Protected Bike Lane Plan Shelved in San Francisco

Supporters of a proposal to build a protected bikeway near the downtown Caltrain station in San Francisco are angry that the SFMTA has delayed those plans, reports Rachel Swan.

Road hazards and 44 collisions involving people on bikes between 2012 and 2016 led San Francisco officials "to designate the Townsend Street corridor between Fourth and Eighth streets a high-injury area for cyclists" and "[release] plans for a protected bikeway along the Townsend Street corridor." The plan for the protected bike lanes, released in April by the SFMTA, "would include a curb or barrier to separate bikes from traffic between Fifth and Eighth streets, and a strip of sidewalk in front of the Caltrain station."

But, reports Swan, "this month, the agency put the project on ice. Officials said they wanted to wait and incorporate the bikeways into the long-planned extension of Caltrain to the downtown Transbay Terminal, which won’t break ground for at least five years."

According to Swan, the plan met resistance from "merchants, community groups, the firefighters’ union and even the SFMTA itself." But bike advocates "aren't buying any of it," saying lives are at stake.