Awards Transactions-11-04
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Special Awards Issue Transactions 27 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006 Transportation 2006 Awards: Excellence in Motion TRANSPORTATION NEWS Welcome to this special issue of Transactions, FOR THE NINE-COUNTY in which we showcase SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA the winners of MTC’s 27th Transportation Awards Program.On the surface,it might appear as though we’re giving out fewer awards this cycle — 10 as opposed to the 14 we handed out in 2004. But if we were to add up all the people, businesses and organiza- tions actually involved in the projects highlighted on these pages, the count of honorees would likely number in the hundreds. Indeed, in many cases, it John F. Foran Legislative was the nominees’ ability to motivate and mobilize others, and rally com- Award: Congresswoman munity, governmental and corporate Nancy Pelosi support, that drove them to the top of NOAH BERGER A major force Activist Gillian Gillett poses with her daughter Lucy in their “traffic-calmed” San Jose Avenue/Guerrero Street neighbor- the entry pile. hood in San Francisco. Banners declare “We live here! Please slow down,” while native plants take root in the median. in the House This year,the venue for the awards ceremony has changed, to San Fran- of Represen- Grand Award: San Francisco Street Renaissance cisco’s recently restored Ferry Building tatives, Con- CITIZEN ACTIVISTS TAKE BACK THEIR STREETS IN HAYES VALLEY AND THE MISSION DISTRICT — a majestic setting befitting these gresswoman titans of excellence and volunteerism, Nancy Pelosi This year’s Grand Award is equally shared by two neighborhood efforts to reclaim who have devoted so much of their time, energy and know-how to improving (D-San Fran- their streets from the blight and danger of heavy through traffic. Both projects involve the Bay Area’s transportation network. cisco) likewise Each winning organization or individ- has been an thoroughfares in San Francisco, and both owe their success to countless volunteer ual receives MTC’s handsome and instrumental figure in Bay Area trans- hours on the part of community residents, and the professional expertise of the city’s unique ball-bearing award, a small portation projects.Recipient of this year’s token of our thanks and appreciation. We hope the winners’ stories inspire John F. Foran Legislative Award, Pelosi, Department of Parking and Traffic as well as the Department of Public Works. others to look for creative ways of who is the House Democratic leader,has smoothing commutes, improving air worked across jurisdictional and party San Jose/Guerrero Coalition Coalition to Save Our Streets, con- of Supervisors in October 2004 quality, calming busy streets and the lines locally and in Washington to dedi- To Save Our Streets vincing the group to expand its tar- unanimously passed legislation like, so that when we return in two cate funding for essential upgrades to Several years ago, San Francisco get area to include Guerrero Street. to calm vehicle traffic on Guer- years,our application in-box will again brim with bright ideas. resident Gillian Gillett found that Gillian researched the history rero Street and San Jose Avenue. the region’s infrastructure. — Brenda Kahn Pelosi’s contributions to the trans- taking her young daughter out for of her neighborhood and learned The city narrowed traffic lanes on portation network can be found in the walks in her Guerrero Street neigh- that both San Jose Avenue and both streets from six lanes to four, seismic strengthening of the Golden borhood (Mission District) was Guerrero Street were expanded created bicycle lanes, established Calendar Gate Bridge and the Bay dangerous, with speeding drivers from four to six lanes in the 1950s. four-foot-wide buffer zones on Unless indicated otherwise, Bridge, as well as in treating the six-lane arterial as an Many houses on these streets were both sides of the center medians, all meetings take place at: Metropolitan Transportation Commission visionary projects to extension of Interstate 280. literally moved onto their own installed a new traffic signal, Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter provide for future needs “There were no traffic controls backyards, and the sidewalks were transformed rush-hour tow-away Lawrence D. Dahms Auditorium 101 Eighth Street, Oakland such as a new Transbay on the six-block stretch between severely narrowed to incorporate lanes into parking, reduced the (Across from the Lake Merritt BART station) Terminal in downtown San Francisco. Cesar Chavez and 29th Street,”she extra traffic lanes. speed limit from 35 to 25 miles per TUESDAY She also has played a critical role in said. “There was a four-foot median In 2003, Gillian and Coalition hour and scaled back multiple- securing federal funding for the BART on Guerrero, and it was very danger- members circulated a petition turn lanes. NOVEMBER 14, 2006 3:30 pm extension to the San Francisco Inter- ous if you were stuck in the middle. among neighbors and collected Following on this success, Minority Citizens Advisory