Judge: SF Bike Plans Need Environmental Review

Posted by admin on 11/9/06 in Traffic Safety Issues

CBS5.com: Judge: SF Bike Plans Need Environmental Review – 9 November, 2006

A plan to turn San Francisco into a “world-class bicycling city” is on hold after a judge ruled that it should be subjected to an environmental review. The plan, approved by that the Board of Supervisors last year, would open a network of bike lanes on major streets and quieter streets where cars would be required to share travel space with cyclists.
The plan would also require humps and roundabouts to slow car traffic. But Superior Court Judge Peter Busch ruled Tuesday that the city was trying to get around the need for state-required environmental studies by approving a “policy framework” in 2005 and treating road changes as individual projects.

“Such reasoning is akin to trying to avoid review of a timber harvest plan by removing trees one at a time,” the judge wrote. The ruling followed a summer decision by another judge to delay the plan until a hearing on a lawsuit brought by opponents.

“We’re disheartened by this,” said Nathaniel Ford, executive director of the city’s Municipal Transportation Agency. He said the city “is examining options with regard to an appeal.”

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1 Comment(s)

Rob Eke | Dec 8, 2006 | Reply

only in America?, not really, but it is clear the opponents of bike riding or more people walking in our communities are very keen to enlist whatever means they can to delay the inevitable day when non motor car daily transport choices are as normal to all as eating and washing.

Here is an example of a situation where the very laws to protect environmental issues can be enlisted to prevent the utilisation of sane pro environment options.

There is something very sinister afoot in this example which shows how far interests will go to obstruct, prevent or delay change in transport priorities.
This phenomenon is not exclusive to western society it is also becoming more apparent in some economies emulating western styles (eg: China) where bicycle riding in some profile cities is getting in the way of the commercial pressures of new wealth and motor cars as status.

Riders across the world are encouraged to support sustainable transport choices which bring outcomes that protect our planet. We can no longer use the guise of commercial pragmatism as the driver for societal solutions. That dear friends is proving every day to be disastrous for our personal safety, health, our environment and our planets survival.

The thin edge of the wedge could be the bicycle, lets give it a good shove into the crack of senseless planet abuse and maybe just save our little lump in space for our kids and their kids…we cant run away to some other rock in space, this is all we have..our ark needs us!