By Steven T. Jones
Bicyclists and city officials are anxiously awaiting word from Superior Court Judge Peter Busch on whether he will lift the three-year-old court injunction against any bike-related improvements to the city. He’s now considering recent filings by the city and anti-bike blogger Rob Anderson’s attorney, Mary Miles, and could issue his ruling at any time.
At issue is whether the environmental impact report on the San Francisco Bicycle Plan, which the city completed early last summer, is adequate and addresses the concerns that led to the injunction. The far-reaching plan was originally approved with no EIR. A full hearing of the EIR’s adequacy won’t happen untill next year, but the city wants to be able to start making some improvements now.
Activists and city officials have long been frustrated with the breadth of the injunction, which bans all projects mentioned in the bike plan, even simple bike racks and sharrow markings (which indicate the safest area for bikes to ride on shared roadways), as well as critical safety features like new bike lanes on dangerous streets. And they’re hopeful that Judge Busch will issue at least a partial lifting of the injunction.