San Francisco transportation planners, looking for a way to make Market Street safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, decided Tuesday to scrap their earlier idea of tinting the asphalt at two dangerous Market Street intersections a brick-red color to grab drivers' attention.
After consulting the color chart and state traffic code, they opted for beige.
The tint will be tested on Market Street at the Fourth and Fifth Street intersections to see if they help slow down drivers. The coffee-and-cream-colored-pavement experiment is part of a larger endeavor to create 33 "safety zones" along Market Street that will focus on the curbside travel lane adjacent to Muni Metro/BART stations and Muni's F-line boarding platforms.
Look for new pavement markings, 10 mph speed-limit signs and other measures to slow traffic on Market Street.
- Rachel Gordon
The mayor's usual security detail has been trailing him to the hospital, City Hall and elsewhere over the past few days, but we hear officers have been present at the hospital, too.
Mayoral security has been a hot topic at City Hall, with Supervisor
So far, nobody's divulging anything - and Mirkarimi has submitted legislation requiring elected officials to reimburse the city for security costs while campaigning. It will likely be heard in committee soon.
Neither Newsom's office nor the Police Department is saying much about police officers standing guard at CPMC Siebel Newsom was due to check out Tuesday.
"These decisions are made by the Police Department," said Newsom's spokesman,
"I don't think it's beyond the realm of his security detail, but I don't know one way or the other," said police Sgt.
A spokesman with CPMC couldn't say either. Interestingly, one of the biggest battles in the recent budget fight between Newsom and the Board of Supervisors was the mayor's unsuccessful drive to outsource security at San Francisco General Hospital, a far grittier place than CPMC.
- Heather Knight
The so-so news: San Francisco doesn't even measure up to Atlanta.
That's the verdict of the United States Green Building Council, whose LEED ratings Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design have become sustainable design's version of the Good Housekeeping Seal.
San Francisco has exactly 50 LEED-certified buildings to date, placing it sixth among U.S. cities, according to information unearthed by Chicago Tribune architecture critic
On the bright side, our Golden State is home to 386 certified buildings, placing it well ahead of runner-up Washington 160 in terms of green bragging rights.
The moral? San Francisco's environmentally correct policies come in handy if you're running for governor - but when the development process moves slowly, so does sustainable design. And the way the economy is now, don't look for our numbers to bump anytime soon.
- John King
