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Regular Meeting
Thursday, June 23, 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), Susan King (D5), Hitesh Soneji (D6),
Bert Hill (D7), Rufus Davis (D10, acting chair).
2. Announcements & Acknowledgments:
Rufus Davis (D10): Imagine The Way on Saturday, June 24, is the
launch of the Blue Greenway initiative with the mayor and Supervisor
Maxwell. The goal for this project is a continuous Bay Trail path from
China Basin to Candlestick Point.
Andy Thornley (SFBC): The associated bike tour will start at
China Basin at 10:30am by the Willie McCovey statue. Mechanics from REI
will be on hand before the group rolls south. Larry Harvey of Burning
Man fame will also be participating.
3. Approve Minutes: Minutes from the May 25, 2006 meeting were approved
with the following correction:
Susan King: In item 8.d., Bert Hill's district should be D7.
4. Public Comment: none.
5. Chairman's Report: On June 16, the Mayor's Disability Council asked
the SFBC and the BAC to speak about bikes on LRVs. Oliver Gajda also
spoke representing the MTA. While there was not a vote, the reception
was mixed, but people understood role and importance of bikes on LRVs.
The next step would be a 3-month study using the K line.
Bert has been invited to be on the MTA Transit Effectiveness
Project, a 18 month study with a cost of $2 million to look at MUNI's
routes, the system as a whole, and how to improve it. The last study
was done in 1973. Bert is looking for an alternate BAC representative.
Saturday, June 24 is an Urban Street Skills class at the Richmond
Police Station community room at 6th Ave. Over 60 people have
registered for the course.
6. Committee Member Reports:
Susan King (D5): Susan rode on Bike to Work Day with Ross Mirkarimi
to experience the Wiggle and the new lanes on Market. These new lanes
on Market are frequently used as double parking or for passenger
pick-up, forcing her out into traffic.
The Fell Street bike lane continues to be blocked by cars
backed up queuing for the ARCO gas station.
Susan and Bert Hill attended a Healthy Saturdays meeting
looking for different options to promote car-free portion of JFK Drive.
Next month in August, it will have been one year since the
circulation plan for the Golden Gate Park Concourse. Recall that the
BAC recommended a cul-de-sac design that would not have allowed cars to
cut through, but a configuration allowing north-south cut through was
ultimately approved. They have finally started issuing $103 citations
for driving through, so the plan to simply discourage cutting through
has failed.
Lastly, the Panhandle now as a functional restroom.
Bert Hill (D7): Bert wrote a letter to Mike Ellzey of the GGP
Concourse Authority inquiring about parking statistics, enforcement
results, and costs.
Hitesh Soneji (D6): Hitesh has attended 17th Street committee
meetings to connect the Castro, Mission, and Potrero Hill neighborhoods
with bike lanes.
Rufus Davis (D10): The two-block stretch of Oakdale from 3rd Street
to Bayshore now has bike lanes.
Work has also begun on Illinois Street bridge over Islais
Creek, and it allows trucks and bicyclists to avoid 3rd Street.
Oliver Gajda (MTA): The Illinois environment review was
appealed, and there will be a hearing June 27. This is separate from
the injunction on the Bike Plan, but the MTA has been investigating
whether that injunction affects this bridge project.
7. Reports on the Bike Plan
a. MTA Report (Oliver Gajda, MTA): There is no report for a second
month, as they have been understaffed since Peter Tannen left. There is
not clarity on when his position will be advertised. The process should
begin in mid-July, but there is potential for hiring freeze in the new
fiscal year.
Rufus Davis (D10): Rufus asked about the organizational
structure. Oliver explained that there is a Bicycle Program Manager
(Oliver, acting), Assistant Bicycle Program Manager (Oliver,
previously), Bicycle Program Traffic Engineer (Mike Sallaberry),
Associate or Assistant Engineer (Rauol Roque), Junior Engineer (Dustin
White), Bicycle Safety (Nick Carr), Bicycle Parking (Deirdre Weinberg),
and interns from time to time. There is currently one Engineer intern.
Thus, there are seven people at full strength, but the program faces
the obstacles of overall economic health and the injunction.
Bert Hill (D7): Bert asked for committee's support in his
writing of a letter advocating that these staff positions be filled and
funded.
b. SFBC Report (Andy Thornley): The Illinois Street and Islais
creek bridge construction will continue even with the injunction because
it will be used for cargo, freight, and rail. The BCDC (Bay
Conservation and Development Commission) is obliged to give the bridge
some bike and pedestrian capacity, but whether those bike facilities
will be painted is in doubt.
Andy gave testimony at the Disability Council in support of limited
pilot program for bikes on light rail. Andy does not expect this
service to be used tremendously, as cyclists would prefer to be riding.
The mayor vetoed Healthy Saturdays 37 days ago, and the SFBC
reminds the mayor that he is supposed to be working on a new approach.
The Mayor's office is looking at studying surrounding traffic and park
usage on weekends in Saturday. Supervisor McGoldrick and mayor have
budgeted to repave the east end of JFK Drive, and there are also
earmarked Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) funds for
bike lanes on JFK Drive. The bike lanes have been delayed until the
pavement quality itself is addressed.
Leah Shahum has been appointed to the MTA Board, but she may
now have to recuse herself on certain bicycle issues.
