Hi all- I wish I were writing with better news, but a ped was struck and pinned by a MUNI bus around 6:30 am on Van Ness at Jackson. Steve Gerstle, Walk SF former Board Member, lives on this corner and saw the person under the bus. In an ironic twist of fate, Steve has been working diligently for years to better ped conditions on Van Ness, especially on this corner. Last month, he wrote a guest editorial about the lighting conditions at this location (below). He has also sent in countless letters, emails, and calls to the MTA to get ped count-down signals on Van Ness, to no avail. If someone takes just one glance at DPH's Ped Injury and Death Map, athey can see that Van Ness is a VERY dangerous street for peds. Yet, money for ped count-down signals for locations along Van Ness has not yet been identified yet. http://www.sfgov.org/site/frame.asp?u=http://www.dph.sf.ca.us/ Walk SF is **PISSED OFF** that another ped had to get seriously injured or killed (we don't know which) in an entirely preventable situation. Join us at 5pm at the corner of Van Ness and Jackson to protest ped conditions along Van Ness. We are working to get the media to cover our event. We are not powerless. Let's stop bureaucratic fumbling from injuring or killing anymore peds in San Francisco! Hope to see you then, Emily PS Feel free to call me on my cell 374.9556 if you want info. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, October 21, 2005 (SF Chronicle) Broken streetlights leave residents in the dark Steven Gerstle As night approaches in our neighborhood, I worry if our streetlights will turn on. This is not a concern that most Americans have, but for those of us living near Van Ness Avenue, nightfall often brings complete darkness. Effective street lighting is a major deterrent to crime and improves pedestrian safety. Van Ness Avenue has more than its share of street crime as well as pedestrian deaths and injuries. The problem has many facets. About half a dozen agencies are responsible for maintaining streetlights in San Francisco, including MUNI, PG&E, CalTrans, the Department of Public Works and San Francisco Street Lighting. In addition, even though San Francisco might have responsibility for maintaining a streetlight, PG&E often controls the circuits and switches. In June, all of the street lights on Van Ness Avenue went out. The PG&E circuit was defective. After the mayor's office intervened, PG&E switched the lights to a different circuit. The catch was that the lights could not be turned off. After months of being on, the lights began to burn out; however, the city could not replace the bulbs because it was unsafe to do so with the power on. One by one the streetlights went out and our neighborhood again descended into darkness. PG&E repaired the defective circuit, but then set the light timer incorrectly. As a result, the lights were left on during the day and into the night, but turned off long before the sun came up. Soon after the timer was reset, it stopped working. PG&E did not have a spare timer available, so an employee is now in charge of flipping the switch that turns our streetlights on and off. Light sensitive switches to turn streetlights on and off have been available for decades, but San Francisco still relies upon antiquated timers that need to be manually set. The street lights along Van Ness use Edison-era bulbs that give off a faint light. Other cities replaced this type of bulb decades ago with brightly illuminating vapor lamps. Our mayor and Board of Supervisors need to adequately maintain and update our street light system. Bureaucracy needs to be reduced, with one city agency put in charge of lighting. PG&E needs to be pressed to maintain the switches and circuits that power our lights. San Franciscans cannot afford to be left in the dark. STEVEN GERSTLE Upper Van Ness corridor ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2005 SF Chronicle Emily Drennen Executive Director, Walk San Francisco 415-431-9255 office/fax www.walksf.org 1095 Market Street #502, SF, CA 94103 Advisory Council Member, Bay Area Air Quality Management District Citizen's Advisory Committee Member, Metropolitian Transportation Agency Past Chair, SF Bicycle Advisory Committee __________________________________ Start your day with Yahoo! - Make it your home page! http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs