Posts Tagged ‘350 Masonic’
Tuesday, January 29th, 2013
Hey, it’s the Masonic Avenue Street Design Study:
“About the Project – The primary goal of the Masonic Avenue Street Design Study is to identify how Masonic Avenue between Geary Boulevard and Fell Street can safely and efficiently accommodate the needs of all roadway users, including but not limited to … motorists.”
ALL RIGHT, EXACTLY HOW DOES THIS PROJECT “ACCOMMODATE THE NEEDS” OF “MOTORISTS?” OH, NOT AT ALL? THOUGHT SO. MOVING ON.
Objectives:
1. Engage representatives of all constituencies within the community who would be impacted by changes to Masonic Avenue…
ALL RIGHT, WHICH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE “MOTORIST” “CONSTITUENCY” WERE “ENGAGED?” ANY AT ALL? YOU KNOW, THE OCTAVIA BOULEVARD PEOPLE “ENGAGED” MOTORISTS AS FAR AWAY AS MONTEREY BOULEVARD, OUT THERE WITH CLIPBOARDS AND EVERYTHING. DID THE MASONIC AVENUE PEOPLE DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT? OH NO.
2. Improve transit operation.
THIS PROJECT WILL UNIMPROVE TRANSIT OPERATION ON AND AROUND MASONIC – THERE’S NO QUESTION ABOUT THAT. IT’S GOING TO SLOW DOWN THE BUSES THAT USE MASONIC, INCLUDING THE OCCASIONAL #5 FULTON AND #21 HAYES.
3. Improve pedestrian and non-motorized access to transit.
SO TRANSIT USERS WILL HAVE “BETTER ACCESS” TO REDUCED BUS SERVICE? I DON’T GET THE BETTER ACCESS PART – YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT A BUS STOP? ALSO, WHAT’S “MOTORIZED ACCESS TO TRANSIT?”
4. Increase the safety of pedestrian crossings.
YOU KNOW, THE PRIOR PROJECT MANAGER IS ON THE RECORD AS STATING THAT THIS KIND OF THING IS BAD TO DO LIKE NOW BECAUSE IT WOULD HURT THE CAUSE OF PUSHING THE ENTIRE PROJECT THROUGH. KIND OF SAD, REALLY.
5. Increase motorist compliance with traffic rules and regulations.
UH, WHAT, WITH TREES? IF I WANTED TO INCREASE COMPLIANCE WITH TRAFFIC LAWS, I’D JACK THE SPEED LIMIT UP TO 40 MPH. NOW, THAT WOULD HAVE SOME SIDE EFFECTS, BUT IT CERTAINLY WOULD REDUCE THE INCIDENCE OF SPEEDING, RIGHT? OR, HAVING HOURS-LONG TRAFFIC JAM UPS DURING THE MORNING AND EVENING DRIVES WOULD REDUCE SPEEDING, IS THAT WHAT YOU’RE GETTING AT?
6. Reduce the number of vehicular collisions, especially those involving pedestrians and bicyclists.
HOW? BY PLANTING TREES? WE’LL SEE. HEY DIDN’T THE RECENT OCTAVIA BOULEVARD / MEDIAN PROJECT INCREASE THE NUMBER OF VEHICULAR COLLISIONS ON OCTAVIA? YES IT DID. HOW WOULD YOU EXPLAIN THAT?
7. Support neighborhood vitality by creating a more inviting and accommodating public realm.
BY PUTTING IN A MEDIAN AND PLANTING TREES? SO, LET’S TAX AMERICA, CALIFORNIA, AND SAN FRANCISCO TO CREATE A “REALM” ON 3000 FEET WORTH OF STREET PRIMARILY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE WEALTHY PROPERTY OWNERS AND PRIVATE SCHOOL(S) WHAT ARE ON THE STREET? ALL RIGHT.
Tags: 2010, 350 Masonic, accidents, Allan, Allan Jacobs, Allan B. Jacobs, architecture, avenue, award, bay area, Berkeley, boulevard, Boulevard Book, Boulevards, california, central, community, community workshop, day, department of public works, design, Design of Multiway Boulevards, dpw, dr. masonic, Elizabeth, Elizabeth Macdonald, evolution, freeway, fucking trees, History, Jacobs, Macdonald, market, masonc avenue, masonic, Masonic Avenue Street, Masonic Avenue Street Design Community Workshop, masonic boulevard, movement, mta, Multiway, octavia, octavia boulevard, offramp, onramp, phd, Rofé, San Francisco, San Francisco Day School, school, SFMTA, silver, street, street design study, students, The Boulevard Book: History, traffic, trees, UC, university, university of california, workshop, Yodan, Yodan Rofé
Posted in cars | 2 Comments »
Thursday, May 12th, 2011
This isn’t my “preferred option,” but it’s the preferred option, so there you go.
