West Portal Protests Grow

Outrage over proposed SFMTA traffic safety plan in SF’s West Portal after family killed : KGO News footage and comments
https://abc7news.com/outrage-over-proposed-sfmta-traffic-safety-plan-in-sfs-west-portal-after-family-killed/14731008/

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — There was outrage on Wednesday among residents and business owners over proposed traffic changes in the West Portal neighborhood of San Francisco.

Around a hundred people rallied outside an SFMTA feedback session. The agency is proposing the changes after a recent crash killed an entire family.

“I’m sick to my stomach about it!” said Lavive Kiely.

West Portal Protests Grow : There are at least 5 sites, with letters and or protests against the New SFMYAi plan for West PortalThe are coming from a wide range of San Francisco residents and business people who are fed up with SFMTA
Including Muni passengers, who will be forced to disembark and switch vehicles at the West Portal Station.

The Design: from the SFMTA web site. https://www.sfmta.com/reports/west-portal-station-safety-and-community-space-improvements-proposed-design with a survey, more maps and photos of “street art objects” Note that MUNI passengers will also be impacted by the new design that will force them to disembark and change vehicles at the station. Not sure how this improves their safety, but, that is the plan. SFMTA does not discriminate. They ignore everyone equally.

map shows proposed changes for the west portal area. west portal avenues center lanes in both directions would be for transit and commercial vehicles only between ulloa and vicente.

Learn more are upcoming events and share your feedback in our survey by Sunday, April 28

SFMTA will be conducting polls on West Portal at the following dates and places:

Mon, April 22, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. – West Portal Ave and Vicente Street
Tue, April 23, 8 – 9:30 a.m. at West Portal Station
Wed, April 24, 4 – 5:45 p.m. outside the West Portal Branch Library

PROTESTS against SFMTA: Letters and Petitions

1. Fire Jeff Tumlin: https://form.jotform.com/233365439085159

Help! SFMTA is Devastating Vibrant Neighborhood Corridors: https://form.jotform.com/233355625390154

2. Save West Portal: https://form.jotform.com/241095320780149

3. Please don’t make driving or parking harder in the West Portal Avenue business district ! https://www.change.org/p/please-don-t-make-driving-or-parking-harder-in-the-west-portal-avenue-business-district?recruiter=1123557002&recruited_by_id=380da5e0-b632-11ea-86c3-

Current parking on West Portal

4. Tell the SFMTA to protect businesses and keep West Portal accessible.
https://sites.google.com/view/savewestportal/

SHARE WITH EVERYONE!!

Some pushback on West Portal Plans

Merchants and Visitors speak out against the West Portal Plans.

https://abc7news.com/outrage-over-proposed-sfmta-traffic-safety-plan-in-sfs-west-portal-after-family-killed/14731008

There must be at least three petitions opposing the SFMTA plans for West Portal so far. Here is one that lists a few other street reconfigurations that have devastated businesses from Market Street to Taraval and parts between.

End the Poorly Planned & Executed Valencia Street Center Bike Lane & Stop SFMTA form.jotform.com

https://form.jotform.com/233365439085159

SFMTA is Devastating Vibrant Neighborhood Corridors: Enough is ENOUGH

The small businesses that make SF amazing and unique are crying out for help to halt SFMTA’s devastation of diverse and vital business corridors, livelihoods, local jobs, and the very character of our neighborhoods.

Take actions to stop the madness.

SFMTA announces traffic proposal after family of 4 killed

By abc7 News Bay Area : YouTube – excerpt

SFMTA announces traffic proposal after family of 4 killed
youtu.be

More of same. Blame the drivers. Cut off another major intersection in a neighborhood that has already been negatively affected by the SFMTA. The plan seems to be to close all the merchants down so the developers can come in and tear down the buildings and build “better and higher and denser”

Upcoming Public Hearing on Parking Regulation Changes Affecting Geary Boulevard, Fulton Street, and Other Local Roads

Newsbreak – excerpt

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) plans to hold a public hearing on April 26, 2024, to discuss proposed changes to the city’s parking regulations. The hearing will be online and open for public input. SFMTA Order No. 6748 details the proposed changes, which include relocating commercial loading zones, establishing short-term parking, and creating new loading zones.

