A business owner lambasted the San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority’s Board of Directors on Tuesday, saying traffic changes along Mission Street have cost her business and threatening closures. Neighborhood residents at the meeting called the changes a form of violence.
The changes include transit-only lanes and many left turn turn restrictions, plus forced right turns at certain intersections.
Eden Stein, who owns Secession Art & Design on Mission Street near Fair Avenue,said it is taking her customers 90 minutes to park or to get up and down Mission Street.
“They’re not going to come back,” Stein told the board. “From 16th to Randall there has been a loss of business, and a lot of businesses can’t wait months for changes to happen. Businesses are going to close down. We need some action.”… (more)
Thanks for covering this meeting at the SFMTA. There are a couple of items I would like to add to this report. A number of taxi drivers were concerned about the lack of left turns on Mission Street that they were told they would be allowed to make. It goes without saying that extending the time of the cab rides makes the ride more expensive for the rider, and that puts the taxi service in further jeopardy when they are already failing. Taxi representatives also expressed dismay at the new taxi fees and pointed out that there is no market for the new expensive medallions the SFMTA has decided to sell. No one in their right mind would finance a risky deal that shows no profit potential. Raising the medallion price killed that business, much as they SFMTA and their supporters are killing the businesses on Mission Street. Do you see a trend there?
A couple of physical issues were raised by professional taxi/truck drivers. It seems that instead of repairing the road and patching the potholes, which would help bikers and buses more than anything else, the red paint was just laid down on the street on top of the badly decomposing road surface. We agree. Patch the roads first. When you have huge potholes in the street, drivers, including bikes, must swerve to avoid them. This creates potential problems for people who don’t see the reason for the swerve and can’t predict them.
A former truck driver suggested the SFMTA should use the kind of material used on highways to patch the roads under the red lanes since they will be getting all of the heavy usage of the machines that do the most damage to the streets. You do not want buses running over potholes.
At least one merchant around Randal commented on the leftover bulbouts when the bus stops are moved. This is an obvious tool to remove parking spaces that has not gone unnoticed. They put in those $!50k + bulbouts to remove parking spaces and then move them to take out more parking. They then take the parking meters that they are removing and attempt to install them in other neighborhoods. This is your freindly SFMTA that is so good at patting itself on the back while harassing the taxpayers and laughing all the way to the bank.
There is a way to stop them but that involves convincing the Board of Supervisors to take control and protect your interests.
Meter Madness 