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Meeting Information



2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 Bicycle Advisory Committee
Regular Meeting
Thursday, May 25, 2006
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place (Polk Street), Room 408

1. Roll Call: Frank Chan (D3), Lisa Estrella (D4), Hitesh Soneji (D6), Bert Hill (D7), Jerry Ervin (D8), Francisco Hernandez (D9), Rufus Davis (D10), Casey Allen (D11).

2. Announcements & Acknowledgments: none.

3. Approve Minutes: minutes for April 20, 2006 approved.

4. Public Comment: none.

5. Chairman's Report: Anecdotal evidence suggests that May 18, 2006 was the most heavily traveled Bike to Work Day ever. Chairman Bert Hill rode with Supervisor Sean Elsbernd (D7). At 4pm, they rode on El Sereno Court, Portola, and Market to City Hall in 17 minutes. On the return trip, they rode down 8th Street, Henry Adams, 16th Street, Illinois, Cesar Chavez, Valencia, San Jose, Alemany, Ocean, Holloway, Junipero Serra, Portola, and back. Supervisor Elsbernd will take Bert's report for his legislative aide to follow up with DPT and DPW. Crossing Cesar Chavez at Potrero was notably bad because the cyclists could not get the signal light to change. Someone also made an illegal right turn in front of the group at the infamous Market and Octavia intersection.

7th Avenue: At a May 9 public hearing, two alternatives were considered to replace the current configuration of two southbound lanes and one northbound lane. There was community consensus for a bike lane from Lawton to Kirkham. From Kirkham to Lincoln, the first choice was a continuous left turn lane. The second choice would be bike lanes that would require taking out parking right near the intersection to allow for left turn pockets with the necessary signal changes. Ross Mirkarimi said this needs to go through one more community meeting with the wider public, namely the people that use those streets but may not necessarily live there. ISCOTT recommended the bike lanes.

6. Committee Member Reports (Information)

Frank Chan (D3): Frank worked the North Beach energizer station at North Point and Columbus on Bike to Work Day. They counted 175 cyclists passing through and handed out about 50 goody bags. He and Joshua Hart will be leading the Steepest Hills of SF Tour on Saturday, May 27, 2006.

Casey Allen (D11): Casey rode with Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval on Bike to Work Day and surveyed some of the new bike lanes. Their group rode on Alemany, Lyell, San Jose, and Valencia to City Hall, using bike lanes almost all the way with the notable exception of a lack of a contraflow lane on Polk. Bert asked Casey about using Rousseau instead of Lyell.

Jerry Ervin (D8): 14th Street looks great. As part of the Wiggle, there are sharrows on Scott Street setting up the left turn onto Fell. Jerry finished the Wildflower ride and is looking forward to the Escape >From Alcatraz triathlon and the AIDS ride.

Hitesh Soneji (D6): Hitesh rode in with Supervisor Chris Daly on Bike to Work Day up until the 17th Street and Valencia energizer station. Supervisor Daly rode streets like Van Ness, Division, and Market that did not necessarily have bike lanes.

Francisco Hernandez (D9): Francisco assisted with kids riding to school on Bike to Work Day.

Rufus Davis (D10): Rufus was in Seattle in April on a family vacation and observed the cycling there. He did think San Francisco is more focused on everyday cycling. It is an exciting time in Bayview/Hunters Point with the redevelopment agency coming in. Rufus attended a meeting of the BVHP Transportation Improvement Project which is looking at traffic calming, particularly along Innes Avenue which leads directly into the Hunters Point shipyard. He advocated bike lanes which could also be linked with the Bay Trail.

7. Reports on the Bike Plan

a. MTA Report (Nick Carr, MTA): no report.

