Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The Murk and the garage

From Bike Nopa:

Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi told representatives of District 5 neighborhoods that the Golden Gate Concourse Authority, the California Academy of Science, and the deYoung Museum should be sharing responsibility for finding a solution to the traffic congestion caused by overflow crowds and limited garage parking. "They have to help us with alleviation of this problem," Mirkarimi said. "They haven't stepped up yet." He added that the three organizations wanted the city to erect the SFgo signs to alert motorists when the concourse garage is full, but "they don't help with the cost."

Those are all city-owned organizations, with the Concourse Authority under the Recreation and Parks Dept. Has Mirkarimi asked these organizations "to step up" with some money? 

Once upon a time those who opposed the garage insisted that the garage under the Concourse in Golden Gate Park would be under-used, never make any money, and that the city would be stuck with the costs of maintaining and operating it. Mirkarimi himself once called the garage a "financial boondoggle," even though no public money was used in its construction or for its operation now.

Now that the de Young Museum and the Academy of Sciences are open and drawing large crowds, with the garage doing a brisk business, we don't hear those wild claims from city progs anymore. Imagine how much worse the parking problem would be without the 800-space garage under the Concourse.

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