Parklets: Construction Begins

The long-debated and awaited parklets on 24th St began construction today. The pavers are concrete and rest on steel beams; the planters are also steel. More details from StreetsBlogSF:

The new spaces were designed by Riyad Ghannam, who designed and built the first parklet in the city in front of the Mojo Bicycle Cafe on Divisadero street. The parklets will replace a total of four parking spaces and cost $37,000, the entirety of which came from Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development as part of their commercial revitalization budget. The Noe Valley Association, which represents merchants in the area, is the permit holder and will oversee the maintenance of the facilities.

Expect the parklets to be completed in front of Martha & Bros and Just For Fun in time for the weekend -- just in time for the rain.

Update from Carol Yenne:

The Permit Holder is the Noe Valley Association CBD which is the property owners of the commercial district, not the merchant association.

It would also be nice to mention this is a "trial" to see how folks like them. These are not not permanent parklet being set up.

Thanks,
Carol Yenne
Member of NVA CBD as well as NVMPA board.

[StreetsBlogSF: Noe Valley Parklet Installation Begins]

City Confused About Parking on 24th Street

According to these signs posted all over the place parking on 24th Street, Castro and Church is about to get a little harder - maximum parking time is about to be reduced from 2 hours to 1 hour. But according the agenda posted on the SFMTA website, the opposite is true - parking time will be extended to 2 hours. So we checked out the meters - they're currently 1 hour. The change means diners at Toast and Savor won't have to feed the meter before they're even seated.

If you'd like to comment...

What: Director of Parking and Traffic public hearing
When: Friday, June 5, 2009, at 10:00AM
Where: City Hall, Room 416 (Hearing Room 4)

[SFMTA: June 5, 2009, Hearing Notice ]

24-Divisadero Forges New Route

With the MTA planning to raise Muni fares from $1.50 to $2.00 and eliminate routes in July, we thought it time to post this contribution from reader Alexis:

Two Saturday nights ago, I checked out "San Francisco" at the Castro. We hopped on the 24-Divisadero to come back over the hill to Noe and 29th. We're heading south on Castro, took the left onto 26th, then instead of a right onto Noe, the bus went STRAIGHT as if to continue east on 26th Street! The bus stopped suddenly and we decided to just hoof it up the hill to avoid the drama that would surely ensue.

From the outside of the bus, we noticed that the rod was actually broken (not the usual popped-off-the-wire routine). I had to snap a shot with my camera (hence the fuzziness) looking north on Noe from Cesar Chavez so the rest of my family would believe me; I started taking the 24 in the sixth grade and have never seen such a thing!

No word on if actual route changes will affect Noe Valley.

[SFGate: Muni plans to raise fares 50 cents in July]