The San Francisco Citizen

It’s safe to assume that wheels are in motion for changes at the infamous Fell and Masonic intersection. Even District 5 Diary’s Rob Anderson (and hey Rob, nice pullback on your recent reckless and defamatory post this past week) doesn’t object.

But here’s the problem for some cyclists:

 ”A traffic signal displaying a red, yellow or green bicycle will usher cyclists through the intersection.”

That means you’re going to have less time to get across deadly Masonic on your bike. Hopefully, these changes will add up to fewer injuries but if you cross on a red bicycle light, as you might be tempted to do, any collision that results will likely be blamed on you.

The changes will take some getting used to, anyway.

Have fun, stay safe!

Oh oh, there’s a new “neighborhood call to action” in San Francisco.

“Sometimes it’s possible for really significant changes to slip past normal public planning channels almost unnoticed.”

Now this man certainly doesn’t look too happy about a LightSpeed utility box installed in his nabe, but San Francisco’s new boxes should be shorter than this. People, teh Sunset district with a few more metal boxes here and there is still going to be the Sunset, avec all its pluses and minuses. This LightSpeed program won’t be a “significant change” to anything. You NIMBYs are getting out of hand.  

Look what DPT has to go through with DPW to make deadly Masonic Avenue a little safer a with a single (one) controller cabinet. The notice pictured below was posted on umptyump telephone poles recently.

Click to expand. (Sorry NIMBYs, time has expired for any call to arms on this one.)

Countdown signals now! And LightSpeed, meh, whatever, doesn’t matter.

So far this year, the big news regarding the traffic situation on Masonic Avenue is a reduction in the speed limit to a maximum of 25 MPH. 

Mission Accomplished?

One of this morning’s accidents on Masonic: 

It seems there’s still room for improvement on this street.

Now back in the day, there were plans for a Panhandle Freeway(!), so it’s not like some traffic czar organized the streets in this area in a coherent fashion. We have what, we have by “accident,” mas o menos.

Is it too late for wholesale changes to the way Masonic is laid out?

Charles Shaw, everybody’s favorite brand of extreme value wine, has been a mainstay at Trader Joe’s for a good long time. But the folks over at TJ’s would like you to step up from the Two Buck Chuck, which is still only $1.99 (but maybe a little higher depending on how much you get victimized by the archaic, mafia-like, middleman-friendly, ”three-tier system for alcohol distribution). Anyway, it’s the “one constant in their wine selection.”

To help you with improving your life, TJ’s has a nice 5-page catalogue of wines that are more in keeping with your upscale life. Check out Edition One of the Wine Journal, if you want.

The Busiest TJ’s in teh World. It’s just another day at the Trader Joe’s on Masonic:

Now speaking of Two Buck Chuck, the UFW is urging consumers to take action in response to the recent death of pregnant 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez. The United Farm Workers want you to Tell Trader Joe’s to Chuck the Excuses. Here are some more details.

Your choice.

Yesterday’s Haight Ashbury Street Fair in San Francisco came with sunny skies and lots of attendees.

The alcohol ban of recent years has changed the character of this event somewhat. These days, the boozy Union Street Festival might have an edge in the number of inebriated. No matter, a good time was had by all in the Haight.

So, dig the colors of David Yu and look at a bunch of photos from SFWeekly. 

A mass of humanity:

 Could this man with marijuana garland be famous artist Harry Shearer trying out a new character?  

Hookahs! Get your hookahs! Hookahs.com was in the house:

A dancing baby grooving on Haight Street:

Cindy Sheehan had more than a few acolytes gathering signatures for Cindy’s windmill-tilting House campaign against Nancy Pelosi:

See you next year!

Be careful when attending the alcohol-free (really?) Haight Ashbury Street Fair today, as parole agents are on the scene. That’s not too crunchy.

Cheese it, the cops!

Bike messenger Kirk Janes was killed yesterday morning in a collision with a truck at Fulton and Steiner in Alamo Square. San Francisco’s Ride of Silence, already planned for yesterday evening, was then hastily altered to start at this intersection.

The Ride of Silence occurs on the third Wednesday in May in almost 300 cities around the world.  It’s a bicycle ride to commemorate cyclists killed or injured while riding on public roads. It helps to raise awareness among motorists of the dangers they pose to cyclists. Unlike a Critical Mass event, Ride of Silence rides are not designed to stall traffic or create conflict with motorists.

A KTVU channel 2 news crew spoke with riders as they assembled:

Friends of Kirk Janes were on hand with flowers:

It’s unusual to see a group this large not chatting and making noise. At the infamous intersection of Fell and Masonic:

  Per FixMasonic: 

This morning, at a public hearing at San Francisco City Hall, it was decided without opposition to implement a 25 mile-per-hour speed limit on Masonic Avenue. This is a direct result of our petition and represents that first such change to Masonic Avenue in response to FixMasonic.

This is great news for all of us who want to see change to Masonic - not only because a lower speed limit can only lead to safer driving, especially if we encourage SFPD to enforce it, but because it acknowledges that Masonic Avenue is a residential street and demands a street design appropriate to a residential neighborhood.

Please come celebrate with us and help us keep this amazing effort moving forward:

FixMasonic Meeting
Wednesday, April 23, 2007, 6:30 pm
San Francisco Day School, Golden Gate @ Masonic

You are also invited to Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi’s office THIS EVENING, Friday April 18, at 5:30 pm for an exhibition of posters by schoolchildren envisioning a safer Masonic Avenue - City Hall Room 282.

Finally, we would like your response to a petition regarding usage and safety of Masonic Avenue. To complete survey online, go to www.walksf.org/fixmasonic