Clement residents toss bus terminus around like hot potato

by Thomas K. Pendergast

At the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board of Directors Parking Authority Commission meeting on Sept. 15, the proposed ending point for Muni's Clement Street #2 bus line got tossed around between neighbors as if it was in the old Hot Potato game.

As a budget cutting move, the City is shortening the Clement bus line so it ends near Park Presidio Boulevard.

Those opposed to Funston Avenue as the layover point showed up in force and got the commission to back off and vote that option down, with only one member, Chairman Tom Nolan, voting in favor. This leaves five options still under consideration. Of these, three got special attention from the commission.

After the commission voted the Funston Avenue option down, MTA Program Manager Julie B. Kirschbaum told the commission that another option, which places the layover stop on the south side of Clement St., west of 14th Avenue, was recommended by the MTA staff because they consider this option "the most politically feasible."

Board member Malcolm Heinicke responded that he was more interested in getting further information on two other options. One would also put the terminal on the south side of Clement St., but east of Funston Avenue in front of the Christian Science Monitor's reading room, while the other would put it on the north side of Geary Boulevard, between 14th and 15th avenues.

Staff had recommended against the latter option because it would place the layover stop in front of several businesses.

Kirschbaum asked why putting the stop in front of the Christian Science Monitor reading room was preferable to putting it in front of the Temple Beth Shalom, which sits at the corner of 14th Avenue and Clement.

"The point is well taken," Heinicke answered. "These all need to be looked at further."

He then asked MTA staff to do a more detailed analysis of the three options and present it to the commission at its next meeting on Oct. 20, before they make a final decision.

Elizabeth Tippin, who came with many residents from Funston Avenue, said they were "relieved" that the board responded to them and voted against putting the layover stop in front of their homes.

"We felt that the board listened to what we had to say," said Tippin. "They took the time to listen to all of us and considered what we had to say."

Jonina Simpson, executive director of Temple Beth Shalom, said she's concerned that the plan currently favored by MTA staff will create serious safety and traffic problems, especially considering that the option would have the Clement Street bus end its route by completely circling the block that both the temple and its adjacent preschool share, in order to park at the layover stop directly in front of the temple. She explained that the preschool, which sits on 15th Avenue, has about 80 children each day and that the prime drop-off times in the morning and evening naturally correspond to when the buses are likely to be circling the block to line up for inbound trips to the Financial District.

The temple also offers daily morning and evening services, which are attended by many senior citizens.

"I think our concern is that by adding the buses it increases the hazard," Simpson said. "We already have congestion on the 15th Avenue side, so that option is making us nervous. People will be crossing the street with children, sometimes multiple children. Fifteenth Avenue is a narrower street, people double park, cars back up and kids are getting into cars that are waiting. We also have to think about the elderly."

She said the whole issue puts the temple in a bad position because it seems to be pitting one group of neighborhood residents against another.

"Considering what we are, it doesn't feel right to have the neighbors on Funston think we don't care about them. We want to be good neighbors," Simpson said.

Putting the bus stop area on the north side of Geary, west of 14th Avenue, which is another plan the commission wants to study further, has another list of opponents. Several business that line that side of the street are concerned about access. The largest of these businesses is House of Bagels.

"We'd probably lose 20 percent of our business. That's what we see when AT&T or PG&E blocks off the sidewalk. The street is accessible but they'd be taking away half the parking spaces," said House of Bagels owner Mike Puente. "A lot of people stop in front, they run in and get a dozen bagels and then they run out. If they have to park across the street or search for parking, it's a heavy disincentive for them to go here when they're on their way to work and the same goes for lunch."