RHN Polk Street position prevailed at the SF Municipal Transportation Agency board meeting Monday March 3. This occurred notwithstanding that virtually all of the testimony other than ours was in opposition to the plan. S,teve Taber, RHN Transportation Chair spoke, along with Mitchell Bearg (one of RHN merchant members), and Mitchell was quoted in the Chronicle this morning. The opposition testimony was roughly equally divided between those who wanted to remove more parking in favor of bike lanes and those who wanted to remove bike lanes in favor of parking.
The current plan, as to Russian Hill, resulted from consultation with both merchants and bicycle advocates, and participation in numerous workshops and discussions, including meetings with Russian Hill merchants. The turning point came when RHN’s board adopted a resolution supporting a compromise proposal. Initially, we were criticized by the merchants, but our alternative was adopted by staff and, when the bicycle advocates put forward a more extreme measure, the merchants lined up behind our position.
Going forward, there are many implementation issues to be considered (as well as potential challenges from both sides), but the plan, particularly the pedestrian improvements, will make it all worthwhile.
Click RHN Polk St Letter to see RHN Recommendation Letter.
Click here for overview of Polk Streetscape Design.
Leave a Reply