The first change involves Geary Boulevard between 25th and 26th Avenue. The plan is to replace the current 30-minute commercial loading zone, operational from 8AM to 6PM, Monday to Saturday, with a short-term parking area. The new metered green zone will have a 30-minute limit from 9AM to 6PM, Monday to Saturday. This change aims to improve truck loading and customer access.

The second change is to create a general loading zone on Geary Boulevard between 3rd and 4th Avenue. The new zone will have a 5-minute limit and will be operational from 8AM to 8PM daily, to facilitate customer access…(more)

A 5 minute limit? What is anyone going to do in 5 minutes? Or in 30 minute for that matter. Not time for a meal or much window-shopping. What are these people on? Other than spending out money to control us?

Which of our anxious mayoral candidates has the nerve to say NO to 5 minute limits and all these new regulations? Stop and desist or go away!

More businesses join legal fight against Valencia center bike lane

by ELENI BALAKRISHNAN : missionlocal – excerpt

Four additional businesses have joined the legal battle opposing the Valencia Street center bike lane and filed claims against the city, their attorney, Jim Quadra, announced at a press conference today.

The businesses — Consumer Auto Body Inc., Tunisian restaurant Gola, Vietnamese fusion restaurant Chic n’ Time, and the closed Phoenix Irish Bar — join three businesses that filed claims in February, contending that the street changes that accompanied the new center bike lane have damaged their businesses by diverting traffic and limiting parking.

“There should be several more [claims] coming,” Quadra said, speaking at the closed music venue Amado’s on Thursday morning. At least one other business owner who has not yet filed a claim also appeared in solidarity.

The city denied the claims filed by Rossi Art Gallery, Mediterranean restaurant Yasmin and Amado’s, he added, and those business owners are now considering a lawsuit.

A claim is a request for damages or compensation. If the recipient of the claim denies it, the complainant can then file a formal lawsuit to be heard in court…(more)

RELATED:

Pedestrian and cyclist safety project comes to Folsom Street

Do they ever stop? They are broke and they still insist on waging war against the public. What does it take to re-orient the SFMTA to taking care of their Muni riders and dropping all their other programs until they are out of debt and have restored the Muni system to the high level it once was?

100-vehicle sideshow stops Bay Bridge traffic

By Amy Graff : sfgate – excerpt

A sideshow involving more than 100 vehicles brought westbound Interstate 80 traffic on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to a full stop for more than 15 minutes early Sunday morning, officials said.

The California Highway Patrol said it received a report of the sideshow on I-80 westbound, just east of Treasure Island, at 3:17 a.m.

A video posted on X (formerly Twitter) by KTVU-TV crime reporter Henry Lee showedcars doing donuts with people hanging their bodies out of the car windows on the bridge. A large crowd stood on the sidelines…(more)

RELATED:

According to the report, two people were arrested at one of the sideshows.

Should we believe that there are some legal reasons that the cops are not able to stop the sideshows? Are there laws that ned to change or is this a matter of the crooks are smarter than the cops? There must be a reason these dangerous antics continue.

SF business owner plans 30-day hunger strike in protest of Valencia St. center bike lane

By abcnews : YouTube – excerpt

Businesses are “fed up” with the Center Bike Lane.

SF’s Future Bike Plan Hits Delays, Even As Breed Pledges New Street Safety Measures

By Kristi Coale : medium

A new network was supposed to be in place this year, but neighborhood input and troubles around town have set it back to 2025.

This week, responding to citywide grief over a family’s death at the hands of an out-of-control driver, Mayor London Breed promised measures to reduce traffic death and injury in San Francisco. It got plenty of attention. But much more quietly, City Hall’s long-term — and long awaited — plan to transform SF streets into a comprehensive bike-friendly network has been delayed.

As The Frisc has reported, it’s been clear for some time that SF’s 10-year plan to eliminate traffic deaths by 2024, known as Vision Zero, has been a failure. And on a rainy February evening at the SF Filipino Cultural Center in South of Market, it was clear that a newer plan to make streets safer was hitting speed bumps…

Community advocates in the Mission, Bayview, and Western Addition did not respond to multiple requests for comment…

The new bike plan, whenever it emerges, depends on SFMTA gaining trust of communities like the Bayview, the Tenderloin, and most recently the Mission, where it’s currently mending fences over Valencia Street.

