By Kristi Coale : thefrisc – excerpt
Among changes to help bikes and other alternatives, a safer 13th Street that also lets drivers get to local stores could be the stiffest test yet.
After the devastating 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, San Francisco tore down roughly six miles of elevated freeway, clearing room and sky and letting the Embarcadero, Ferry Building, and Hayes Valley flourish.
Now, some city and state officials are floating the idea of more removal: the elevated 1.5 mile Central Freeway, which runs east-west from Market Street to the confluence of Interstate 80 and Highway 101.
Until this long-shot dream comes to fruition, however, SF faces a more immediate reality. The streets and chaotic intersections that run under the Central Freeway are some of our busiest, most dangerous, and most important for crosstown travel — and they need to be fixed. Changes are coming; a safety upgrade is due to begin later this year or early 2024…(more)
We have two objects to removing the Central Freeway. Increased surface traffic through the Mission and spending money on anything other than improving MUNI.
Not only do we agree with Kirsti that 13th Street could use a little work, but, where are the funds to tear down freeway coming from since SFMTA is claiming they are broke and the businesses the state chose to support over all others are driving out as fast as they can?
How many more businesses can the city afford to kill? As the rate they are going, we will be lucky if we have any big grocery chains remaining in San Francisco.
This is a bad idea.