Major Overhaul For Geary Boulevard

July 12 - KGO (KGO) -- San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Supervisor Jake McGoldrick will be holding a townhall meeting at the end of the month on the future of Geary Boulevard. Geary is the most used transit corridor in the western United States and it will soon be getting a major overhaul.

Some 55,000 people use Geary Boulevard Monday through Friday, 40,000 on the weekends.

Jake McGoldrick, San Francisco Supervisor: "Geary is the single most-traveled transit line in the western United States."

Three years ago, voters approved Supervisor Jake McGoldrick's Prop K -- a half-cent sales tax increase for improvements on a few city routes, including Geary.

Jake McGoldrick: "We're trying to figure out how to put the most cost-efficient improvements along that line."

McGoldrick says right now the travel time from the bay to the ocean on Geary's 38-line buses is unacceptable, more than an hour. And from Van Ness West, the six-lane boulevard is hazardous for pedestrians.

Light rail like the system on 3rd Street is too expensive at two billion dollars. So the alternative is the more affordable Bus Rapid Transit or BRT.

Tilly Chang is deputy director of planning for the San Francisco Transportation Authority.

Tilly Chang, SF Transportation Authority: "Some folks would like to see light rail. We believe BRT offers a terrific alternative."

BRT would mean dedicated lanes for modern buses, high quality bus stops, street improvements like landscaping and better crosswalks, and a new fare collection system. The dedicated lanes could be on the outside or in the center.

Jack Rhiel, Geary merchant: "If you ask the people who live here and the merchants they have no idea that this project's happening at this time."

Jack Rhiel owns Big-O Tires on Geary at Masonic. He and Geary Merchants Association President David Heller are vigorously opposed to the BRT plan, in part because they believe construction will destroy their businesses and in the end take away parking spaces. They fear Geary will suffer in the same way 3rd Street has during light rail construction there.

Heller's battle against the plan has become personal with McGoldrick.

David Heller, Geary Merchants Association: "I really think he is misleading the public and I would like to know the motivation behind it."

"Mr. Heller doesn't actually know a whole hell of a lot is the problem with Mr. Heller. Mr. Heller also happens to falsify reality. Mr. Heller has been told I can guarantee you're not going to have parking problems. He refuses to see that. He tells people there's going to be 14, 15, 16-story buildings along Geary Blvd. Totally false, totally fabricated."

"I cannot see how he can guarantee something like that. That is like shooting off his mouth and this is what he's been doing a good job at."

The BRT project is still in the planning phase, with a number of public workshops scheduled for the summer. The new system is expected to be up and running in four or five years.

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