Underthe judge's order, the MTA can only install 3.7 of the 14 miles of bike
lanes it had hoped to paint in the first year. Flickr photo: Doubletee
(Editor's note: Because the LADOT uses the lawsuit barring bicycle projects in San Francisco as reason to "go slow" on bike projects, I thought checking in on the status of that lawsuit with the folks at SF Streetsblog could be enlightening. Also, Michael Rhodes contributed significantly to this story.)
A San Francisco judge issued an order [PDF]
modifying the three-year-old bike injunction late Wednesday afternoon,
refusing to dissolve it completely, but allowing the "most easily
reversible" projects to go forward. It means 10 of the 21 first-year
Bike Plan projects -- or about 3.7 miles of new bike lanes -- outlined by the MTA
can begin, and when completed, will mark the most significant
improvements bicyclists have seen on the streets of San Francisco since
the injunction was first issued in June 2006.
"With the huge demand for biking improvements, we're
disappointed that the Court didn't completely remove the handcuffs, but
we're pleased that some streets can now be improved for biking," said
Leah Shahum, Executive Director of the SF Bicycle Coalition. "A
three-year backlog means San Francisco has some serious catching up to
do and we are eager for this dark cloud over sustainable transportation
to be completely lifted."
In his order, Superior Court Judge Peter J. Busch said the completion and certification of the Bike Plan EIR
had "changed the circumstances," but he disagreed with the City
Attorney's argument "that the proper response is to unconditionally
dissolve the injunction" before the outcome of a hearing now set for
June to determine if the 2000 page document fully complies with CEQA.
