east of Van Ness, but Mike said these Market Street bike lanes are only from Van Ness to Octavia.
Susan King: B.1. Mike said the process of installing racks is getting better, but they would ideally like to have a single contractor to build and install the racks. Currently it is two steps.
b. SFBC Report (Andy Thornley): Andy began his response using the MTA report outline.
A.1. On Saturday, April 22, there will be a celebration for what section of the Alemany bike lane is painted by then.
A.2. Merchants along North Point had objected to the removal of a MUNI bus stop at Larkin even though there are stops one block in each direction at Hyde and Polk.
A.3. Given the geometry of lower Market, the near-term goal will be patching pot holes and placing dense sharrows. The longer term goal will be to have car-free Market.
A.4. Andy encourages pushing for the full left turn lane from Scott after the initial improvements are made.
A.5. The Port Commission meeting has been postponed to May 9.
Survey: The survey is now online. Andy has received 50 paper and 300 online responses, and he is aiming for 500 total responses.
David Kardatzke, a Mission resident, was the victim of a hit-and-run incident. He was bicycling north on the Potrero bike lane, when he was hit from behind and knocked down by a car just north of Cesar Chavez. He suffered some head trauma, but the female driver fled the scene.
On Fell St., cars are queuing in the bike lane for a gas station, forcing bikes to swerve into traffic.
Mike Sallaberry (MTA): This is an ARCO station where gas is 20 cents cheaper.
Susan King: Can we contact the D5 supervisor for greater enforcement? This is similar to the Ramada Inn on Market Street where taxis use bike lane as a taxi stand.
Bert Hill: Can the cars queue on a side street instead of the artery?
Mike Sallaberry: Tomorrow at 10am, there will be a DPT hearing on the Sloat bike lanes.
8. Task Force Reports
a. Bike Theft & Security (Bert Hill, D7): no report.
b. Bike Plan (Andy Bindman, D1): no report.
c. Bayshore Blvd. (Rufus Davis, D10): no report.
d. Golden Gate Park (Susan King, D5): Besides the Healthy Saturdays activity, there is a Bank of America branch at nearby Fell where a Brinks truck consistently double parks in a bike lane even though the bank already has a parking lot. Susan notes that a trend that the integrity of bike lanes (Market, Valencia) is compromised.
Andy Thornley is already contacting Brinks about eastbound bike lane obstruction on Market Street and 9th St. Andy also encourages everyone to speak to the MTA board during public comment.
Andy Bindman also wondered about driver education.
e. Committee Member Business (Bert Hill, D7): There is still a vacancy in District 2. Bert needs to contact the Rules Committee again.
9. New Business
a. Procedure for Approval of MTA Report (Bert Hill, D7): Bert proposed this "Procedure for Ratification of MTA Reports":
1) MTA representative reviews questions on the report.
2) Chair asks for Exceptions to the report.
3) If a Committee nominates an exception or requests tabling of an item, and it is seconded, a vote is taken by the Committee. if exception/tabling is approved by a majority vote, the report is ratified with noted exceptions or tabled items.
4) The Chair is subsequently authorized to speak in favor of items without exception or tabling before public bodies.
Frank Chan: Frank requests a change from the Chair being authorized to speak to any Committee member being able to speak.
Andy Thornley: Andy recommends that action items or endorsement requests are called out or separated from the rest of the MTA report.
Jerry Ervin: Jerry asked about acknowledgment of receipt of the MTA report versus endorsement.
Andy Bindman: Andy was also hesitant to endorse when he and other committee members will most likely not have physically toured the city to witness and confirm all the items on the report.
The committee voted unanimously for MTA report to have an explicit endorsements section for the Committee to review and endorse.
b. Five Year Plan (Mike Sallaberry, MTA):
Bert Hill: Bert explained why the numbers in the spreadsheet do not always add up. He then asked if there was a major source for projects with "Other" funding, and Mike responded that it indeed was a variety with 5-6 primary grant sources. Bert confirmed the section of Sloat is actually near the Great Highway.
