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Kyle Grochmal, advocate and Streetsblog contributor, lives in the Mission and travels regularly to Alameda by bike and AC Transit bus, which he catches from the Salesforce Transit Center. His late evening bike rides home from the Center should be relatively stress-free, thanks to the protected bike lane on Howard. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, at least on the 500 block of Howard, as he explained on Twitter:

.@templenightclub opened a parklet then turned a protected lane into priority parking for a nightclub. This is insanity. It endangers our vulnerable street users – such a service worker in front of me – and encourages drunk driving. Fix this @sfmta_muni @SF311. cc @MattHaneySF pic.twitter.com/zNaIMNthZg

— Kyle Grochmal (@KCGrock) April 2, 2022

The bike lane has to wrap around the parklet and is unprotected on this block, except for some plastic safe-hit posts. However, as noted in the tweet, it’s often blocked by scofflaw parkers. The worst problems are “Friday and Saturday, biking back on Howard,” he told Streetsblog. “A number of times there are cars in the bike lane. It happens regularly.”

“The safe-hit posts are spaced so far apart that it’s quite easy to pull cars into it,” he said.

“Thanks for bringing this to our attention,” wrote Pearce Cleaveland, marketing director for Temple, in an email to Streetsblog. He stressed that he agrees it’s not safe for people to park there. “We’ve immediately addressed this with all of our employees, both daytime and nighttime (who are expressly told not to park there), as well as any vendors visiting our building regularly.”

Irene Hernandez, who was working at the Mirus Gallery in the same building as the Temple on Tuesday afternoon, said “no employee parks here. We all take BART or pay for parking.” That conforms to Grochmal’s observations. And the lane was empty when Streetsblog observed it in the afternoon, when only employees are present at the venues.

The lane on Tuesday afternoon. Photo: Streetsblog/Rudick

Meanwhile, on the Temple Night Club web site there are no instructions from the club and bar about how to take transit to the Salesforce Transit Center-adjacent venue.

A shot of alcoholic beverages from the club’s website.

However, the website does encourage people to park on Howard.

Streetsblog reached out to Supervisor Matt Haney’s office. An official with his office said the Supervisor is aware of the issue and is consulting with SFMTA. Streetsblog also contacted SFMTA by email for more information and will update this post.

“We will also be reaching out to SFMTA and our local law enforcement reps, who we work closely with, to ask for some additional enforcement,” wrote Cleaveland. “Additionally, we are having some notices printed for our security to place on any vehicles who we DO discover might be blocking these lanes.”

In Streetsblog’s view, this is yet again a testament to the failure of SFMTA’s default quick-treatment demarcation of bike lanes, the plastic safe-hit post. The whole point of parking-protected bike lanes is the row of parked cars is supposed to keep cyclists physically safe from collision with moving automobiles. But if a parklet or anything else forces the bike lane to be right next to moving traffic, then there needs to be something that can actually stop a scofflaw motorist from parking on it. It also should be robust enough to directly and physically stop an errant motorist from running down a cyclist–that means SFMTA needs to install a Jersey Barrier or a similar barrier.

Grochmal was also frustrated by the lack of parking enforcement by SFMTA and the police. “It’s ridiculous that we don’t get enforcement at night,” he said. The Twitter thread is also pretty damning of SF 311, which had this to say:

So Grochmal tags 311 with photos of the violations and all the necessary details they need to tow the cars, but they tell him to call?

Meanwhile, Grochmal is especially concerned about essential workers who are forced to bike and scoot way out into traffic thanks to the combination of the parklet and the cars blocking a truly sub-par section of bike lane. “It’s these late-night service workers who have to scoot or bike and don’t have other options. Transit is reduced at night. And it’s during a time when they are most likely to encounter drunk drivers,” he said.

“Trust that we find this very concerning as well, and will continue to address with vendors, guests (where applicable) and employees,” wrote Cleaveland. “Safety of our employees, guests and whole community is of the utmost importance to Temple.”

The post Temple Night time Membership Parklet Endangers Howard Avenue Cyclists – Streetsblog San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Imaging if a city closed a sidewalk during construction and told pedestrians to just walk in traffic for a month.