Committee national Airport by forging consensus Cars sped by at 50 to 60 miles per 300 signatures, submitting them the Coalition raised money from WEDNESDAY among key congressional and Adminis- hour. You could wait as long as 10 to the San Francisco Depart- local residents and busi- NOVEMBER 15, 2006 tration decision-makers. minutes to cross the street. There mentof Parking and Traffic nesses to “green” Guerrero 10 am Pelosi has represented San Francis- was tremendous pollution and and their district supervi- and in November 2005, Bay Area Toll Authority* co’s Eighth District since 1987. She is 10:05 am noise, and there were regular col- sors.They requested wid- more than 125 people Service Authority for Freeways being recognized with the Foran Award lisions between cars and houses.” er medians,bike lanes, the came out to plant drought- and Expressways* for her dedication to the region, and In 2003, Gillian discovered and reduction of multiple-turn tolerant shrubs in medians 10:10 am Metropolitan Transportation Commission* for being a leader who is a catalyst for joined an existing neighborhood lanes and a “no right turns on red along three blocks. the entire Bay Area congressional del- FRIDAY organization, the San Jose Avenue lights” policy near schools. “People are delighted to have egation, encouraging them to work Next, the Coalition worked with their neighborhood back,” said NOVEMBER 17, 2006 collaboratively on behalf of the region. 10 am the San Francisco Department of Gillian. “It changes the way you Association of Bay Area Governments/ “With transportation improvements Bay Area Air Quality Management District/ Public Health to produce street look at the street. It doesn’t have capable of providing more than just Metropolitan Transportation Commission banners featuring pictures of chil- to be the way it’s been for 50 years.” Joint Policy Committee* mobility, we can build an America where dren and the slogan“We live here! In 2004 the Coalition won a 1 pm all families have access to opportunities, Minority Citizens Advisory Committee/ Please slow down” in English and $90,000 grant — $75,000 from Partnership Board Environmental Justice and where no community is left isolated,” Subcommittee Spanish — and raised $5,700 for MTC’s Transportation for Liv- Pelosi said. — Catalina Alvarado MetroCenter, Claremont Conference Room the project. More than 100 neigh- able Communities Program and MONDAY bors and schoolchildren held a $15,000 from the San Francisco NOVEMBER 20, 2006 demonstration at Cesar Chavez Transportation Authority — to 1:30 pm and Guerrero streets to protest create a Neighborhood Plan. And Partnership Technical Advisory Committee traffic speeds and unsafe pedes- the community and sponsors have MONDAY trian conditions. Gillian and her contributed $65,000 to green the NOVEMBER 27, 2006 husband also created a Web site medians along another 10 blocks 2 pm TransLink® Management Group as a community resource. of Guerrero. — Marjorie Blackwell AC Transit NOAH BERGER 1600 Franklin Street, Oakland Less room for cars translates to As a result of the Coalition’s See inside for the story on the Grand more room for bicyclists. efforts, the San Francisco Board Award co-winner, Octavia Boulevard. Continued on back page MTC METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION • BATA BAY AREA TOLL AUTHORITY • SAFE SERVICE AUTHORITY FOR FREEWAYS AND EXPRESSWAYS SPECIAL AWARDS GRAND Greta Ericson Distinguished Service Award: Grand Award: San Francisco Master Craftsman Rodger “Tim” Reilly Hangs Up His Tools Street Renaissance Co-Winner: Octavia Boulevard/ Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association As traffic exits Highway 101 in San Francisco and flows across Market Street onto the new Octavia Boulevard, motorists suddenly real- ize they are passing through a genuine neighborhood — a cheerful mix of colorful buildings bordering a human-scale, four-lane street lined with poplar and elm trees and old-fashioned lampposts. Such a friendly welcome to this part of San Francisco was not always so. For decades, historic Hayes Valley was marred by a double- deck freeway that left sad, shadowed buildings, empty lots and crime in its wake — and sliced the neighborhood in half. Today, the five-block-long Octavia Boule- vard is a triumph of urban transportation NOAH BERGER NOAH BERGER For 22 years, master craftsman Tim Reilly lovingly restored parts on San Francisco’s aging fleet planning that works both as a high-speed Octavia Boulevard replaced a double-deck free- of historic cable cars, and helped build 11 replica cars. thoroughfare and a quiet pedestrian street. way, and through clever design serves as both a thoroughfare and quiet neighborhood street. Every time a San Francisco cable car bell to become molds, which are then used to Completed in September 2005, Octavia rings, it is a tribute to the handiwork of cast actual cable car parts. Boulevard also marks another victory in San the most damaged portion of the freeway, master craftsman Rodger Reilly (who goes “Every cable car in San Francisco today Francisco’s historic and ongoing “freeway from the Fell and Oak streets ramps north.