Bert and Mike then discussed about items such as Laguna Honda that should have been funded in previous years. Mike made the distinction between funding for planing, environmental, and design versus the actual construction. Bert and Jerry Ervin both asked for Mike to find out which 2004-2005 projects have crept in scope to 2006-2007.
Bert also made a spot request for an advisory sign and sharrows at Market and Castro to recommend Corbett to cyclists instead of Market. Finally, there are three parking spaces near the Arco gas station at Castro that have been removed due to midnight Owl MUNI service. Bert requested they stay removed permanently to enable a 17th St. bike lane.
Hitesh Soneji: Hitesh asked about a section of San Jose Avenue near Glen Park where cyclists transition from the Arlington exit to the Monterey exit. There is a section of the median where the vegetation has been removed, and Hitesh though there was a chance to combine projects.
The committee voted unanimously to ratify the 2006-2007 plan subject to a report back on which projects have been carried over from previous year plans.
c. Sloat Boulevard (Bert Hill for Raoul Rouque):
Kimberly Castillo (public): Kimberly rides this stretch frequently and spoke in favor of having bike lanes.
Jerry Ervin: Jerry specified both directions, easterly and westerly, to the "Resolved" clause. Jerry also questioned why this needs a special resolution given that this is already planned. Mike Sallaberry said it still helps to have the BAC's endorsement for the DPT public hearing.
Hitesh Soneji: Hitesh added "students" to the first "Whereas" clause.
Mike Sallaberry (MTA): Mike and Bert discussed the "dangerous left turn lane design" in the fourth "Whereas". Bert agreed to remove the second "Whereas" about Sloat not having any bicycle facilities or consideration for bicycles. Bert also agreed to add that reducing capacity promotes traffic calming.
The committee voted unanimously to accept the resolution with the discussed changes.
d. Review of Repaving Plan (DPW): Discussion was deferred until the DPW representative could be present. The committee discussed whether the rain or PG&E was a greater problem to road conditions. Bert thought that priority was given to transit and bike routes, but Mike Sallaberry said this ranking was informal.
e. Replacement of MTA Bicycle Program Director (Bert Hill):
Susan King: Change "schedule critical" to "schedule-critical".
Bert Hill: Bert will remove the second "exceptionally" in the second "Whereas" clause.
Andy Bindman: Andy asked about the procedure and how it was unusual for the committee to direct a resolution to MTA Management instead of the usual Board of Supervisors that appointed us. Bert wanted the MTA Management first have the opportunity to act or respond first before going to the Board of Supervisors. Mike Sallaberry recommended the intermediate step of the MTA Board after MTA Management but before the Board of Supervisors.
Andy Thornley: Andy recommended allocating stable general funding to the Bicycle Program, given the MTA budget of $1.5 billion.
Jerry Ervin: Jerry wanted to keep this resolution focused on the hiring of the Program Manager, and Hitesh Soneji (D6) agreed. Andy Bindman wondered if the absence of a Program Manager would be a good time to reflect.
Jerry Ervin: In the last "Whereas" clause, change "performance problems" to "could create challenges in implementing".
The committee voted 5-1, Bert Hill in dissent, to accept the resolution with the discussed changes.
f. Review of BAC Bylaws (Bert Hill): Bert said that every room in City Hall is booked on the second Thursday, so the only other option is the fourth Thursday.
Jerry Ervin: Consistently change "chairperson" to "chair" throughout the document.
Jerry Ervin: Jerry questioned whether we had the authority to redefine quorum, and Bert felt this was within the BAC's charter.
Jerry Ervin: Jerry recommends elections are held in January instead of December because Supervisors are elected in November.
The committee voted unanimously to accept the changes to the bylaws, moving the meeting to the fourth Thursday of the month.
10. Adjournment
