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| November 19, 2004GG PARK ROAD WIDENING PLAN GOES to BOARD; REC/PARK COMMISSIONYesterday, the Concourse Authority approved a plan to widen Martin Luther King (MLK) Drive in Golden Gate Park to four lanes, despite a public outcry against this controversial proposal. At the Concourse Authority hearing dozens of area residents condemned the road widening, which would increase vehicle speeds, reduce the sidewalk & bike path widths and make it more difficult for pedestrians and bikes to make it across safely. Prop. J promised to reduce the impact of the automobile in Golden Gate Park. This road-widening plan will do just the opposite. This week's Bay Guardian editorial about this issue says it all... "It's a bizarre plan: Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, which has an entrance to the park at Ninth Avenue and Lincoln, would be doubled in width. Part of the park would be paved over to create new dedicated lanes for the garage (which is slated to serve patrons of the new M.H. de Young Memorial Museum). There would be no bicycle lanes; instead, bikes would have to share a lane with Muni buses." In the last 24 hours, SFBC members generated a record 500 individual letters to the Recreation and Park Commission (Rec/Park) in opposition to this unnecessary road-widening plan. Thank you to those who responded quickly and decisively to our action alert! As a result of this influx of faxes and requests from Supervisors, Rec/Park has agreed to delay a vote on this issue. The widening plan is still very much alive, however, so that means it's time to SPEAK OUT. TAKE ACTION!
Thanks for all your great letters- they are making a difference! If you have questions about this campaign, please contact Josh Hart at joshua@sfbike.org or 431-2453x21. YOU REALLY SHOULD EAT MORE PIEIn honor of Thanksgiving next week, we'll be serving lots of fresh traditional & vegan pies at a special "Tube Times" Folding Party next Tuesday, November 23rd. Yes, it's time for another issue of the SFBC's bimonthly print newsletter to hit mailboxes! Join us next Tuesday as we work to get 2004's last issue out before Thanksgiving strikes. Naturally, we'll continue providing tasty snacks, hot dinner, as well as hearty pies (which has become an annual SFBC tradition during this holiday week). Please note - there will be *no* Volunteer Night on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving -- we're moving to Tuesday, and adding pie. The folding will begin at 5pm at SFBC HQ, 1095 Market St, Suite 215 (@ 7th). Will we need your help? YES! Could we use more daytime volunteers from Today through Thanksgiving? YES! Most importantly, do you like pie? (good question). Interested in donating pie for hungry volunteers? Have any other queries? Contact Michael at calfee@sfbike.org or 431-2453x21. WINTERFEST NEEDS YOU!We've got what you need (bike clothes, food, free beer, soda, music, entertainment, a room full of hot bikers in cold December), what your bike needs (hubs, racks, lights, pumps, another bike to keep it company when you are not around), what your walls need (beautiful art by Bay Area artists & bike themed posters) and WE NEED YOU! We already know you're planning on being at Winterfest, our best party all year, on Sunday, December 5, so why not come and volunteer when you're there? We still need silent auction helpers, cashiers, bike parkers, helpers at the check-in table, and people to tidy up afterwards. If you have some time in the next couple weeks, we've got our fabulous posters and postcards to paint the town with, so come by and pick some up and post them in your neighborhood. And knitters, sewing fiends, recycled goods creators - you can sell your handmade goods at the craft table to benefit the SFBC's efforts to make biking better. Lisa Ruth Elliott is standing by to take your information and to welcome you as part of this great event. Send her a note today at lisaruth@sfbike.org HASTINGs RESSURECTS MEGA-GARAGE PROPOSALOur friends at Transportation for a Livable City send in the following update: Hastings College of Law is bringing back their proposal for a mega-parking garage at Golden Gate and Larkin. Hastings should not be allowed to get away with proposing a supposedly "kinder, gentler parking garage" after neighborhood residents sent a loud message a few years back that the community wants more housing, not more parking. Everyone from the Chamber of Commerce to Supervisor Chris Daly (who was arrested at a protest against the plan) and State Senate President Pro Tem John Burton had opposed a decision by the Hastings trustees to build an eight-story parking garage in 2002. TAKE ACTION: Please e-mail the Planning Commission (c/o Linda.Avery@sfgov.org and Dominick.Argumedo@sfgov.org, and cc jeremy@livablecity.org) and urge them not accept a Master Plan from Hastings that proposes a 500-car parking garage with no on-site housing. Tell them the Master Plan is deficient in the following ways:
DOES a GREEN LIGHT MEAN it's SAFE?Not if you're crossing Masonic at the Panhandle! WalkSF & the SF Bicycle Coalition are teaming up to protect walkers and bike riders at this critical crossing, where cars often cut us off at high speeds. To help make this dangerous intersection safer, we're now coordinating volunteer crossing guards during evening rush hours. We deserve to make it across the street safely! We are also asking the Department of Parking and Traffic (DPT) to implement 'Option C' from the Bike Plan Update which would stop left turning cars with a red left turn arrow while cyclists and pedestrians have a safe, green phase. The DPT is already planning to improve the visibility of the crosswalk and provide a 'head start' for cyclists and pedestrians. However, these measures do not go far enough; solving this problem requires more. For details about the improvements proposed for this key intersection, see http://www.sfbike.org/bikeplan_masonicfell Volunteer! Be a crossing guard on Masonic during the weekday evening rush hour. No long-term committment required! To sign up for a shift, e-mail Michael Cobb at or 415-260-2211 For more information see the recent Bay Guardian article about our efforts, "DIY Traffic Control": BALBOA HIGH SCHOOL SEEKS BIKE/HELMET DONATIONSA new bike club at Balboa High School is getting students excited and generating unprecedented interest in biking at this primarily minority/ low-income high school located in the Excelsior. The students are really keen to get out on the road and ride. However, there's one problem- most of them don't have bikes or helmets. Can you donate your old bike or helmet to help these kids ride? Most working bicycles and helmets are welcome. If you can help please contact Marsha at 415-469-4512. UPCOMING EVENTSCheck out our online calendar of events at http://www.sfbike.org/?chain Add your bike event to our calendar by emailing calendar@sfbike.org. (Events not sponsored by the SFBC are marked with an *) You're reading the SFBC Weekly Biker BulletinGet this sent directly to your inbox by signing up here. Join the SFBC and add your voice to thousands demanding a city-wide network of bike lanes, traffic calmed streets, better access to transit and secure bike parking. Together we can make San Francisco the most bicycle friendly city in the country!
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