Make a hole, make it wide...

The bikers are coming through.

No, not those bikers with the cool Harley Davidson gear. I mean the ones with all the REI gear that is also cool, but not nearly so cool as the people wearing it think it is.

Stop. I am not against bicycles or bicycle riders. When my daughter Abby and I used to ride our bikes on Heritage Trail (an old railroad line converted to a bicycle trail), we had some of the best times of our lives. We loved it. I believe we should build bicycle lanes and bike paths and trails, all of it. And we should ensure that bicyclists are safe when they ride.

We should also expect that bicycle riders will obey the rules and laws of the road, park, path, trail or street on which they are riding. That they will not ride where they are prohibited from doing so. And arguably the most crucial point, that they are vigilant in creating a safe environment for pedestrians who share those parks, paths and trails with them — people, like me, that get around their community on foot, walk to the local shops, or the parks, the beaches and all the rest.

This is where the wheels come off out here in The Sunset. This is what angers so many Sunset residents about the so-called “Sunset Dunes Park.” Instead of trying to explain it myself I’m going to share a letter written by my good friend Patricia Arack, who lives on Lower Great Highway just across the street from “Sunset Dunes.”

July 19, 2025

To: Recreation and Parks Department

From: Patricia Arack, D4 Resident, Concerned Residents of the Sunset

Re: Dangerous conditions on Sunset Dunes for Pedestrians

Dear RPD:

I am unable to attend in person today because of my disability but am writing regarding the very dangerous conditions that bicyclists pose to all pedestrians on Sunset Dunes as long as bikes and smaller devices (scooters, skateboards) are allowed to use all four lanes, which is the current situation, and has been since April of 2020. It is even more dangerous now because of the greater danger posed by e-bikes and other electrified mobility devices that travel at an extremely dangerous high rates of speed. Bikes should be restricted to the 2 lanes east of the median.

This danger was brought into sharp relief on July 1, 2025, when an elderly pedestrian was thrown to the asphalt and injured by a bike rider running into her. The woman was treated by EMTs and taken away in an ambulance. The risk to walkers is real, especially for seniors and disabled pedestrians. It is way past time for RPD to restrict bikers to the two lanes east of the median. Gentle encouragement to get them to stay away from pedestrians is not working. There needs to be clear signage at Lincoln and Sloat telling bikers to stay in lanes east of the median. And we need signage every 2-3 blocks along the 2-mile length of the road. Not everyone enters the park at either end, but along the route, so they need to see where they can ride their bike safely for themselves and for pedestrians.

RPD may say that there have not been any injuries except this one accident. I would say the reason for that is the pedestrians, especially disabled and vulnerable people, are STAYING AWAY. They are afraid to go to the park because of the bikes racing along on all four lanes. A significant number of park goers, even able-bodied walkers, have said, “I will never go back. There are bikes racing on all four lanes, and it is too dangerous!”

This is a de facto violation of the ADA laws because disabled and even able-bodied people are denied equal access to the park because they are afraid to walk there.

I am asking that RPD NOW take the necessary steps to make it clear to bikers that they must stay in the two lanes east of the median so that pedestrians will feel safe and will start coming to the park. This is the only way that Sunset Dunes will realize its potential to be a safe park for everyone. All we need is the willingness of RPD to do the right thing. RPD: Can you do that for the pedestrians? Also, we need ADA access from Lower Great Hwy. There is no access for 10 blocks between Judah and Taraval. Please make the park welcoming and accessible for everyone, not just bikers.

Sincerely,

Patricia Arack
Concerned Residents of the Sunset

Patricia Arack endorses Engardio Recall — (just because Patricia’s endorsement above is a really good watch)

Patricia asked me to carry that letter to an "Open House” public input and engagement event on The Great Highway on that day, July 19th. She wanted to give voice to her concerns about the safety of walkers and in particular those with limited mobility — the elderly and disabled. I was proud to do it.

I gave copies to the Rec & Park Manager of Policy & Public Affairs who was running the show on The Great Highway that day. He was decent enough. He heard me out. But as I demonstrated in this previous writing — No, I asked you to respond — he and his fellow Rec & Park staff have no clue how to deal with any concern about safety or any other issue at this highway that they want to call a park now.

It is mind-boggling to see, hear and read how Rec & Park staff just cannot bring themselves to see their bias toward the Bicycle Coalition in all of this. “Oh no, John, we really do want everyone to use the park…” they said to me that day. “Bullshit!” — yes, that is actually how I responded. “We know we have a problem with bikes using all 4 lanes (even though they are only supposed to use two),” they acquiesced. “Then do something about it,” I told them.

And on and on it went and still goes. I won’t bore you with the point-by-point conversation anymore. I left them with a few final thoughts as they were packing up their poster-boards and preparing to beat hell to get out of that place (and away from me, like as not).

1. I told them that I do not support the park. I think it should be a highway. In fact, it should be The Great Highway again. You might think I shouldn’t have said that, that I should try to be friendlier. My father told me when I was young that I should always say what I mean and mean what I say, so I always try to do that. It works for me better than trying to say what I think people want to hear.

2. I told them there is a basic principle at work here — that they do not have the right to call The Great Highway a park because it cannot be a park if people cannot use it. Words matter. As opposed to wilderness areas or wildlife management areas or other similar open-space areas, “parks” are only parks if people use them. Full stop.

3. If you have to be riding a bike to utilize Sunset Dunes then it is not a park, it is a bike track, nothing more. Call it Sunset Dunes Bike Track, see how much people like that. The SF Bike Gang will love it, everyone else, not so much.

4. When they admitted that they have a problem with bikes using all 4 lanes, they asked me, “well, we don’t know what to do about it?”

   1. Seriously? Come on Policy & Public Affairs Manager-dude, you know what you can do. Put a park ranger on foot (or hell, on a bike!) on The Great Highway and give out citations for every single bike rider that tries to ride on the slow lanes. And just keep doing it until the bikers get it or you generate enough revenue for Rec & Park that you can afford some other solution.

   2. Moreover, the SF Bike Gang (Bicycle Coalition) wanted The Great Highway closed more than any other group out there. Sit their leaders down with Rec & Park General Manager Phil Ginsburg and have him tell them in no uncertain terms that their members are screwing this up for them and they are going to get someone killed. Phil can tell them, “Look, get your people in line and in the east two lanes of The Great Highway or we’ll just shut this down to bicycle traffic too.” Guaranteed they would come up with an answer so fast that even Phil would be impressed.

5. Finally, stop letting other people define what a bicycle actually is. The other day I talked with a young man sitting in front of the 7-11 on the corner of 46th and Judah. He was eating some chicken wings and sitting beside his “e-bike,” and I asked him if he ever rides it on The Great Highway, to which he responded yes. He showed me his “bike.” It has motorcycle wheels, tires and brakes as well as an electric motor, a throttle and a top speed of 40 mph. Can we not all agree that is not the description of a bicycle, but rather an electric motorcycle? I mean, come on, seriously?

6. What I did not say is that Patricia’s letter and my comments on that day are not the last words that they will hear from us on any of these issues. And I will make sure you all hear about it as well.

And remember, if you are so inclined, take the Rec & Park public engagement survey — SF Rec & Park Sunset Dunes survey

… On July 19th at the “Open House” on the UGH I reviewed the Rec & Park survey. There were no questions about access to the park for persons with disabilities or limited mobility. And then 5 days after my little action on July 19th, with Patricia’s help, when Rec & Park sent me the survey directly, low-and-behold a question on accessibility emerged in the survey… Just a little thing, John Crabtree

Just another little thing… john