Pedestrian Safety
| Apparently the City's Department of Parking and Traffic is having trouble keeping track of the city limits. To justify their inaction in solving a safety problem at the intersection of John Muir Drive and Lake Merced Boulevard, Jack Fleck, Acting Deputy Director and City Traffic Engineer wrote to James Huey, a resident at Lakewood Apartments, explaining that "most of this intersection is actually under the jurisdiction of the County of San Mateo." This map, taken from Mapquest, suggests another conclusion. |
Imagine Lake Merced Boulevard as a quiet scenic drive! Hard to do? Well, take a look at what Minneapolis did with their roadway around Lake Harriet. They turned a commuter highway into a parkway, complete with separate walking and biking paths. Is there any reason Lake Merced can't look like this too? (See more photos of Lake Harriet here.)
Friends of Lake Merced has waged an ongoing campaign, unfortunately
without much success, to improve pedestrian safety around Lake Merced.
In April '00 we posted a warning: "Crossing Skyline Boulevard near the Zoo is unsafe!" The San Francisco Zoo and the Recreation Center for the Handicapped, located on the northwest corner of Lake Merced, joined us in writing letters to the state Department of Transportation. Their response, in a letter addressed to Laura Louttit, Youth Programs Coordinator, The San Francisco Zoological Society:
"Based upon our latest speed zone survey dated 1997 and the low number of accidents, we cannot accomodate your request." HARRY Y. YAHATA, District Director, STATE OF CALIFORNIA -- BUSINESS, TRANPORTATION AND HOUSING AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, District 4Yesterday (9/27/00) the Chronicle reported the 26th traffic fatality in San Francisco this year:
"Semyon Sklyarsky became a U.S. citizen last year after coming to San Francisco seven years ago. The 74- year-old native of Ukraine liked to travel his adopted city by Muni, riding out to the beach from his home in the Richmond District.
"Monday night, he was on foot near Lake Merced when he became the latest pedestrian fatality in San Francisco.Well Harry, we've killed one old man now. What else do you need before you install a pedestrian-operated stoplight at the crosswalk at Skyline and Herbst, reduce the speed limit to 35, and do whatever else it takes to assure the safety of people entering and leaving Lake Merced?"Police say Sklyarsky, a retired electrical worker, was crossing Skyline Boulevard near Herbst Road when he was struck and killed by a Cadillac.
The driver, 49-year-old Joyce Massola, was heading to her home in Pacifica when she hit Sklyarsky at 8:26 p.m. She told investigators she saw only a ``dark form'' that she came upon too quickly to avoid striking."
See how the city's Department of Public Works views the safety of this intersection.
