By Estelle Smith

[Read a response to this post from D7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar’s office here.]

Let’s take a walk through the Sunnyside neighborhood in San Francisco. Head south on Edna Street where it meets Havelock. Straight ahead you’ll see the lush green bushes and the fence for the City College tennis courts. Now look left, and there it is—the Havelock Street Bridge—the main pathway over the freeway, connecting Sunnyside to the wide green lawns, playgrounds, off-leash dog park, swimming pool, and other facilities at Balboa Park in District 11.

What comes to mind is, how does one safely cross? There is no crosswalk to access the bridge and no sidewalk on the south side of Havelock Street. Peering even farther left, at the corner of Circular Avenue, cars and bicycles treat this intersection as a quick yield. With no other traffic entering from the east, cars typically roll through the intersection, even though there is a stop sign.

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Once across the street and on the bridge, something else becomes visibly apparent. This bridge is ugly. It is riddled in graffiti and discarded litter ranging from broken glass to dirty diapers. This concrete jungle pathway, connecting two oases, is an eye sore and doesn’t reflect the warmth and beauty of the Sunnyside and Mission Terrace neighborhoods, or the wonderful park on the other side.

Why? Why is there no crosswalk? Why is the bridge repeatedly vandalized? This is the crux of this article. All bureaucratic roads lead back to here. So, let’s start with how we got here and how we can move forward.

Continue reading “Bridge over troubled waters: Addressing pedestrian safety and the Havelock Bridge” →