2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998
Gavin Newsom
Mayor
Susan Mizner
Acting Director
Ed Evans
Michael Kwok
Co-Chairs
Vincent Behan
Norma Block
Jack Fagan
Eugene T. Flannery
Elizabeth Grigsby
August Longo
Ruth Nunez
Jul Lynn Parsons
Denise Senhaux
Mayor's Disability Council
Draft Minutes
16 January 2004
1 ROLL CALL
Mayor's Disability Council Members Present: Norma Block, Ed Evans, Jack Fagan, Eugene T. Flannery, Elizabeth Grigsby, Michael Kwok, Jul Lynn Parsons and Denise Senhaux.
Excused Absent: Vincent Behan, August Longo and Ruth Nunez
Mayor's Office on Disability: Susan Mizner, Acting Director; Ken Stein, Program Administrator; and Howard O. Wong, Council Clerk.
Ed Evans, Chair, called the meeting to order at 1:05 p.m.
2 APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
The Council approved the agenda for the January 16, 2004 Mayor's Disability Council (MDC) Meeting.
3 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
The minutes from the meeting of December 19, 2003 were approved.
4 PUBLIC COMMENT
* David Villa-Lobos acknowledged Ed Evans, Chair, for his efforts to maintain and improve life for people without and with disabilities in the Tenderloin neighborhood.
* Marilyn Straka spoke about her walking tour business, "On the Level," which develops and provides accessible walking tours in S.F. The business website is www.onthelevelsf.com.
* Bruce Oka suggested that the Council ask the new Mayor to convert the Mayor's Disability Council into a full-fledged Commission, because it would give them a greater voice.
5 REPORT FROM THE CHAIR
Ed Evans reported there is not enough money coming from the State for health care and disability access. He encouraged people to contact Assembly Members Mark Leno and Leland Yee, as well as Senator John Burton on this matter. Mr. Evans also spoke against Senate Bill 69, which would severely limit the ability of disabled persons to file complaints against inaccessible businesses. Lastly, he encouraged persons who qualify for Medi-Cal to examine and maximize their options and benefits.
6 RUN-OFF ELECTION FOR CO-CHAIR OF THE COUNCIL
The run-off election between Jack Fagan and Michael Kwok ended with Michael Kwok receiving the majority of Council votes. There will be another election in March to replace Ed Evans, whose term of Co-Chair expires after the February meeting. Michael Kwok chaired the remainder of the meeting.
7 REPORT FROM THE ACTING DIRECTOR
Susan Mizner reported on three items. First, the African American Arts Center, which is funded by the Arts Commission, and is located in a city-owned building, has an old elevator that keeps breaking down. The Center does not have a reliable way of getting people to the second and third floors. Ms. Mizner is hoping to assist in obtaining funding for the elevator upgrade. The new Director, London Breed, has initiated a number of outreach programs for people with disabilities and seniors.
Secondly, Ms. Mizner will be submitting preliminary budgets for next year for which the priority would continue to be funding for health care centers and public rights-of way.
Finally, Ms. Mizner welcomed Department of Parking and Traffic to the council. She has been working with DPT's new Director, Gerald Norman on audible pedestrian signals and on locating the funding needed to test this new access feature.
8 REPORT FROM THE COMMITTEE CHAIRS
REPORT FROM THE PROGRAMMATIC ACCESS COMMITTEE
Jul Lynn Parsons, Chair of the Programmatic Access Committee (PAC) reported that the committee is currently working on a few items, including screen readers and website accessibility, and has been continuing its efforts to enable disabled-owned businesses to be covered by 12D of the City's Administrative Code. The next meeting of the PAC is on Friday, February 6, 2004 from 11:00AM-12:30PM at the Rose Resnick Lighthouse for the Blind. The public is encouraged to attend.
REPORT FROM THE PHYSICAL ACCESS COMMITTEE
Ed Evans, Chair, reported that the committee continues to work on a variety of issues, especially policies on curb ramps and architectural access issues. Mr. Evans encouraged people from the community to attend the meetings and report on any accessibility issues in their neighborhoods. The next Physical Access Committee Meeting is scheduled for Friday, January 30, 2004 in Room 421 City Hall, from 1:30PM-3:30PM.
9 RESOLUTION IN OPPOSITION TO SAN FRANCISCO'S IMPLEMENTATION OF
AB 1421, MANDATED OUTPATIENT TREATMENT.
Bruce Oka and one other member of the community spoke in support of the resolution.