Click to expand
How much will this cost?
Tens of millions, before overruns. $50,000,000 per mile or about $50,000 a parcel depending on how you look at it.
Who’ll pay for it?
Local, state, and federal taxpayers, just like the Bridge to Nowhere (let’s do something for Alaska) and the Chinatown subway (let’s do something for District 3).
Why does the public hearing notice enumerate the dozen-and-a-half parking spaces to be added but then leave out the hundred-something parking spaces that will be taken out?
Because this is a political document written by a politician.
Well, is there a cheaper, safety-only option to go along with the SFMTA’s “preferred option?”
Not that I’m aware of. Safety improvements have been held hostage over the years on account of this big maghilla project. The Project Director will tell you that if you ask him.
Do you have something against wide medians filled with trees that can never ever, ever, ever be removed for any reason at any time in the future, the likes of which can be found on Octavia and Divisadero?
Yes.
Any advice for cyclists in the mean-time?
Yes. Cyclists should stay the hell off of Masonic between Turk and Fulton. Use the wide, underpopulated sidewalks, and, if you want, run the red light at Golden Gate to get a head start on traffic going downhill to Fulton.
Tags: 2010, 350 Masonic, accidents, Allan, Allan Jacobs, Allan B. Jacobs, architecture, avenue, award, bay area, Berkeley, boulevard, Boulevard Book, Boulevards, california, central, community, community workshop, day, department of public works, design, Design of Multiway Boulevards, dpw, dr. masonic, Elizabeth, Elizabeth Macdonald, evolution, freeway, fucking trees, History, Jacobs, Macdonald, market, masonc avenue, masonic, Masonic Avenue Street, Masonic Avenue Street Design Community Workshop, masonic boulevard, movement, mta, Multiway, octavia, octavia boulevard, offramp, onramp, phd, Rofé, San Francisco, San Francisco Day School, school, SFMTA, silver, street, street design study, students, The Boulevard Book: History, traffic, trees, UC, university, university of california, workshop, Yodan, Yodan Rofé
Posted in Muni, politics | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
This is what last night’s meeting, the Second Masonic Avenue Street Design Community Workshop, looked like. It started 15 minutes late, had a half-hour break scheduled, and it began with a rehash for all the new people. You can see their raised hands here:
Anyway, for those reasons, I didn’t stick around. But here are diagrams for the choices on offer for Masonic. You can also see them at Bike NOPA.
Actually, the City has has already decided which proposal it likes best so far. Here’s your Options Matrix, in order of preference:
And here are each of the proposals, one by one:
Click to expand. It’ll get extra big.
This one adds a huge median and brings Masonic down to one lane each way at night:
This one adds a huge median and has no room for parked cars. Note the public policy disaster Octavia Boulevard appears to be cited favourably, as if there’s nothing wrong with it:
And this one adds a bike lane to the ridiculously wide sidewalks:
But there are constraints, of course:
So there you have it. About 60-something people were on hand when I left.
The City doesn’t want three lanes of traffic using Masonic during the morning and evening drives, that much is for sure.
Something that wouldn’t take four years would be to:
Just push back the encroaching landowners, get them off of public land and then just decriminalize bikes on the sidewalks of this part of Masonic, the same way that some other sidewalks allow bikes in town.
But that doesn’t seem to be under consideration.
Now you’d think that people at these Different Masonic meetings would make choices based upon this kind of ranking:
1. Safety
2. Flow
3. Aesthetics
But the folks that Fate allows to show up at these meetings seem to make choices based upon this ranking:
1. Aesthetics
2. Aesthetics
3. Aesthetics
O.K., we’ll see have to wait and see how this one goes.
