SUNSET HEIGHTS NEWSLETTER
January 2008
SHARP Neighborhood Meeting With Sup. Elsbernd
On Tuesday, January 27, San Francisco Supervisor Sean Elsbernd will be the featured speaker at the monthly neighborhood meeting of the Sunset Heights Association of Responsible People (SHARP). Supervisor Elsbernd, who represents District 7 including the Sunset Heights neighborhood, will speak and answer questions on the state of the City, the budget crisis and recent changes on the Board of Supervisors.
The meeting begins at 7:30 PM at the Barry home at 1627 10th Avenue and will also feature a report on our neighborhood association’s plans for 2009 and SHARP’s community building. The public is welcome, so bring a friend!
Undergrounding of Utilities Proceeds … Slowly
Final work on the undergrounding of certain electrical, telephone and television facilities (Muni’s overhead trolley wires will remain) is proceeding at a slow rate. The work covers Ninth Avenue between Judah and Ortega, Tenth Avenue between Ortega and Quintara, and Ortega between Ninth and Tenth Avenues. The aim of this phase of the work is to remove all wood poles on these streets. All "live" facilities on the poles have been removed and every so often a contractor or the PG&E comes in to remove one or more wood poles. There apparently is no rush to complete this pole removal. For some reason Quintara Street between 10th and 14th Avenues was not included in the project so wood poles and overhead wiring will remain on that street.
Traffic Fines on 19th Avenue Doubled to Save Lives
State Senator Leland Yee reminds us that base fines will be doubled effective January 1, 2009 for unlawful passing and overtaking, excessive speed, reckless driving, drunken driving, and other similar serious moving violations occurring while driving on 19th Avenue.
Senator Yee introduced and carried this legislation to fruition as part of a push to protect pedestrians sponsored by SHARP and other civic organizations concerned with increasing pedestrian fatalities and accidents. Current base fines range from $25.00 (for speeding up to 15 mph over the speed limit) to $500 (for reckless driving causing great bodily injury). Add in local and state assessments and the new double fine, tickets can now range from $137.50 (for speeding up to 15 mph over the limit) to $2,750.00 (for reckless driving causing great bodily injury).
This new double fine zone applies to 19th Avenue (State Highway Route 1) from its intersection with Junipero Serra and along Park Presidio Boulevard (also State Highway Rout 1) to its intersection with Lake Street, and to US Route 101 (Van Ness Avenue and Lombard Street) from Golden Gate Avenue to Lyon Street) for a period of five years.
Note that shortly before the work began on the current traffic signal upgrading project along 19th Avenue and Park-Presidio Boulevard, the speed limit on Route 1 was lowered from its previous 35 mph to 30 mph. Traffic scofflaws are fortunate that as on many construction projects there are not signs reading "FINES DOUBLED IN CONSTRUCTION AREA." That would have really increased the fines! Such signage is subject to the approval of the local public agency and in this case the City and County of San Francisco (CCSF) apparently did not approve.
19th Avenue Traffic Improvements Continue
In another effort to improve traffic flow and reduce pedestrian deaths, the traffic signal upgrading project on 19th Avenue continues. According to the Caltrans resident engineer, a total of three intersections, Vicente, Eucalyptus and Holloway, were complete as of January 8, 2009. The upgrade project will be conducted in three phases. Phase 1 consists of the upgrading of 10 intersections and Phase 2 consists of 16 intersections. Both of these phases are currently under way. Phase 1 is scheduled for completion in May 2009 while Phase 2 will be completed in February 2010. The contract for Phase 3 will be awarded when funding is available.
The current work consists of upgrading all existing traffic signals along State Highway Route 1 from the intersection of 19th Avenue and Junipero Serra to Park Presidio Boulevard and Geary Boulevard. This includes the installation of traffic signal poles with mast arms for signals over 19th Avenue and Park Presidio Boulevard; roadway lighting; traffic signal controllers, the electrical devices that operate the traffic signals; and curb ramps for wheelchairs where they do not exist. Pedestrian signals will be of the “count-down” type. Most new pedestrian push-buttons will be of type that emits one audible tone when the button is depressed and another tone when the button is released. Certain buttons will also emit a continuous ticking sound to aid there being found by blind persons.
According to the presentation given us at a SHARP meeting in 2008 by a planner from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, future work will consist of the construction of “bulbs” extending into the parking lane of certain intersections along 19th Avenue and Park Presidio Boulevard to shorten the length of the crosswalks across these streets. This work will not start until the traffic signal work has been completed. Other future work will consist of the installation of interconnection conduit and conductors for coordinating timing of the signals and finally, the timing of the signals for optimum traffic flow.
(The above information came from Brian Dusseault, CCSF DPT, (701-4676) and Frank Duan, Caltrans Resident Engineer, (510) 231-7139 on January 8, 2009.) If you find any problems of safety within the project limits or have any questions on the progress of the work I suggest that you telephone Mr. Dusseault or Mr. Duan). on the progress of the work I suggest that you telephone Mr. Dusseault or Mr. Duan).
19th Avenue Public Swimming Pool Re-Opens
A recent significant event in our district was the reopening of the public swimming pool at Wawona and 19th Avenue, now called the Sava Pool in honor of Charlie Sava, longtime swim instructor at the pool’s predecessor facility. The building with its 24-foot high windows and beautiful interior received rave reviews from John King, the San Francisco A number of dignitaries attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony including
State Senator Leland Yee, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, San Francisco Supervisors Sean Elsbernd and Carmen Chu, and Interim Director of Recreation and Parks Jared Blumenfeld. Also present were members of the Lowell High School Swim team who went into the water immediately after the opening ceremony concludedChronicle’s architectural critic, who calls it “a great place to swim laps, and a building for our time.”I suggest that you visit the Sava Pool even if you don’t swim to enjoy the view and the architecture. As of this writing the pool will be open every day except Sundays and holidays, and the admission fee will be $4.00, truly a bargain!
A Note From Our Editor
To introduce myself, I am Vern Waight, the new editor of the SHARP monthly newsletter. My vital statistics can be found at the bottom of this newsletter. My aims are for accuracy and the suitability of this newsletter to you, our readers. With this in mind I solicit your comments and suggestions as to the content Please telephone or e-mail your comments and suggestions to me,
Vern Waight, Editor, at phone: (415) 564-7760, or email me at vernatsf@aol.comFor questions or comments about SHARP, contact: Frank Noto, President, (415) 566-3193 or president@sharpsf.com .
Renew Your Membership Or Join SHARP
The Sunset Heights Association of Responsible People (SHARP) is a 100+ year old neighborhood organization open to anyone who lives or works in the area bounded by Lincoln Blvd, 7th Ave-Laguna Honda, Dewey-Taraval, and 19th Avenue. Dues are $10.00/year. We are a member-supported organization devoted to neighborhood improvement, with dues set at $10 per person annually. Please renew your membership for 2009 or join us by filling out and returning the coupon below in the enclosed envelope.
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Mail Coupon to: SHARP, 1627 Tenth Avenue,
San Francisco, CA 94122