The Bicyclist has No Shorts II

Urbanities never fails to marvel at how the endless self regard bicyclists have blinded them to...well just about everything. So, we were vastly amused that Superior Judge Peter Busch put the kibosh on the ambitious bicycle plan that the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC) was foisting on unsuspecting San Franciscans with his ruling on Tuesday, keeping in force the preliminary injunction that was put in place as a result of a lawsuit brought against the plan by the Coalition for Adequate Review, Ninety-Nine Percent and Rob Anderson in June.  The plan has been ordered to have a full, environmental review. 

The judge ruled that the City was trying an end-around of the state-mandated review by approving projects piecemeal. "Such reasoning is akin to trying to avoid review of a timber harvest plan by removing trees one at a time," Busch said.

One would think that having been handed two defeats in six months would cause the bicyclistas to rethink their approach, but no.  Quoth SFBC Executive Director Leah Shahum:  "It is ironic that in the midst of Spare the Air season when the Bay Area has made a public commitment to encouraging sustainable forms of transportation for the benefit of the environment, a few individuals are using the state's environmental regulations in an attempt to discourage the most environmentally friendly form of transportation,"

Check out the Supreme Court Building next time you are in DC, Ms. Shahum.  Especially the part where it says "Equal Justice Under Law".  You don't get to wriggle out of a legal requirement simply because you feel you are morally superior and politically powerful enough to force the City to do your will.

Comments

[Jamison]

Well, to be fair, the bicycle plan update was being implemented by the DPT and in quite a few cases will benefit all roadway users. For example the stretch of Townsend alongside Caltrain has plenty of room to add striped bike lanes and the project would also add the missing sidewalk for pedestrians. It would probably make things better for drivers. A lot of the projects are like that, putting lanes where this is room and bikes are used, just not signed with dedicated lines.

And the bike plan update is not exactly being "foisted upon us" as each of the projects has been subject to a lot more public review than other projects on the same scale. That's the actual official bike plan update though, which may be backed by the Bike Coalition, but tempered by the public review process.

Where the Bike Coalition and other militant bike activists got themselves into trouble is they tried to make their own end run around the bike plan with the Golden Gate Park saturday closure. The closure was a separate piece of legislation which I would not be surprised to find came about because the bike plan update was not going fast enough or far enough for them.