Thursday, November 15, 2018

Billion dollar bike path? "Shit happens"

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From Hoodline:

It's long been a dream for pedestrians and cyclists. But unless you've got wheels, making a trip across the Bay Bridge remains an impossibility.

I've never heard anyone but bike lobbyists "dream" about a bike path across the bridge (see Bay Bridge 'bike path to nowhere' from 2011):

When the bridge's new east span opened in 2013, the 15-foot-wide shared-use path that debuted with it was essentially a "bridge to nowhere." Later in 2016, the path was extended as far as Yerba Buena Island. But there still isn't a clear way to bike or walk into San Francisco from the East Bay.

And there never will be in the foreseeable future, since the cost for that project is prohibitive. Even the 2011 story in the Chronicle linked above projected the cost of that project might be as much as $1 billion. 

The Bicycle Coalition was undaunted by a more recent estimate of $500-$550 million. Would a billion dollars be too much for the Bicycle Coalition?

I've been posting about this issue since 2007, and the projected price on this project has grown from $200 million, to $550 million, to $1 billion! 

Surely this project is a bridge too far even for the Bay Area? Nope. 

Recall the immortal words of Governor Jerry Brown when the eastern span project ballooned out of control: "Shit happens."


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