Tags: 2010, 350 Masonic, accidents, Allan, Allan Jacobs, Allan B. Jacobs, architecture, avenue, award, bay area, Berkeley, boulevard, Boulevard Book, Boulevards, california, central, community, community workshop, day, department of public works, design, Design of Multiway Boulevards, dpw, dr. masonic, Elizabeth, Elizabeth Macdonald, evolution, freeway, fucking trees, History, Jacobs, Macdonald, market, masonic, Masonic Avenue Street, Masonic Avenue Street Design Community Workshop, movement, mta, Multiway, octavia, octavia boulevard, offramp, onramp, phd, Rofé, San Francisco, San Francisco Day School, school, SFMTA, silver, street, street design study, students, The Boulevard Book: History, traffic, trees, UC, university, university of california, workshop, Yodan, Yodan Rofé
Posted in streets | No Comments »
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
How will the second Masonic Avenue Street Design Community Workshop differ from the first?
No sé, mi amigo/a.
[UPDATE: BIKE NOPA has some deets.]
Anyway, this exercise in ascertainment bias, exactly the kind they warned us about in colledge, exactly the kind of bias the City wants, will be at 6:30 PM on August 10th at that rich prep school that costs $100-something per kid per day.
Click to expand.
Maybe it will look like Octavia “Boulevard” when all is said and done…
Tags: 2010, 350 Masonic, accidents, Allan, Allan Jacobs, Allan B. Jacobs, architecture, avenue, award, bay area, Berkeley, boulevard, Boulevard Book, Boulevards, california, central, community, community workshop, day, department of public works, design, Design of Multiway Boulevards, dpw, dr. masonic, Elizabeth, Elizabeth Macdonald, evolution, freeway, fucking trees, History, Jacobs, Macdonald, market, masonic, Masonic Avenue Street, Masonic Avenue Street Design Community Workshop, movement, mta, Multiway, octavia, octavia boulevard, offramp, onramp, phd, Rofé, San Francisco, San Francisco Day School, school, SFMTA, silver, street, street design study, students, The Boulevard Book: History, traffic, trees, UC, university, university of california, workshop, Yodan, Yodan Rofé
Posted in streets | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
I’ll tell you, what happened last night in the West of the Western Addition must have been just like the meetings that created the public policy disaster known as Octavia Boulevard, just like those meetings populated by Hayes Valley landed gentry and assorted NIMBY’s that spun out of control to create a traffic-choked “boulevard” that’s three medians and four traffic lanes (two just for parked cars!) too wide.
Anyway, about 60 souls showed at the tony San Francisco Day School to attend this “Street Design Study” joint yesterday. Check it:
The mise-en-scene:
Always with the medians:
Did you know that:
“A mature tree in an urban provides up to $162,000 in ecosystem services?”
(In other news, trees produce oxygen and birds live in trees. Heavy, man.)
I had to leave right when the make out “break out” sessions began, something to do with a play-date involving your neighbors in the hood and safety scissors and papers on tables and what-kind-of-Masonic-do-you-want.
And there’s nothing wrong with that, per se. The problem comes when traffic engineers lose their say and the landscapers are the only ones in charge.
We’ll see how this one goes, but the thing to remember is that the 60 people who showed are not The Community.
Not by a long shot.
Tags: 2010, 350 Masonic, accidents, Allan, Allan Jacobs, Allan B. Jacobs, architecture, avenue, award, Berkeley, boulevard, Boulevard Book, Boulevards, california, central, community, community workshop, day, department of public works, design, Design of Multiway Boulevards, dpw, dr. masonic, Elizabeth, Elizabeth Macdonald, evolution, freeway, fucking trees, History, Jacobs, Macdonald, market, masonic, Masonic Avenue Street, Masonic Avenue Street Design Community Workshop, movement, mta, Multiway, octavia, octavia boulevard, offramp, onramp, phd, Rofé, San Francisco, San Francisco Day School, school, SFMTA, silver, street, street design study, students, The Boulevard Book: History, traffic, trees, UC, university, university of california, workshop, Yodan, Yodan Rofé
Posted in streets | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
That’s what they’re saying, anyway. We’ll see how it goes.
In the meantime, how about www.FixGoldenGate.org as a potential URL/social movement? I’m sure the rich parents of the San Francisco Day School (tuition = $20-something thousand per year, per student) would want to have somebody to do something about enforcing traffic rules, or something.
Double-parked luxo SUVs parked on Golden Gate near Masonic, a daily occurrence:
Anyway, here’s the meeting.