That’s tantamount to what San Francisco has done to cyclists on Howard Street between 5th and 6th–within sight of where Tess Rothstein was doored and killed while biking to work in 2019.

Well that was short lived. No more protected bike lane on Howard @sfbike pic.twitter.com/PctTPyCYTT

— Ms. Doreen (@MsDoreenReads) February 7, 2022

The move left cyclists understandably riled. Rothstein was killed precisely because the city left long stretches of unprotected bike lane in place for many years; she died in sight of where the protected bike lane used to begin, on the other side of 6th Street.

“They painted this unprotected lane on a street where three people were killed in three years!!” wrote People Protected Bike Lane advocate Matt Brezina, in an email to Streetsblog and public officials.

Fortunately, this is a temporary measure. “The protected bike lane that was there will be restored. The current configuration is made of temporary tape and related to the construction of the development there,” explained an official with SFMTA.

Where the bike lane bends around the construction site. The passing box truck is the same type of vehicle that took Rothstein’s life. Photo: Streetsblog/Rudick

That’s not going to help though, if someone is injured or killed in the meantime.

Unprotected human bodies, on bicycle or foot, should never be put in close proximity with fast moving, two-to-five ton cars and even heavier trucks that can snuff out a life in a millisecond. Motorists are encased in passenger compartments with crumple zones and seat belts and air bags for a reason. Why on earth would anyone think it’s okay to leave cyclists or pedestrians in traffic without protection, especially in construction zones, where things are already especially dangerous?

It’s not hard to make temporary protective barriers. In fact, SFMTA went through the trouble of putting in lightweight pedestrian barrier along part of the route (as seen above). How much harder would it have been to put down real barriers? Cities in Denmark, the Netherlands, and elsewhere find ways to keep cyclists safe, even in construction zones.

A construction zone bike and pedestrian lane in Copenhagen. Photo: Jason Henderson.

In fact, it’s occasionally done even in a far away city called Oakland:

A construction area on Broadway in Oakland. Photo: Streetsblog/Rudick

Is the above configuration in Oakland above really that hard to emulate, SFMTA? Is it really that hard to see why the arrangement used on Howard, seen below, is just not safe?

The Howard Street temporary lane as seen from the pedestrian area. Photo: Streetsblog/Rudick

That said, Streetsblog would be unfair not to point out some of the positives getting installed in the area. At the corner of 5th, SFMTA installed a great protected turn. So at least when the construction is done, things should be better than ever.

A protected corner is under construction at Howard and 5th. Photo: Streetsblog/Rudick

Let’s just hope nobody gets hurt during the remainder of construction.

The post Howard Protected Bike Lane Eliminated – Streetsblog San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

The Texans selected Tytus Howard in the first round of the 2019 draft, with the idea that he could be the club’s long-term solution in the left tackle. The election was seen as some sort of reach and perhaps a panic move after the Eagles skipped Houston to pick Andre Dillard, who was the superior candidate. A few months later, the Texans switched a trade for LT Laremy Tunsil, and Howard opened his rookie season as the starting RT.

A ruptured meniscus ended Howard’s rookie campaign after just eight games. The lack of practices due to the pandemic also hurt.

He still started 2020 with 14 games on RT and was ranked 61st best tackle by Pro Football Focus out of 79 qualifiers. Sports Talk 790’s Aaron Wilson attributes that less-than-impressive ranking to a slow start caused by off-season problems and the fact that Howard continually bailed out former right-wing security guard Zach Fulton, who dropped 11 bags last year had to. Nonetheless, the team is now moving Howard into the interior and will place him at the left guard, according to Wilson.

Howard played a game at LG in 2019, and the team tested him in several different positions during training camp this year. But he was deployed on the left guard during the preseason game against the Cowboys last week, and that’s where he will open the 2021 season. He’s got the size, strength, and vicious streak to thrive inside, and between Tunsil on the left and the new center Justin Britt on the right, it will surely help.

2020 four-rounder Charlie Heck is expected to start the season on RT, but Howard is ready to step back outward if necessary.

The post Texans transferring Tytus Howard to LG to start out season appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.