By Kristen Leckie on December 4, 2018
Safety can’t wait on Valencia Street.
That was the message we made clear at the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Board meeting this afternoon, backed by 40 speakers and following nearly 500 submitted letters of support. Our urgent calls for change made a difference, as the SFMTA Board unanimously approved protected bike lanes on Valencia between Market and 15th streets.
Powerful testimony was shared over nearly two hours of public comment on this item. Our community organizer, Andy Gonzalez Cabrera, shared a story from streetside outreach where they connected with a man who bikes here every day but was injured after being doored. Speaking in only Spanish, he told Andy how he struggled to communicate with the driver because of language differences. When others stopped to see if he needed to go to the hospital, he refused because he didn’t have health insurance and didn’t want the police to show up.
A wide range of people spoke, including a sixth-grader from Friends School, parents who bike with their children on Valencia, and many people who have been hit by drivers while biking along this corridor.
At the end of the day, these are the people who are impacted when the City delays action for street safety, and that’s why we mobilized and showed up in numbers to make this protected bike lane a reality.