Monday, September 20, 2010

Putting the Noe Valley plaza in context


Anonymous has a good comment on the post on the Noe Valley plaza issue:

"Confusion, confusion. A lot of dancing, but everyone is going home alone. P2P was created for one reason; to further the political ambitions of an alchoholic adulterer whose mommy told him he could be President one day. The rest is details. The bike coalition is a voting block, and oh so young, cute and fresh. Maybe even have some dippy sorority girls in there for big Gavie. So the mayor's office has one of their svelte boys go over to planning and create this neat lil program, all the svelte boys get together and decide where they want to 'do' some Plazas, and that's where we are. What shut Noe St Plaza down was not in any way to do with anyone coming to their senses. It was about Bevan, half as ambitous as Gavie, walking into the mayor's office, hat in hand, begging to have the svelte boys back off so he could run for mayor without the Plaza albatross hanging around his neck like a five day dead fish. A few lil facts for the record, I will repeat them here because they continue to be lied about. The 'leak' re the Plaza happened 1st week in April. The grant from the mayor's office was awarded in Feb. That means the NVA HAD to write the Grant Request in Jan., at the latest. Did the NVA go to the mayor's/supervisor's office unprovoked, uninvited re this subject? If you think so, I have a nice lil rental in Healdsburg with a 2 car garage I am willing to let go cheap."

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Last meeting on screwing up Masonic: Sept. 30

The last "community workshop" meeting on exactly how the city is going to screw up traffic on Masonic Ave. will be held on Sept. 30. That the city is in fact going to deliberately screw up/"calm" traffic on Masonic is already a forgone conclusion. Why is the city determined to screw up traffic on Masonic, which now works well for Muni's #43 line and more than 30,000 vehicles every day? Because the city's cyclists find riding on busy Masonic "scary", and what the city's bike people want they get here in Progressive Land.

Since the last meeting, a cyclist was killed when he was hit by a motorist at Turk and Masonic. The bike people have shamelessly used that accident to push the city to screw up traffic on Masonic, even though the accident happened late at night, was caused by a drunk driver, and had nothing to do with the design of Masonic Avenue.

The city lists among its bogus "objectives" for Masonic Avenue (below in italics) to "improve transit operation." That's simply a lie, since the #43 Masonic bus---the only Muni line that operates on that part of Masonic---now runs well between Geary Blvd. and Fell Street, the part of Masonic the city and the bike people want to screw up.

Also on the list is this nonsensical objective: "Improve pedestrian and non-motorized access to transit." Since "motorized access to transit" makes no sense, "non-motorized access" simply doubles down on the nonsense.

Even though the city's own numbers show that there are few accidents on Masonic, it includes safety as one of its objectives: "Reduce the number of vehicular collisions, especially those involving pedestrians and bicyclists."

The #43 line now carries more than 12,000 passengers a day, and Masonic efficiently handles more than 32,000 vehicles a day. Hence, the "calming" of Masonic on behalf of a minority of cyclists will screw up traffic for more than 44,000 people a day on behalf of the Bicycle Coalition and an unknown number of cyclists who might use the new bike lanes after Masonic is "calmed." This is how politically correct traffic management is done in San Francisco, where anti-carism is the ruling orthodoxy.

The City and County of San Francisco invites you to the third and final: Masonic Avenue Street Design Study Community Workshop September 30th, 2010 Thursday 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
San Francisco Day School 350 Masonic Ave.(Enter on Golden Gate Avenue)ADA Accessible

Meeting Information: Come join us for the third and final community workshop of a new street design study for Masonic Avenue, focusing on the area between Geary Boulevard and the Panhandle, with the goal of calming traffic on Masonic Avenue and improving access and safety for all modes of transportation.

The City wants to hear your input on ways to improve this important corridor so that it safely and efficiently accommodates the needs of all users. To this end the SFMTA, along with the Department of Public Works and the Planning Department, have conducted two community workshops on June 15 and August 10, 2010 to identify how Masonic Avenue can be redesigned to achieve this goal.

Based on the input received from community members in the June 15 workshop, four options were developed. At the August 10 workshop, these four options were presented and a survey was conducted to gather community input on various elements of each option. Since that time, City staff has been working on combining preferred elements to develop two refined options which will be presented at the upcoming workshop.

Proposed changes to the Masonic Avenue corridor being discussed include:
Addition of a median and other traffic calming features
Improved pedestrian crossings
Addition of bike facilities Partial or full removal of existing on-street parking
Increased landscaping and tree planting
Enhancements to transit stops
Removal of daytime tow-away restriction

During this third meeting, city staff will give a brief presentation on existing conditions, review the options presented at the second meeting as well as the results of the survey conducted, and present and solicit comments on two street design options.

The goal of this last meeting is to gather input on the most favorable/practical option.

About the Project
The primary goal of the Masonic Avenue Street Design Study is to identify how Masonic Avenue between Geary Boulevard and Fell Street can safely and efficiently accommodate the needs of all roadway users, including but not limited to pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and Muni. Objectives:

1. Engage representatives of all constituencies within the community who would be impacted by changes to Masonic Avenue including, but not limited to, residents on Masonic Avenue, residents on side-streets, merchants, school representatives, bicyclists, Muni passengers and pedestrians.
2. Improve transit operation.
3. Improve pedestrian and non-motorized access to transit.
4. Increase the safety of pedestrian crossings.
5. Increase motorist compliance with traffic rules and regulations.
6. Reduce the number of vehicular collisions, especially those involving pedestrians and bicyclists.
7. Support neighborhood vitality by creating a more inviting and accommodating public realm. Contact Javad Mirabdal415.701.4421
javad.mirabdal@sfmta.com

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