Tags: 350 Masonic, accidents, Allan, Allan Jacobs, Allan B. Jacobs, architecture, avenue, award, Berkeley, boulevard, Boulevard Book, Boulevards, california, central, community, day, department of public works, design, Design of Multiway Boulevards, dpw, dr. masonic, Elizabeth, Elizabeth Macdonald, evolution, freeway, History, Jacobs, Macdonald, market, masonic, Masonic Avenue Street, Masonic Avenue Street Design Community Workshop, movement, mta, Multiway, octavia, octavia boulevard, offramp, onramp, phd, Rofé, San Francisco, San Francisco Day School, school, SFMTA, silver, street, students, The Boulevard Book: History, traffic, UC, university, university of california, workshop, Yodan, Yodan Rofé
Posted in streets, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Friday, June 4th, 2010
Read all about the upcoming Masonic Avenue Street Design Community Workshop below, but first, what about having a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for horrible Octavia Boulevard, you know, since some of the same players and mentalities are back in play a half-decade after the Octavia ribbon-cutting?
It would go something like this:
“No no, don’t worry, we won’t try put you in jail or take away the awards you recevied for your role in inflicting Octavia Boulevard on us and the coming generations. And we won’t even try to get back the suitcases full of money we gave you for your concepts. Not at all. But what went wrong with the Octavia project? What’s that you say? Your ideas, your Boulevard Movement, there was nothing wrong with those things but San Francisco just didn’t execute your vision properly, that’s the way it is? All right then, what exactly went wrong? Is the Boulevard too wide, even for you? Were all the new traffic accidents along Octavia expected? Maybe we should bring down the entire Central Freeway spur all the way back to Valencia and then de-boulevard Octavia? What kinds of changes can we make to Fix Octavia Now?”
Something like that.
The Octavia Effect affects people more than a mile away from Le Boulevard, where rush hour lasts all day and into the night, and shows up on weekends as well. (And Octavia blocks MUNI and cyclists and peds and drivers who never use the Central Freeway. Oh well:
Oh well, on to new bidness:
“On Tuesday June 15, the MTA will host the first Community Workshop to kick off a new street design study for Masonic Avenue, working to make sure that all road users are safer and more comfortable– whether you are on foot, bike, transit or in a car.
Masonic Avenue Street Design Community Workshop
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
6:30-8:30 PM
San Francisco Day School, 350 Masonic Avenue
(Enter on Golden Gate Ave.)
At the meeting, MTA Staff will give a presentation on existing conditions and community members will share their ideas and vision for a better Masonic Avenue, which will help shape MTA future recommendations. With so many collisions- whether car/car, car/pedestrian, or car/bike on Masonic- it is clear we need to find a way to reduce speeds, stop red light running, and improve safety for everyone in the area. For that reason, we need to have as many people as we can at the meeting on June 15 sharing their experiences on the road and speaking to the importance of safety and comfort for people walking and biking on the street.
Please mark your calendars for the June 15 meeting and help me make a better Masonic Avenue.”
And there’s this:
Masonic Avenue Street Design Community Workshop
Tue., Jun. 15 | 6:30-8:30pm | San Francisco Day School, 350 Masonic Avenue (Enter on Golden Gate Ave.)
At the meeting, MTA Staff will give a presentation on existing conditions and community members will share their ideas and vision for a better Masonic Avenue, which will help shape MTA future recommendations. Come share your experiences on the road and speak to the importance of safety and comfort for people walking and biking on the street.
See you there at this NIMBY-magnet. Maybe.
Tags: 350 Masonic, accidents, Allan, Allan Jacobs, Allan B. Jacobs, architecture, avenue, award, Berkeley, boulevard, Boulevard Book, Boulevards, california, central, community, day, department of public works, design, Design of Multiway Boulevards, dpw, dr. masonic, Elizabeth, Elizabeth Macdonald, evolution, freeway, History, Jacobs, Macdonald, market, masonic, Masonic Avenue Street, Masonic Avenue Street Design Community Workshop, movement, mta, Multiway, octavia, octavia boulevard, offramp, onramp, phd, Rofé, San Francisco, San Francisco Day School, school, SFMTA, silver, street, students, The Boulevard Book: History, traffic, UC, university, university of california, workshop, Yodan, Yodan Rofé
Posted in crime, streets | No Comments »