Two years ago, a mere 13 percent of 618 respondents supported shifting to center-running bike lanes on Valencia. SFMTA moved ahead with the one-year experiment nonetheless, and six months in, it faces potential legal action from business owners who claim financial harm.

The delay, however, means adding a year or so to the process, which also means another year potentially life-saving changes are put in place. But SFMTA has budget concerns — a $240 million budget deficit looms. It’s counting on voter approval of a massive regional bond in 2026, so delaying the Biking and Rolling Plan might be the only fiscal choice…(more)

SFMTA parking boss targeted minority neighborhoods, former deputy director alleges

By Yujie Zhou : missionlocal – excerpt

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency director in charge of parking enforcement has been targeting minority neighborhoods and issuing a disproportionate number of tickets in the Mission, Bayview-Hunters Point and the Excelsior, according to a sworn deposition of the unit’s former deputy director.

Shawn McCormick, the SFMTA parking enforcement director accused of the selective ticketing, would write 50 or more citations within two hours, mostly in the Mission or Bayview, according to the testimony of James Lee, a former longtime deputy director of the SFMTA’s enforcement division.

In comparison, residential patrol officers average 25 to 30 tickets over an eight-hour shift, according to Lee, a 33-year MTA employee who retired in January…

“Compliance is our goal — and we allocate parking enforcement resources based on enforcement needs of a particular area,” said SFMTA spokesperson Erica Kato. “We deploy Parking Control Officers (PCOs) to cover the entire city of San Francisco. Areas with more regulations will have more officers assigned to have sufficient coverage of the street regulations.”…(more)

Six Anti-Motorists bills

Six bills are pending in the California Legislature. We need your help to defeat them. Take 2 simple actions NOW to stop these bad bills.
Sign the petition and write position papers for each bill.

Take actions on all of them here: https://ww2.motorists.org/ca/

SB 961, brought to you by State Senator Scott Wiener, requires all new cars sold in California to have speed governors to limit vehicles to no more than 10 mph over the posted speed limit. This dangerous and unproven technology will put you and your loved ones in peril. This is the most dangerous bill introduced this year and must be stopped as soon as possible.

SB 1297 would add another city to the six cities already authorized to run a speed camera pilot program. The number of cities that would be allowed to run this pilot program was negotiated in good faith, but now, before the pilot program has even started, they want to add more cities. What’s the big deal about one more city? If we don’t stop this expansion now, they will keep adding more and more cities, eventually blanketing the entire state with ticketing cameras.

AB 2809 would allow Caltrans to place speed cameras in highway work zones. Speed cameras primarily target safe drivers traveling at speeds encouraged by roadway design, rather than dangerous speeders because excessive speeders are insufficient to make the cameras profitable. Engineering countermeasures, such as speed feedback signs, are more effective in reducing excessive speeds in work zones than ticketing cameras. However, since speed feedback signs do not generate revenue, governments prefer installing ticketing cameras.

SB 960, another terrible bill by State Senator Scott Wiener, requires all transportation projects funded or overseen by Caltrans to include “complete streets” facilities. “Complete Streets” is code for removing car travel lanes (aka “road diets”) in favor of unused bike lanes. This bill will further restrict your ability to use your personal automobile.

SB 2583 would lower school zone speed limits to 15 mph and expand the hours when these lower speed limits would be in effect from 7am to 10 am and from 2pm to 5pm. Meaning, speed limits on 55 mph roadways would lower to 15 mph at times when no children are present. This is just an excuse to lower speed limits and give more tickets.

AB 2744 would prohibit building any new dedicated right turn lanes anywhere in California. It would also prohibit vehicles from turning right from the section of the roadway closest to the curb. In other words, vehicles would have to turn right from the through travel lane, slowing down and blocking other roadway traffic, potentially causing rear-end collisions. If this sounds confusing and ridiculous, it is. The bill makes no sense and there’s no evidence it’s even necessary. It must be stopped as soon as possible.