Huffington Post gets it wrong---again

Even the picture is wrong, since it shows a mountain
biker on Twin Peaks, not a cyclist on the Panhandle

 

Like its contemptible piling on of Ross Mirkarimi early this year, the Huffington Post continues to get city issues wrong. Its latest piece on the Fell/Oak bike lane project is full of misinformation. For openers there has been no "lawsuit" filed, just an appeal to the Board of Supervisors of the MTA's approval of the project.

 

And this distortion about a sensible, realistic alternative to the Panhandle project:

 

Earlier this year, the Haight Ashbury Improvement Association proffered its own alternative to the Fell/Oak bikeways that would have pushed the lanes further out from the Panhandle and onto Page and Hayes Streets. That plan received little traction as it seemed unlikely that bikers would climb the hill required to get onto Page or travel a few blocks in the wrong direction to access Hayes. 

The sensible proposal didn't get any "traction" because the bike people and their enablers in City Hall are now making traffic policy for the city. There are in fact no significant hills on Page Street,  except between Broderick and Divisadero, and both Page Street and Hayes Street are only one block from the Panhandle.

The Bicycle Coalition's Shahum talks about the "strong support" this project has, but that's never been tested, since the "community outreach" meetings held by the MTA were only a pro forma process that the city has to go through before implementing projects. Why not put the project on the ballot to find out how much public support the project has? Back in 2004 the city allowed residents of Page Street to vote on the Page Street traffic circles, which were rejected by both residents and the fire department.

Of course the city won't take that chance with any of the bicycle projects, though they really should put both the Bicycle Plan and Critical Mass on the ballot to let city voters have a say.



That'll be the day!