Council members commended Norma Block and her colleagues for putting the resolution together. The Council voted unanimously to support the Resolution (attached below).
10 TRAFFIC CIRCLES AND TRAFFIC CALMING DEVICES.
Presentation by the Department of Parking and Traffic.
Gerald Norman, Director of Department of Parking and Traffic (DPT) provided an overview of the Department of Parking and Traffic, noting that the department is responsible for traffic signs, traffic signals, street painting, curb painting, traffic enforcement, traffic control and traffic engineering. DPT is currently working on several projects to improve pedestrian safety, including installing more count-down pedestrian traffic signals throughout the city and working with MOD on implementing audible pedestrian signals.
DPT is also working on providing many intersections on Van Ness Avenue with sidewalk "bulb-outs." He noted that the chief goal of traffic calming is to make the streets safer, to slow traffic and to increase pedestrian safety.
Nick Carr, Transportation Planner with DPT and the Project Manager for the Page Street Circles Program, presented a report on the traffic calming program and traffic circles.
The City developed the traffic-calming program several years ago. It consisted of a three-track system that includes arterial streets, commercial streets and local neighborhood streets. The program works on improving safety on these three different kinds of streets with an emphasis on mitigating the negative impacts of motor vehicle traffic.
The circles limit the conflict points (the places where vehicles run into each other), and reduce incidents of speeding in the surrounding neighborhood. The circles are designed for slowing traffic to 15 mile per hour. Traffic circles have been effective in other cities including Seattle and Portland.
Installing traffic circles instead of standard stop signs reduces vehicle emissions. Another benefit is that it places a visual obstacle on the driver's horizon or in the driver's visual field, which will cause a reduction in speed and increases the driver's caution and awareness.
Pedestrian safety is always an issue with the installation of traffic circles. There is no evidence that the installation of residential traffic circles increases the risk or incidence of pedestrian injury.
DPT went through a lengthy process to establish guidelines to develop the Traffic Calming Program in 1999 and 2000. A group representing a number of stakeholders, city departments and community advocates developed the guidelines. DPT consulted with MDC in 2001 regarding the issue of traffic calming devices.
The Page Street Program was developed to improve the bike route. This particular street area is the most heavily used bike route connecting the Richmond district (Golden Gate Park) and the Sunset district. The goal was to enable bicyclists to proceed legally through intersections. It promotes bicycle use on Page Street and also eliminates the need for vehicles to come to a complete stop thereby reducing pollution.
DPT has kept their website (www.livablestreets.org) continually updated on this project. It also conducted a survey mailed to approximately 2000 residences surrounding Page Street. They received 300 responses to that survey. It appears that the respondents were 58% in opposition when the circles were initially installed. However, after the proposed changes/recommendations, opposition went to 43%, with 44% in support.
Upgrades have included "yield sign" changes that delineate the path of travel around the circle; replacement of pedestrian crosswalk signs that were initially installed with fluorescent yellow green crosswalk signs; and state law signs which are pop-up signs indicating that traffic must yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk. DPT's goal is to continue to enhance and reinforce the pedestrian right-of-way at these circles.
The hotline number for Traffic Calming Program is (415) 554-2398 and they can be reached at e-mail at [email protected]. Their website www.livablestreets.org includes Page Street updates and other information on the City's traffic calming program.
After Mr. Carr's presentation, some Council members inquired about the most common objections to the traffic circles, and sources of funding. Mr. Carr responded that the most
common objections concern pedestrian safety and degree of comfort. Residents with disabilities had expressed concerns that removing the stops signs made them feel uncomfortable and unsafe. The funding comes from a grant program from the Bay Area Quality Management District and is administered by the City's Transportation Authority.
Other council members brought forward issues, including concerns that stop signs are less expensive to maintain, that streets aren't wide enough for the circles, and that people who drink and drive may not able to slow down and/or stop in time at certain streets. Council members were concerned that streets like Page and Divisadero are inappropriate places for traffic circles, due to the high volume of traffic at the intersection.
Eugene Flannery shared his own research findings about traffic circles on Page Street. He spent three hours observing the traffic circle at Page and Divisadero. He also passed out the fliers to many of the residents in that neighborhood announcing the MDC meeting, and spoke to approximately fifty of them. Of all the people he spoke to, he reported that only one person, from Palo Alto, thought that it was a good idea. Based on his conversations with the residents and his observations, he believes that it is inappropriate for a traffic circle to be in that particular intersection due to the high volume of traffic, and the residential area.
