(Image: RG Architecture)
With the shackles of a court injuction against new bikeways finally lifted a few months ago, San Francisco is looking to move boldly ahead. Streetsblog San Francisco has a detailed report on “Connecting the City,” a new campaign by the non-profit San Francisco Bike Coalition to dramatically enhance that city’s bike network.
Streetsblog SF reporter Bryan Goebel sets the stage for how the new campaign would serve the needs of people who ride:
“Those of us on the streets every day know the city can’t settle for six-foot lanes that leave cyclists straddling the perils of speeding traffic on one side and car doors swinging open on the other… the city must embrace the infrastructure that makes those cities safe and inviting to people who ride bikes.”
And the plan has major support in City Hall, with SF Gate reporting that San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu (fresh off a trip Amsterdam last month) will introduce a resolution to have 20% bike mode share in the city by 2020.
“Each route must produce the “aaah” effect, the sensation you get when you’re liberated from the anxiety of threatening auto traffic.”
Goebel refers to the SFBC’s campaign as their “most ambitious undertaking to date”. Their acting executive director says part of the plan is to take the city’s existing crosstown routes and “elevate” them to the “8 to 80” standard pushed by noted activist and consultant Gil Peñalosa. That standard seeks to make roads accessible and inviting for people from eight to eighty years of age.
Put a different way, SFBC’s Andy Thornley tells Streetsblog that the theme of the new routes — 27 miles of them within five years — is “comfortable and continuous.” “Each route must produce the “aaah” effect, the sensation you get when you’re liberated from the anxiety of threatening auto traffic.” There’s a big emphasis on separation and they’re even looking at some Trondheim-style bike lifts to get folks up the notorious hills.
Check out the full article on Streetsblog SF to learn more about what bike advocates and planners are working on in San Francisco.