Write the Letter, Make the Difference for Better Biking on Fell and Oak

One block of green-striped bike lane is not enough -- not when cyclists of all ages are inches away from motorists often traveling 30-45mph. We can all make cycling safer on Fell and Oak with separated bike lanes that benefit the whole neighborhood as traffic calming measures.

The SFMTA, the SF Bicycle Coalition, NOPNA, ASNA and other community groups have weighed in on the importance of safer cycling between the Wiggle bike route and the Panhandle. Changes to the current configuration of traffic for all users will be necessary, but safety and the city's commitment to alternative transportation must become priorities.

Please take a few minutes and jot a few thoughts in support of a safer bikeway along Fell and Oak between Scott and Baker -- three blocks that can give a huge boost to safety and livability in the city. Send you message to the Mayor and SFMTA Director Ed Reiskin. Urge them to follow-through on his commitment to safer biking for San Francisco with real, specific actions. Get a few tips about your letter here.

Add your experiences with biking this routes, and why changes are needed. Urge Director Reiskin and his staff to not get overly sidetracked by the resistance from a few about possible parking removal.

Add your voice today: SFMTA is close to closing public input for this phase of the planning process. Send your message and help improve biking conditions along this essential route.

B2B Efforts Help NOPNA Snag Meeting with the Mayor, New District 5 Alliance Forming

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee was so impressed with neighborhood organizers who helped deliver a less rowdy but festive Bay to Breakers footrace this year that his office invited the North Panhandle Neighborhood Association to host his first district-wide meeting on July 21. The mayor requested the meeting to discuss two measures due on the November ballot: pension reform and the $248 million streets repair bond.

Jarie Bolander, President of NOPNA, said the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services asked him to organize the meeting along with leaders of nine other neighbors and merchants associations. "It seemed like a natural follow-up," Bolander said, referring to the successful collaboration among the many groups who worked for months to improve the Bay to Breakers after widespread complaints followed the 2010 race.

Bolander also described the formation of a new District 5 organization, tentatively named the District 5 Merchants & Neighborhood Alliance. The new group will include representatives of ten existing neighbor and merchant groups and would serve as a link between them on district-wide issues. Bolander said they would likely seek non-profit status in the months ahead and function with shared leadership on a rotating basis.

For the July 21 meeting with the mayor, Bolander will offer a brief introduction and serve as moderator. The mayor will discuss the two ballot measures and solicit feedback from participants. Representatives from several city departments will also be present at the meeting.

Pension reform has, of course, become an issue nationally. In San Francisco, much of the "city family" of elected officials and business and community leaders have agreed on one strategy to go before the voters, but there remains the possibility that Public Defender Jeff Adachi will advance an alternative proposal. No one disagrees with the need for extensive reconstruction and repair of city streets, but the prospect of paying for the work through a bond measure continues to trouble some observers.

NOPNA/District 5 Meeting

Thursday, July 21

7pm - 9:00 pm

SF Day School

350 Masonic @ Golden Gate (enter on Golden Gate)

Secure bike parking available

SF Day School is on Muni line #43 Masonic and is one block from #31 Balboa and the #5 McAllister