Mr. Carr told the council members that he understands their significant concerns and reassured them that cars that approach these circles do so at a low speed, limiting the collision and injury risk. Circles have the effect of reducing mid-block speed. Also, larger streets have larger circles with rotaries, which are traffic flow devices. They are not the same as residential traffic circles. Residential traffic circles have been applied in the Bay Area and western cities with great success on these same size streets or smaller.
Mr. Carr also spoke about the issue of Emergency Vehicle Response. There is a 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 foot wide section of slightly raised concrete that discourages vehicle drivers from driving over it. It allows larger vehicles and emergency access vehicles access through traffic circle intersections. DPT also worked with the Fire Department on guideline development and testing measures. They conducted these tests with traffic circles in both February and September of last year. The Fire Department issued a negative recommendation on the use of traffic circles in San Francisco. Since their recommendation, Supervisor Matt Gonzalez requested that DPT and the Fire Department meet with him to discuss SFFD's concerns about traffic circles and to work on mitigating their concerns.
Community members Kathleen Anderson, Toby Dixon, and Emily Wilcox spoke about their own personal experiences with traffic circles. Most of them agree that there is a serious safety concern for pedestrians. Some of the other concerns were that people in wheelchairs are less likely to be seen by drivers. Bruce Oka, a person in a wheelchair, testified that he was hit by a car for that very reason. He suggested that DPT collect more feedback from the neighborhood as well as from the disability community before the circles are installed.
Howard Chabner, a resident in the Page Street location who uses a wheelchair, also pointed out that since they removed the stop signs and replaced it with traffic circles, he was almost hit several times while crossing the street. He feels the circles are dangerous for people in wheelchairs, slow walkers such as seniors, and blind people, because there is a serious visibility problem. Mr. Chabner pointed out that he is not against all circles such as the one on Taraval because the circles are large and the visibility is good. He recommended that the circles need to be placed appropriately in larger areas, not by removing stop signs, and that the Mayor's Office on Disability, Mayor's Disability Council and the disability community need to be consulted in advance prior to installation.
A member of the Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee and the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Committee spoke in favor of traffic circles. He feels that the issue of pedestrian visibility needs to be reconsidered, and that one cannot blame DPT for one's lack of knowledge on how to approach a traffic circle. He expressed a need for more education, and increased law enforcement.
11 PARKING ON AND ACROSS SIDEWALKS.
Presentation by James Howard, Deputy Director for the Department of Parking
and Traffic, followed by council/public discussion.
James Howard said that he has responsibility for the enforcement division and the adult school crossing guards. He said the parking on the sidewalks is a violation that is enforceable 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Since it is enforceable at all times, DPT has to prioritize its ability to enforce it.
From 5:30 a.m. through 9:00 a.m., the codes are enforced in response to complaints from the public in regard to blocked driveways or blocked sidewalks. From 9:30 a.m. through 6:00 p.m., enforcement is accomplished by parking enforcement officers on their beat. Then after 6:00 p.m., it goes back to the complaint system, which lasts until midnight. At that point, the police take over and the prioritization gets tighter because it is competing with the 911 calls. DPT and the police do their best to strike a reasonable balance and try to err on the side of caution where pedestrian safety is involved.
Several people from the community expressed their frustration regarding pedestrian safety and the lack of enforcement of parking violations. Elizabeth Shwiff, a landlord and a homeowner in the Marina district, feels that the Marina is a dangerous place to live and walk for people with disabilities, pedestrians, mothers with strollers, etc. She feels DPT and the police do not appear to cite vehicles, which are parked illegally. Ms. Shwiff pointed out that there is no coordination and no cooperation between the city's agencies to enforce the parking laws.
Community members Bruce Oka and Robert Planthold suggested deputizing civilians to enforce the parking law, which would allow private citizens to ticket vehicles which break the law by blocking sidewalks.
Mr. Evans suggested that citizen volunteers be authorized to go out in teams to photograph parking violations and submit their findings to DPT.
Mr. Howard expressed concerns about people who don't work in his department doing parking enforcement. The citations have to be adjudicated according to the law and it is not possible to control people who DPT does not employ. However, he felt documenting violations through photos was an idea worth exploring.
12 CORRESPONDENCE
MDC received two pieces of correspondence regarding traffic circles.
Council members will be sent copies.
13 ITEMS NOT ON TODAY'S AGENDA, BUT WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE
MDC.
None.
14 COUNCIL MEMBER REQUESTS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS.
No requests for future agenda items.
15 COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS.
No comments and announcements.
16 ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 4:10 p.m.