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From the San Francisco Chronicle:
San Francisco officials assured angry and frustrated bicycle activists on Monday that court-ordered environmental studies on proposed bike lanes and other infrastructure improvements to benefit two-wheelers will be wrapped up by Thanksgiving. But it will still take several more months - at least - before the projects can move forward.
Implementation of the San Francisco Bicycle Plan has been held up since June 2006 when a Superior Court judge ruled in favor of a lawsuit brought by blogger Rob Anderson. He argued that the city failed to analyze the environmental effects the bike projects would have on such things as parking and vehicle traffic.
As a result, the city has been temporarily barred from striping new bike lanes, putting in new bike racks, allowing bikes to be taken on Muni trains, and implementing any physical changes to the city’s streetscape aimed specifically at benefiting cyclists.
In all, about 60 projects have been put on hold until the temporary court injunction is lifted, which is expected to be next spring at the earliest.
“It’s been too long,” said artist Sarah Dorrance, a 47-year-old Mission District resident who relies on her bike and public transit to get around the city. She wants to see more bike lanes, and, ideally, more bike-only streets to make cycling safer.
Two years ago, her husband was the victim of a hit-and-run as he
rode his bike along Bayshore Boulevard and sustained a traumatic brain
injury, Dorrance said. “The city could and should be doing a lot more.”