On Bike to Work Day, the SFBC released its first report card
about bicycling in the city with an overall grade of B- (B minus). This
is in contrast to the gold level Bicycle Friendly Community designation
by the League of American Bicyclists.
Bert Hill (D7): Bert asked about Leah's other positions,
and Andy said Leah has already resigned from GGB District board. She
would like her replacement to likewise be a bicycle and pedestrian advocate.
8. Task Force Reports
a. Bike Theft & Security (Bert Hill, D7): San Francisco was ranked
the second worst city in bike theft by Kryptonite, and Bert emphasizes
the importance of bike education.
b. Bike Plan (Andy Bindman, D1): no report.
Oliver Gajda (MTA): The MTA is still committed to progress
measurement of the bike plan with even more comprehensive community
outreach than the SFBC report card. This is an item in a Prop. K
funding request.
c. Bayshore Blvd. (Rufus Davis, D10): Rufus spoke with Mike
Sallaberry (MTA), and the disconcerting news is that Mike has not heard
from the Home Depot architect recently.
d. Golden Gate Park (Susan King, D5): Susan was dismayed that the
children's playground in the southeast corner of GGP has been removed.
Other committee members noted that a better playground is being constructed.
Bert Hill: One proposed Healthy Saturdays option would move
the blocked area up to Middle Drive to allow westbound access to the
Conservatory of Flowers and increased car parking. Bert added that this
would unfortunately allow north-south cut through traffic.
Susan continued that while Sundays are fixed, the bicycle
community has tried to build goodwill with the disabled community by
following through on their concerns and recommendations, namely
increased disabled parking, increased drop-off areas, increased access
to drop-off areas, and securing of funding for a slow tram to transverse
the closed area. Additionally, Susan reiterated the option mentioned by
Bert Hill to reduce the closed area on Saturday to start only at Middle
Drive. Susan pointed out that a 3 or 6 month trial period may not yield
the desired results if this delayed period does not overlap with the
summer weather. Susan expressed frustration that the goalposts keep
moving, meaning that once an issue is supposedly addressed, another is
raised to similarly stall the effort. She believes that ultimately this
issue is about people feeling entitled to free parking.
Rufus Davis and Susan discussed the rumor of the Mayor's
proposal of a closed area on the western end of GGP. The committee
discussed how the western end's weather, access to resources, street
grade, condition of pavement, and lack of infrastructure, and Polo Field
activity made this option unacceptable. Bert mentioned that while that
may placate Inner Sunset/Richmond neighbors, it could similarly trouble
Outer Sunset/Richmond neighbors.
e. Committee Member Business - Expirations and Vacancies in
District 2: no progress.
9. New Business - San Francisco Bicycle Plan Preliminary Injunction
(Oliver Gajda, MTA Planning): Oliver recommended that for a candid,
legal interpretation, the committee should seek a closed session with
the City Attorney. Oliver walkthrough what was enjoined. He said his
team can still continue studying and planning, but grant funding is in
jeopardy because deliverables for those grants cannot be met. Susan
King clarified with Oliver that even already approved bike facilities
fall under this injunction. Oliver went on to explain how the temporary
restraining order right after Bike to Work Day turned into this
injunction. The hearing is then scheduled for September 13, 2006.
Oliver clarified for Susan that practically all bike lanes and routes
fall within the Bike Plan and Network Improvement Document.
Bert Hill explained that the basis of the suit was that proper
studies were not done under CEQA when the Bike Plan was adopted into the
General Plan. Judge Warren has then determined that the plaintiff's
contention was reasonable. Bert then said he has contacted the City
Attorney about having a closed session.
The committee then discussed the meaning of "Does 1 through 10".
Andy Thornley said that the committee, in answering to the Board of
Supervisors, should consider themselves a client of the City Attorney.
Any such discussion with the City Attorney should then be confidential
as with any other attorney-client conversation. Bert Hill then read a
section from the BAC charter that gave the committee the mandate to come
up with a Bike Plan for the city.
Bert then asked Oliver about the sunset of funding sources and
grants and requested Oliver follow up in a future meeting. He then
posited that there are half a dozen streets that are not on the Bike
Plan that would benefit from sharrows, such as upper Market going
downhill. Oliver said he is already looking at this for non bike route
streets but that implementation strategy is more suitably discussed in
closed session.
Andy Thornley: The SFBC is disappointed, shocked, and appalled
about the injunction. The SFBC has issued a press release to get the
first word out pointing out the contradiction of environmentally
beneficial bicycle improvements being held up by environmental review.
Andy said automobile LOS (level of service) is already part of
environmental review, but that the Board of Supervisors unanimously
passed a resolution to reform LOS to include other modes. Even though
this has been signed by the mayor, but the Planning Commission
ultimately has the power to set environmental criteria for CEQA review.
Andy reminded the committee that the September 13 date is just the
beginning. Hearing arguments, delays, and deliberations could extend
the effect of the injunction until the end of year and into the
following year.
Andy said there has been precedent of injunctions being
overturned, such as when Judge Warren overturned the injunction blocking
construction of the Concourse parking garage, but he felt it was
unlikely. The City is unlikely to spend the same amount of resources as
the Concourse Authority to appeal.
Rufus asked Andy about the effect of the injunction on the SFBC.
The committee then clarified that the City Attorney named in this
case is Audrey Williams Pearson and would seek a meeting with her.
10. Adjournment
