San Francisco, CA
Bay Area cyclist react to proposal of moving barriers on Richmond–San Rafael Bridge during commutes
It was five years ago this month that California closed off one of the lanes of the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge to allow bike and pedestrian access.
The pilot project has now ended and Caltrans is recommending that the bike lane be closed for most of the week. But cyclists are digging in their heels to retain their 24/7 ride across the Bay Area.
On a cool, clear day like Saturday, the ride across the bridge was inviting enough, even if it wasn’t for the message they were trying to send.
More than 100 cyclists made the trek from the Richmond BART station, across the span to Marin County. Nathalee Lomeli from Berkeley was a first-time bridge rider.
“It was beautiful. It’s a beautiful day,” she said. “It was nice to see everybody come together in the community to support keeping this lane open and it was just a good time. Like, if it’s gone, I wouldn’t be able to experience it, know what I mean?”
But critics of the bike lane have long complained about how empty it appears while cars stack up during the weekday morning commute. Last year, a UC Berkeley study revealed how much—or little—usage was actually occurring.
“And so, right now, there are 21 bikers in the morning commute that are crossing across a three-hour time window. And yet, there’s 18,000 cars during that three-hour window,” said John Grubb with the Bay Area Council, a business advocacy group supporting more traffic flow across the bridge.
“You know, I’m not sure what numbers they were expecting,” said Warren Wells, policy director for the Marin Bicycle Coalition. “There was never any clear success or failure metric for this pilot. They never said, if we have this many people a day, we’ll keep it…if we have fewer than that we’ll remove it.”
So, the cycling community on both sides of the Bay turned out on Saturday to react to a proposal—endorsed by Caltrans, Marin County and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission—to move the barriers back Monday through Thursday, closing off access to bikes and once again providing a maintenance and breakdown lane.
Wells said they can’t allow cars to use the lane because opening it to vehicle traffic would invite more drivers, which is a violation of state environmental laws. But he thinks that is the ultimate goal and doesn’t believe this current proposal is the end of it.
“It’s being framed as yet another compromise,” said Wells. “‘Oh, the compromise is that drivers get this four days a week and bikers, the half of you that are riding it on weekends, you guys get your lane.’ So, I expect a few years down the road, there’ll be some other compromise where the compromise we get is cut in half by another compromise. It doesn’t take Nostradamus to predict that.”
And even those who use it only on weekends aren’t thrilled about seeing it cut off during the week.
“I don’t see why they’re closing it, just to make a shoulder lane that’s not going to make traffic any better,” said rider Amanda Carson. “It’s just closing off access to the North Bay. It’s really the only way you can get here from the East Bay.”
“To me, this bridge is all about the connection,” said cyclist Mary Norton. “And even if it’s ten cyclists a day going over, to have that access for reducing the number of cars–rather than just sit and be a break-down lane–is so important.”
It’s fair to point out that creating the bike lane did not remove a lane of traffic on the bridge.
The lane had been shut down since the early 1970s when it was closed to make room for an emergency water pipeline to Marin County during a severe drought. It was never re-opened to traffic after that, instead used as a maintenance lane.
The final decision for the new plan rests with the State’s Bay Conservation and Development Commission and those floating the proposal say they hope to see a decision sometime in December.
SAN FRANCISCO – Pro volleyball will soon be coming to San Francisco and this latest team is part of a surge of women’s sports.
League One Volleyball officially launched this year with six teams. Now the league has announced it’s expanding to nine teams, and that one of those expansion teams will be based in the city by the bay.
Three-time Olympic volleyball medalist Kelsy Robinson Cook is on the ownership team for LOVB San Francisco, bringing professional volleyball to the city. “Can tell you it’s going to be amazing,” said Robinson Cook. “Then, when you bring in the fandom of the Bay Area and SF I think personally it’s going to make for an incredible atmosphere.”
Team ownership said starting a team in the Bay Area is a natural with colleges and universities in the region turning out top talent. “It’s the number one sport for women and girls and I think that just speaks volumes as to where we’re headed, not only in club and college, but professionally,” said Robinson Cook.
Pro women’s volleyball is part of a growing list of professional women’s sports teams calling San Francisco and the Bay Area home.
The women’s professional baseball league announced plans for a team in San Francisco. Bay FC and the Golden State Valkyries are already proving there is a market for professional women’s sports.
When pro-volleyball was looking to expand, San Francisco was a natural choice. “You’re seeing Bay FC, the Valkyries, the success that they have, and this market loves sports, and they’ve also proven they love women’s sports,” said Robinson Cook.
San Francisco leaders said the city has already proven that it supports pro-women’s teams, and will welcome professional volleyball. Mayor Daniel Lurie pointed to the city’s rich sports history and enthusiasm to support the home teams. “Now, as we saw with the Valkyries selling out every single home game last year, there is an appetite, there is a fan base, and this new league understands that,” said Mayor Lurie.
At this time, there are still a lot of questions up in the air, including exactly where LOVB San Francisco will play. Organizers say they have a lot of plans in the works to get the team ready to bump, set and spike starting in January 2027.
(KRON) — The South San Francisco Police Department released video Thursday showing what led up to two officers shooting a man who authorities said was armed with a knife.
On December 8 at around 5:10 a.m., police arrived at the 900 block of Sandra Court on the report of a man under the influence of drugs and making threats to kill himself. When officers made contact with the man, identified as 28-year-old Luis Francisco-Manzo, he initially complied with orders, authorities said.
Officer-worn body camera video shows Francisco-Manzo walking toward officers in the entrance hallway of an apartment complex with his arms raised. A small dog barks as officers give repeated commands. Suddenly, Francisco-Manzo appears in the entranceway next to officers as one calls out, “He’s got a knife.”
Officer Brendan Hart, who has been with SSFPD for eight years, fired a Taser at Francisco-Manzo, but it did not have the intended effect, police said.
Four gunshots are heard in the body camera video. Police said Officer Hart and Officer Martin Corona were the officers who discharged their weapons. Officer Corona has seven years of law enforcement experience with over four years at SSFPD.
Francisco-Manzo was transported to the hospital in critical condition. On Thursday, authorities said he continues to recover in the hospital. No officers were injured in the incident.
The police shooting remains under investigation by the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
SAN FRANCISCO – A hit-and-run crash in San Francisco on Wednesday evening left a pedestrian dead.
Driver fled scene
What we know:
According to the San Francisco Police Department, the crash happened around 6:05 p.m. in the 5500 block of Mission Street. The driver fled the scene after striking the pedestrian.
The victim died at the scene.
Officers have not yet provided a description of the suspect vehicle involved in the incident.
No further details were immediately released.
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