Bike advocates say a protected bike lane near the downtown Caltrain station can't wait. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) says the project will have to wait.
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.
FULL STORY: Bicyclists protest as city plans for safer lanes hit bumps
Austin Outlaws Blocking Bike Lanes
Drivers who park in bike lanes will receive citations of up to $300.
How San Francisco’s ‘People Protected Bike Lanes’ are Moving the Needle on Road Safety
A local bike safety protest has become a global phenomenon.
Nation's Top Safety Board Recommends Protected Bike Lanes
The NTSB chair issued a stark warning on Nov. 5: "If we do not improve roadway infrastructure for bicyclists, bicyclists will die who otherwise would not," stated Robert Sumwalt in introducing their first report in 47 years devoted to bike safety.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association