8. Task Force Reports

  1. Bike Theft & Security (Bert Hill, D7): none.

  2. Bike Plan (Andy Bindman, D1): none.

  3. Bayshore Blvd (Rufus Davis, D10): Mike Sallaberry (MTA) is still working with the Home Depot architect.

  4. Golden Gate Park (Bert Hill, D7): Saturday closure legislation was vetoed by the mayor. Negotiations are still going on with some calling for a complete study of the impact on local neighborhoods. In the Inner Sunset, there is discussion of changing the parking along some of the wider streets from parallel to perpendicular parking. With the additional parking spaces, some local groups might then be supportive.

    Hitesh Soneji: Hitesh asked Bert for an example of such a street, and Bert cited Kirkham from 7th to 9th, Hitesh noted the shift in the opposition from the museums to the nearby neighborhoods.

    Rufus Davis: Rufus noted we are now a legitimate special interest group. He also noted the trial period concept is no longer
    working as well as it once did, so we need to plan for all contingencies in advance.

    Jerry Ervin: Jerry agreed and said something needs to be measured and tested for such a trial period.

    Hitesh Soneji: Hitesh said that every change is a test in some ways and that it's often difficult to agree on what will be measured, who will do the measuring, and how will it be funded.

  5. Committee Member Business (Bert Hill, D7): There is still a vacancy in District 2.

9. New Business

  1. Review of Repaving Plan: deferred, could not get DPW representative.

  2. Illinois Street Bike Lanes (Bert Hill, D7): In his ride with Supervisor Elsbernd, Bert found myself weaving to avoid parked trucks at loading docks and having to cross the rails many times. Bert then asked someone at the Port why they can't put the compressible rubber product in the rails. This product doesn't inhibit trains but fills the groove for cyclists, but Union Pacific own the rails and has no incentive to install it. The Port representative said the problem is not with the city and not the Board. Furthermore, any bike facility will almost certainly allow trucks to park in the bike lane if they are doing active loading or unloading.

    Rufus Davis (D10): Mike Sallaberry is been the MTA representative for lanes on Illinois. Southbound of Illinois, there
    will be a new bridge across Islais Creek so heavy trucks will not need to travel on Third Street. Illinois Street is also part of the Bay Trail, so it will have both commuter and recreational cyclists. The weather blows sand, wind, and dust in this area, so it is not necessarily an easy street to ride. Bike lanes could provide traffic calming to a street that has turned into a high-speed alternative for cars trying to avoid Third Street construction. This proposal was at the Port Commission and will go to the Land Use Committee in early June, according to Dustin White (MTA).

    Bert asked for the committee's approval to write a letter in support of using the rubber for cyclist safety, and the committee agreed.
  1. Bikes on LRT (Bert Hill): Bob Planthold was invited to speak. Bert and Bob agreed that the report by SF State University graduate students was a summary of the light rail test at the Balboa Park train yard earlier in the year that involved representatives from MTA and MUNI operations personnel. The consensus was that bicyclists should not enter through the front fare box. They will have to enter through the side and make some arrangement to pay afterwards.

    Bob Planthold: Bob said folding bikes that are covered or contained should still be allowed but that rule has disappeared from the MUNI web site. He thought this rule should not have been rescinded.

    Bert Hill: Bert asked MTA Executive Director Nathaniel Ford to issue a statement reaffirming folding bikes as allowed, but Mr. Ford wanted to wait until the entire bike issue was settled.

    Bob recommended talking to not only MUNI management but also MUNI operations and union representatives. Bob cautioned that other cities that have supposedly allowed bikes onboard successfully actually have issues, such as lack of guidelines on where to stand or how to secure a bike. Bob also recommended getting buy-in from firefighters.

    Hitesh Soneji asked Bob about BART, and Bob said BART is gambling with bikes not being secured and possibly blocking the doorway.

    Jerry Ervin asked about any other issues that would prevent bikes onboard. Bob said he didn't see a functional problem with center entry and exit as long as the bikes were secured. Bob thought it would be better engage the Disability Council before MAAC (MUNI Accessibility Advisory Committee).

10. Adjournment