PGA President's Cup Days 3, 4, 5, & 6: Parking and Muni Updates

Good day to everyone; I'm listing down the next four days of updates for the President's Cup at San Francisco's Harding Park because I'm taking the day off on Friday and I won't go near the area during the weekend.

So basically, here's some reminder notices for everybody:

Parking:

• If you can, please take public transit. Free shuttles available after riding the N-Judah and L-Taraval. Free shuttles also pick-up at Daly City BART.
• Warning: Do not park at Daly City BART and catch a golf shuttle. Your car will get towed because passengers are required to register their parking space in the "paid" area of the station.
• Reminders: Watch out for parking restrictions within the SFSU and Parkmerced areas. Many have time limits and DPT watches those spaces frequently.

Traffic:

• Watch out for a heavy police presence around the area. Speeding and running red lights will likely get you caught.
• Speed limit on Lake Merced Blvd. in San Francisco between Winston and the Daly City border is 40 MPH. It drops to 30 once entering Daly City, and the police is watching out for speeders.
• If you need an alternate route to SFSU without messing with Sunset Blvd., try this route: At Sloat, take Middlefield going south, turn left onto Sunset, and turn left onto State Drive or Font. This shortcut saves you from the traffic mess happening at "Sunset Circle" (the big parking lot known for trainee Muni drivers practicing their parking techniques).

Muni:

• As usual, re-routes are in force for the 18-46th Avenue and 88-BART shuttle. This is in effect from 6AM to 7PM daily.

PGA President's Cup Day 2: Traffic, Parking & Muni Updates

Good morning everyone; today is day two of the PGA President's Cup golf tournament in San Francisco's Harding Park and is the second and final day of the practice round.

Here's your updates for today:

Traffic:

• Normal heavy traffic on Lake Merced Blvd. northbound from Brotherhood Way to Font.
• Police and city parking officials are on northbound Skyline near Great Highway to help ease the congestion due to the closure north of Skyline at Great Highway. There is no need to get into the far left lane anymore, the right lane will lead into one of the two designated left turn lanes leading to Great Highway.
• Westbound John Muir Drive is open. It's supposed to be shut-down.

Parking:

• WARNING to all event specators: Parking in the SFSU and Parkmerced regions have either one hour, two hour, or four hour limit parking (unless if you have a resident/neighborhood permit). The city parking officials don't joke around, they frequently patrol the area every weekday to catch SFSU students.

Muni:

• My regular 18-46th Avenue bus driver stated that she is the only "regular" driver on the line today. She claims that everyone else called in sick. Prepare to get motion sickness folks, the substitutes tend to jam the gas pedal harder.
• Re-routes are in force for the 18-46th Avenue and 88-BART shuttle.
  

PGA President's Cup Day 1: Traffic & Muni Updates

Good morning everyone. This is your unofficial traffic and Muni update for day number one of the PGA President's Cup golf tournament at Harding Park in San Francisco.

Traffic:

• Road closures as followed: Skyline between Lake Merced Blvd. and Great Highway, and Herbst road. Strangely, the city has not yet closed down westbound John Muir Drive.
• Heavy traffic northbound on Skyline from John Muir to Great Highway. Right lane approach to Skyline/Great Highway intersection is coned off about 500 feet away from intersection; try to merge into the left lane as quickly as possible.
• Heavy traffic northbound on Lake Merced blvd. before Brotherhood Way. Traffic clears-up once you reach State Drive (SF State's main road).

Muni:

• 18-46th Avenue is operating modified route as stated here. No direct service to the Janet Pomeroy Center. To reach the homes at John Muir Drive when going towards Legion of Honor, take the 18 and transfer at 46th Avenue and Ulloa for the bus going back to Stonestown.
• 88-BART service for the A.M. Peak hours is running a normal schedule.
  

Traffic and Muni Alert: PGA Presidents Cup at Harding Park

It's back... the PGA tour is back at the Harding Park golf course that is located on Lake Merced and next door to SF State University. What does this mean to you if you are within the region? Let's take a look:

The "region" I am describing is as followed and covers the likely areas where problems and issues may arise:

• North border: Sloat Blvd.
• South border: John Muir Drive (southern rim of Lake Merced and straddles between SF and DC border).
• East border: 19th Avenue
• West border: Great Highway and Skyline Blvd.

