Closing city streets based on a lie

Jim Swanson

A letter to the editor in today's SF Chronicle:

Open up the streets

Now that the Great Highway has been reopened, how about the rest of the slow streets? These streets were originally closed for people/families who were sheltered at home so they could have a safe (social distance) path to walk or ride bikes. 

With schools open and many people returning to their workplaces, there is no need to have these streets closed.

Mike Jang

San Francisco

Rob's comment:

Jang doesn't mention other justifications for closing city streets during the pandemic. The Chronicle's Heather Knight: people need that space to walk their dogs and hug their friends!

In fact there was never a sensible public health justification to close city streets to cars during the pandemic. 

Making it harder to drive and park in the city---when cars are actually safer than public transportation---was City Hall's opportunistic extension of its long-time policies and the city's anti-car special interest groups, the Bicycle Coalition and Walk San Francisco that represent a small, militant minority of city residents.

Recall the City's attempt to rush its ambitious Bicycle Plan illegally through the system back in 2005. 

Since then the Chronicle hasn't opposed a major City Hall project: How the SF Chronicle failed San Francisco.

See also Heather Knight sells city's phony emergency and Heather Knight and the Big Lie about the pandemic.