Tuesday, August 31, 2021

The Richmond District and the Great Highway

Christopher Michel

Letter to the editor in the SF Chronicle:


I write to add my voice to those Outer Richmond District residents who have expressed their gratitude at having the Great Highway open to automobile traffic again. 

I wonder how many realize that in addition to losing access to that important roadway, my neighbors and I lost all three of the bus lines (5, 18 and 31) that offered service to Ocean Beach north of Fulton. (The 5-Fulton ran only as far as Sixth Avenue for months; the 18 and 31 have only just started running again).

Suddenly, the only way for octogenarians like me to get to doctor’s appointments downtown or in Daly City, or to go grocery shopping was to drive (or call for a ride and let someone else drive). 

How did this help reduce car traffic? You can count me among those who will be happy to consider closing part or all the Great Highway to cars in future — just as soon as the city shows it can provide reliable public transport for the area. 

Not everyone can get around on bicycles, scooters or skates!

Linda Shaffer
San Francisco

An Open the Great Highway petition.

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The Great Highway is back open now, but the city's two anti-car special interest groups will keep trying to close it again: Walk SF and the Bicycle Coalition.

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2 Comments:

At 11:47 AM, Anonymous Justin said...

Do you believe in climate change? Do you believe that cars/trucks are responsible for 47% of San Francisco's carbon emissions? Do you believe that that we can reduce our carbon emissions without reducing car use?

The cognitive dissonance here is confounding.

 
At 8:31 PM, Blogger Rob Anderson said...

The question is about how we go about "reducing car use." Simply making it harder to drive and park in San Francisco isn't necessarily helpful, since making it hard to find a parking spot can lead to motorists circling around more near theie destination to find a spot.

Randal O'Toole has a useful cost-benefit analyis of the anti-car approach to traffic and emissions..

 

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