Mission Mission

Biking to work down Market today, I noticed the Muni buses begin to pile up.  It was rather narrow to squeeze through but fairly safe since traffic was stagnant.  The drivers all had their doors open and were casually chatting with one another, and some were even hanging outside their buses.  Looks like this was a good day to take the Letters, unlike yesterday.

I finally approached the scene, but only emergency vehicles and the offending taxi remained.  However, my friend Aiko-Sophie witnessed the ordeal and provides the following account:

I was on the 21 and saw a pedestrian that had just been hit by a taxi.  His head was resting on the curb with his body still in the street.  Blood was coming from the back of his head.  His eyes were closed and he wasn’t moving.

Doesn’t sound very good.  Let’s hope this turns out ok.  Please be careful when crossing the street, pedestrians!  Those taxis can be maniacs, but you would not believe how many pedestrians just blindly cross Market street right in front of my bike (without looking) every week!

The taxi in question can be seen being inspected here.  MORE PHOTOS of the scene of the crime after the jump (always wanted to say that):

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Valencia Street is a dangerous place, more or less. We’ve all heard the debate: are there so many bike accidents on Valencia and Market because they are such dangerous (bad) bike routes, or because they are such well-used (good) bike routes? I say a combination of the two.

Today, though, I’m interested in making this a more nuanced discussion: is Valencia so dangerous because of the potholes or because of the constant construction fixing the potholes? I am not, of course, some freaky pothole fan, but I can get used to them. I ride Valencia twice a day, every day, and it’s not potholes that set up camp a block or two at a time and leave a single lane castillos inflables for both directions of car + bike traffic, and travel leisurely up and down the road for months on end. Potholes don’t make that awful, numbing noise, and potholes don’t have the terrifying visual impact of a cavernous hole cut in the asphalt with only a sparse line of orange cones to shield it. A pothole did not spray me with muddy water yesterday as it cut a chunk out of the pavement.

Do not go putting the potholes up on pedestals, now. They need fixin’. I love the SFBC for marking them to increase visibility and encourage municipal action, with events like Crater Invaders getting lots of folks involved. I love the people who are actually doing the work – and it’s not easy, pleasant, or pretty – to keep San Francisco roads rideable, driveable, and walkable for all of us. What I am asking is a pothole-neutral question: why has there been construction on Valencia Street almost every day since I moved to San Francisco? It’s only 2 miles long, from beginning to end. It is only the middle part of my commute. What is going on?

Construction workers, perhaps, enjoy the culture they’ve discovered in the Mission. It might be the greatest agreement forged between hipsters and wage earners since the trucker hat: Valencia Street is the finest drag in San Francisco.

Mission Mission’s “Cycling” category here.

Complete Mission Mission Valencia Street coverage here.