Next Wiggtrans Meeting Monday, September 27th @ 8pm

[Ben Kaufman]

Hey Y'all,

Long time, no talk!  A lot of stuff has been going down in the land of Wiggle transportation issues in the past couple of months, and I would love the opportunity to talk to you guys about them and to get your input on moving forward on some of the stuff we have been talking about.  I have been hard at work making the case for the Working Group's endorsed positions on Duboce Avenue and Fell Street and would like to meet to discuss the details of this advocacy.  Please mark your calendars for the upcoming meeting so we can press forward on making the Wiggle a more bicycle-, pedestrian-, and transit-friendly community!

• Monday, September 27th
• 8:00pm - 9:30pm
• My House
• 1654 Grove Street (@ Central)
  
• San Francisco, CA 94117

Please feel free to bring booze or delicious snacks to share and I will make sure to do the same.  More things will be discussed at the meeting (and I will try and send out a formal agenda next week), but in the meantime, please read over a petition that Morgan and I have been hard at work writing up to "Fix Fell Street" (attached to this email), reflective of this working group's formal recommendations, that we hope to eventually get signed by 1,000 neighborhood residents and sent to all of the powers-that-be. Holler back with any suggested changes and we will review it and try to finalize it at the upcoming meeting. 

See you on the Streets of the Western Addition this Sunday for our first-ever Sunday Streets in the hood!

Thank you all for all that you do,

BK

--
Benjamin M. Kaufman
benmk...@gmail.com
617.308.8352

[Mags Yen-Chuang Matthews]

This is well written stuff and great timing.  Fix Fell was just discussing the need for door to door neighbor support and getting a petition started.    What do you think about either changing the light timing for pedestrians and cyclists on Fell at Divisadero,  and/or limiting Left turns from drivers onto Divisadero from Fell St.  I totally understand simplifying requests to 3 items.   With Janel's experience in dealing with MTA, They never fully met her requests.  She would asked for 10 and they would concede to 4. Check out the discussion on the "Fix Fell design platform" thread if you like.  I'm attaching what we ended up sending to Ross Murkarimi,  the mayor, MTA and others.

I would love to have one unified petition to fix Fell St. so we aren't doing double work.  I will definitely support the petition you agree to.  I am working Tuesday and Thursday nights until 9pm in Mission Bay so I can't make it to this meeting.  Just thought I would add my 2 cents :-)

PS.  Mad props to a most amazing weekend!

-Mags

Here is the platform below:
For those who are discussing engineering solutions to Fell St., below is the
official Fix Fell design platform.  If you support this, please contact your
supervisor (through http://www.sfbos.org/) and the mayor at (
http://www.sfmayor.org/contact-the-mayor/) and tell them you demand the
closure of the gas station entrances on Fell and a separated bikeway on Fell
St.

To bbarry and others who are criticizing our tactics:  Women's right to vote
and an end to legal segregation in the south was brought about by people
disobeying what they felt were unjust laws.  If you don't believe in
peaceful civil disobedience as a legitimate tactic, perhaps you'd also like
to return to a time when women had no political voice and black people had
separate drinking fountains, because that's where we would be if people
limited their protests to 'gathering signatures.'

In our opinion, this culture's assault on the environment and the human
right to safe streets is no less a significant battle than these past
struggles.  Also, I think you may not realize that people- including many of
us involved in Fix Fell- have organized for YEARS trying to get significant
improvements on Fell St, writing letters, attending meetings, etc.  The
problem has not been solved.   It is time to take it to the next level.
We're serious about preventing the next fatality, and we're not going away
until there is a basic level of safety on Fell St. and across the City.

Below is a post from our Fix Fell website describing the physically
separated bike lane that NYC DOT has installed on Ninth Avenue by removing a
lane of traffic.  Before and after photos are included. This project sets a
precedent that we can (and must) apply to Fell Street from Scott to Baker
Streets.

http://fixfell.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/sf-losing-face-as-nyc-shows-u...

As you know, in general we are advocating for safe conditions on the city's
arterial streets.  Long term, that will mean returning Fell and Oak Streets
to two way thoroughfares.
*
In the short term, the minimum the city must do is the following:*

-close motor vehicle access to/ from Scott St. at Fell to eliminate danger
from speeding cars down the hill and left turning conflict.   Allow full
permeability for people on foot and bicycle.

-remove approx 36 parking spaces along the south side of Fell St. between
Scott and Baker to provide safe, separated space for bicycle circulation.
If local n'hood opposition is an issue, investigate use of DMV lot for
residents in evenings to compensate.

-DPW take action to revoke Fell St. driveway permits to both the 76 and Arco
stations based on documented safety impacts- both businesses would retain an
ingress and egress on Divisadero

-prohibit left turns from Fell St. onto Divisadero or provide separate
signal phase

-Undertake turn volume and safety studies to determine potential conflicts
between tow company and supermarket parking entrances and bicycle
circulation.  Shut these entrances if minimum safety standards are not met

-Prohibit left turns onto Baker, or install separate phase

-construct an attractive, two way bikeway on the south side of Fell St.
between Scott and Baker, with possible extension along Panhandle to GGP,
buffered with landscaping.

We hope you will give us feedback on this platform, and support these
efforts by contacting the Mayor and your supervisor, and getting involved
with our ongoing protests!

Ride safe out there and take the lane!

Josh