Tonight on State of the Bay, I’ll interview SFMTA director Jeff Tumlin about the new plan for the controversial Valencia St. center bike lane. How can the city keep bicyclists safe on this busy corridor?
Then we’ll have a panel discussion on the prospect of office-to-residential conversions in downtown San Francisco. Many mayoral candidates argue that turning empty offices into homes is a way to revitalize our city, but are these conversions financially feasible? Guests include Sujata Svristava from SPUR, State Assemblymember Phil Ting, and Marc Babsin of the Emerald Fund.
Finally, producer Anne Harper sits down with local author William Gee Wong about his new book Sons of Chinatown: A Memoir Rooted in China and America.
Tune in at 91.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area or stream live at 6pm PT. What comments or questions do you have for our guests? Call 866-798-TALK to join the conversation!
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that two tunnel boring machines have completed their work on a light rail subway extension to Chinatown from South of Market. That was quick: the two machines made it 1.7 miles in less than a year. They now stand to be dismantled and resold, possibly to Los Angeles for its subway.
But the line won’t open until 2019! With the tunneling done, does it really take five years to finish a 1.7-mile tunnel and lay the tracks? That is shamefully slow progress. It’s a badly needed line to relieve the most incredibly congested bus route I’ve ever seen, and a future extension through North Beach and to Fisherman’s Wharf would be well worth the cost, if we could speed up this phase. The northern part of San Francisco is difficult to reach on surface streets, so this connections is critical.
Let’s hope policy makers and the public can pressure a faster completion for this project.
