San Francisco KGO-TV/DT: Judge Puts Brakes On New Bike Lanes – New SF Bike Lanes Put On Hold – 19 September, 2006

The tension between car and bicycle – jockeying for San Francisco’s crowded streets – has landed in court. A judge has put the brakes on new bike lanes because critics say the city is building these lanes without considering their impact. San Francisco is famously bike friendly. Last year, supervisors endorsed a five-year plan to create a network of bike routes, bike parking and bike racks, all over the city. But now an opposition group called CAR (Coalition for Adequate Review) is challenging the loss of parking and street space for neighborhoods and business.Christopher Albanese, Market Street merchant: “Coming the wrong way, on the sidewalk, this is typical.” This antiques dealer says a brand new bike lane is ruining him. The bike lane runs along Market Street where metered parking used to be, but now customers can’t stop out front.

Christopher Albanese: “They said that this is the busiest street in the city. All the more reason to get the bicycles off the busiest street in the city. There are other routes for bicycles, but they don’t want to be inconvenienced.” Now the city’s bike plan has ended up in court. A coalition of opponents accusing the city of building its web of bike lanes peacemeal to avoid the proper review process.

For now, new bike lanes are on hold. Andy Thornley, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition: “We need to rebalance the way that we use our public space in this city.” But bicycle advocates say the lanes are the best way to get people out of their cars, and ease congestion. They note that when busy Valencia Street got bike lanes, riding there more than doubled.

Andy Thornley: “There are a lot of people who aren’t bicycling now who probably would start to make some of their trips by bicycle if we made the streets safer, and we made it a more routine, reasonable thing to get around.” Cars and bikes cohabitate much better now than a decade ago when the militant critical mass riders demanded an equal share of the road. Now the bicycle coalition, 6,000 members strong, is a political force at City Hall, and bike commuters come from all walks of life. Dana switched from the bus to her bike, commuting across town.

Dana Behan, bicycle commuter: “I never really thought about biking until I saw that there was a bike lane basically the whole way from my house to work and I figured that’s a really great option.” The coalition challenging the bike plan says its not anti-bicycle, but wants a balance — maybe lanes dedicated to bikes during inbound and outbound commute times, but allow parking at midday, for example. Neither side came away with an answer this morning. The judge is considering their arguments and will issue his ruling later.