
West Portal Welcome Committee Panel
Panel Pans SFMTA Plan

• • • • • • • • • • July 10, 2014 • • • • • • • • • •
The northernmost intersection on the West Portal corridor has become a well-known battlefield for the neighborhood’s merchants and residents against the larger machinations of City Hall and the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Authority (SFMTA). Triggered by a horrific accident in March of last year in which a family of four was killed by an oncoming SUV while waiting at a bus stop, the tragedy was the final call to action to make the intersection of West Portal Avenue and Ulloa Street safer for drivers and pedestrians. However, the ensuing year made it clear that the safety measures the neighborhood considered to be effective and common sense were far out of step with the plans proposed by the SFMTA, District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, and Mayor London Breed.

These plans and the community outrage over the planning process were addressed by a panel of five long-time West Portal residents in a webcast discussion on June 11th; members included were Mike Farrah, a member of Sup. Myrna Melgar’s staff; Lou Barbarini, a former member of the SFPD and avid cyclist; Pat Dunbar, a constant frequenter of the West Portal corridor’s businesses and Muni rider; Stephen Martin-Pinto, former Marine, member of the SFFD and the City Public Transmit Committee, and a candidate for District 7 supervisor; and Matt Boschetto, a 5th generation Miraloman, local business owner and family man, and a candidate for District 7 supervisor too. Each panelist gave a five-minute presentation, after which the other four had a minute to give their thoughts and responses.

Talk to SFMTA

September 16th • 1 pm • City Hall Rm. 400 & Zoom
Amending the Transportation Code, Division II, Section 601 to designate Muni-only transit lanes on West Portal Avenue, northbound, from Ulloa Street to 230 feet southerly, West Portal Avenue...
The discussion began with Farrah’s presentation. He outlined the five proposals from the City and SFMTA presented to the West Portal community; each was slightly different, although the most popular options were the most recent two (referred to as 3a and 3b) as they imposed the least restrictions on vehicle traffic. What was clear from the rest of the panelist’s responses to these plans was that the vast majority of West Portal business owners and residents would prefer a much smaller, simpler change to the intersection at the MUNI “horseshoe”: install a stop sign at Ulloa St. and Wawona St., as well as stoplights on either side of the intersection to help pace traffic. Both requests had been made multiple times over the course of many years by different people, yet somehow, nothing ever came of their efforts various members opined. (the stoplights were deemed to be “too expensive”).

...as of right now, there’s no timeline or budget for this project. The SFMTA admitted it had not conducted a preliminary cost/benefit analysis of the project despite the multi-million-dollar deficit they’re facing this year.”
There were questions in response to Farrah’s presentation. Why was the process so rushed, and why do such drastic changes need to happen now at an intersection that has never been among the City’s most dangerous? The MUNI station isn’t even the most accident-prone on the corridor — more accidents happen one block down at Vicente St. and West Portal Ave. Further questions: what’s the real impact on local business? Why isn’t that a top priority? What are the safety factors and maintenance costs the changes would impose?
Moreover, as of right now, there’s no timeline or budget for this project. The SFMTA admitted it had not conducted a preliminary cost/benefit analysis of the project despite the multi-million-dollar deficit they’re facing this year. (One of the figures we know about the West Portal Project is that whatever the cost, it’s estimated to last only 3 to 5 years before more changes must be made.)

Several times, Matt Boschetto articulated the frustration and anger felt by the West Portal community — that they have been almost completely sidelined throughout this whole process — and that seemed the sorest point about the West Portal Project. “We have to dispense with the image… that this is a democratic process”, he said. While that might at first sound hyperbolic, looking back over the last few decades, and more specifically this last year, it’s easy to pick out a pattern of disregard by the City for the local community’s needs and requests for basic safety measures. Barbarini illustrated Boschetto’s sentiments in recounting a conversation with a fellow cyclist who said that even as things have never been better for cyclists in San Francisco, there seems to be a massive overreach in restricting vehicles, terming it a “war on cars.” By the end of the discussion, almost all of the panelists voiced their concern that this whole process is endemic of City overreach in almost every major neighborhood and business corridor.
Regarding the struggles of local merchants, Boschetto also observed that if a new business manages to make it through the long and expensive process of opening, it does not automatically mean success or longevity; he said the City’s disregard for the difficulty of effectively running a business feels like a slap in the face without consideration for the number of hours and sacrifices made by West Portal’s small business owners. After all the struggle by the local business community to keep their businesses afloat during and after Covid-19, a reduction in traffic (pedestrian and vehicular) could, for some, be the final blow.

Martin-Pinto zeroed in on the SFMTA. It should focus on updating and maintaining existing infrastructure before taking on unnecessary projects like the West Portal Project. He cited a recent experience: he and other MUNI passengers were forced to deboard a train stuck in the tunnel between West Portal and Twin Peaks. They had to walk to the nearest emergency exit. He described the somewhat dilapidated, poorly lit state of the tunnel, as well as the lack of disability access to the exits. Worse, he later confirmed a “rumor” that panelist Pat Dunbar had asked: why hasn’t the SFMTA’s computer operating system been upgraded since the ‘90s — programs and code for that system are still stored on floppy disks. This is significant as the computer operating system takes over for the drivers once the trains enter the tunnel, and if any of the floppy disks get lost or damaged, it could potentially shut down a MUNI line. (It was at this point of the discussion that Marie Huriabel, the host, made the perfectly wry comment, “It’s too bad we don’t live in an area of the world where there’s a lot of great technology.”
Dunbar’s focus was more on the external features of the project. Has any safety or risk analysis been done specific to the project’s location? The West Portal Project aims to transform the MUNI horseshoe into a social pedestrian area, which seems both odd and at odds with the project’s main intentions – why would people want to hang out in an area where trains go through every few minutes, constantly stirring up dust and dirt with incredibly loud bells, and how does putting a plaza next to a MUNI and vehicle thoroughfare without any significant boundaries make the area safer? It would seem to do the opposite, as encouraging pedestrians to spend more time around significant amounts of traffic would create greater risk in an area where risk is now relatively low. Furthermore, she pointed out that no budget has yet been allocated or even estimated concerning the cost of upkeep of the plaza, nor who would pay for that upkeep.
By the end of the hour, there was a long list of concerns and questions that had either gone unanswered or were ignored by the SFMTA or Melgar’s office. Clearly, people along the West Portal corridor – merchants, customers, residents, and others – felt unheard and swept aside. Even though SFMTA asked for their input multiple times (and it was given multiple times), it seemed that no one wanted this project to happen in the first place. Oddly, the SFMA was originally a shelved project from 2019, one member remarked that it has now been dusted off and passed on as a safety solution to a busy and “dangerous” intersection, even as the community has been asking for stop signs and stoplights — real, effective safety measures — for years. The frustration from the panelists was palpable — a small example of the prevailing attitude towards the West Portal Project.
SFMTA will hold the final public hearing on the project on July 16th via zoom, any and every interested party is invited to attend, email, or call with thoughts, ideas, and opinions.
Maura Corkery is a reporter living on the West side.
July 2024