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**MAJOR PROBLEMS: MUNI RE-ROUTES AND SKIPPED STOPS FOR THE 18-46TH AVENUE AND 88-BART SHUTTLE**

I called 311 to find out about the re-routes for the 18-46th Avenue and BART shuttle, and the news is not very good.

MUNI RE-ROUTES/CHANGES EFFECTIVE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 5TH to SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11TH

The 18-46th Avenue bus line is going to hell:

• Going towards Stonestown (SF State area): At 47th and Sloat, re-route turns right on Sloat, left on Great Highway, right on Skyline, and continues normal route. Route will skip: SF Zoo, Skyline & Sloat, Herbst road (Disabled center, SF Zoo staff entrance), Harding park entrance/sewage plant entrance.
• It's "normal" route (map points "A" to "B") would turn left on Sloat, right on Skyline blvd., and turn into Herbst Road before continuing on Skyline.
  

View Larger Map

• Going towards Legion of Honor: At Winston & Lake Merced, re-route turns right onto Lake Merced (northbound), left before road changes to Sunset Blvd., continues down Lake Merced Blvd, turns right onto Skyline, and bus continues normal route.
• It's "normal" route between map points "A" and "B" would turn left at Lake Merced/Winston, go southbound on Lake Merced, turn right on John Muir Drive, turn right on Skyline, and continue on it's route to map point "C" and turn right on 46th Avenue.
  

View Larger Map

When you take a look at the maps, it shows a poor planning from the SFMTA/Muni. Look at the huge gap of service on the lower map, it literally removes all stops from Lake Merced/Winston, John Muir Drive, and Skyline (including the Center for the Disabled on Herbst).

I have officially lodged a complaint via 311's phone line about the 18's route changes:

1. You cannot disenfranchise service to these remote areas on the southern rim of Lake Merced (not boulevard, it's the lake) by not having the re-routes try its best to cover the areas where the roads are closed.
2. The re-route removes all bus service to the Center for the Disabled; who will supplement service for this problem?
   
3. The route going towards the Legion of Honor is the worst because it skips all the stops on Lake Merced Blvd. south of Winston, and the homes on John Muir drive near Skyline. Every time I ride the 18, I see SFSU students who live on John Muir hop on the bus and pay the $2 fare for a short 5 minute ride, versus walking 30 minutes on the very long walk to/from campus.
   
4. How about the old and disabled people who depend on that bus line to these far away regions? Do you know how far you have to walk?
5. Why is there NO INFORMATION ON THE SFMTA WEBSITE?
6. DID YOU TAKE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEND NOTICES TO AFFECTED RESIDENTS AND THE SF STATE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY?
   
7. HOW CAN MUNI DO THIS TO THE PUBLIC??????

UPDATE: SFMTA/Muni finally posted the re-route information (but hidden from the SFMTA website; I found it on 511)... but I was FASTER TO POST THIS ON MY BLOG!!!

For the 88-BART shuttle:

• Inbound towards Balboa Park Station will operate normally.
• Outbound will be re-routed due to closure of westbound John Muir Drive. At southbound Lake Merced Blvd. and Font (corrected), bus will continue on Lake Merced, cross the Daly City border, turn right on John Daly Blvd., turn right on Skyline Blvd., cross San Francisco border, and turn right onto John Muir Drive eastbound.

View Larger Map

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In this situation, there will be road closures around the golf course. This information is posted on the SFMTA's website, under the ISCOTT minutes (see here), be aware that this information is NOT yet posted on the "alerts" page of both SFMTA and 511.

Here's the road closures:

• John Muir Drive between Lake Merced blvd. and Skyline (westbound only).
• Herbst street (home to the Center for the Handicapped, SF Zoo staff entrance, and the National Guard).
• Skyline between Lake Merced Blvd. (the road that goes around the north west portion of the lake) and Great Highway.

While there is no official posting about this, expect delays anywhere around the region, even if the roads are open to traffic:

• Lake Merced blvd. between Sloat and Brotherhood will be bad, especially with the extra spectator entrance they've installed near Font.
• You can still take Skyline, but you are forced to use Great Highway to go around the closure between Great Highway and Lake Merced.
• I won't bet on this, but Sunset Blvd. may become a nightmare going Southbound.

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SF State University students, staff, and faculty... what should you do?

1. If you are going to park in the garage, bring your campus ID. Campus cops will kick-out any golf spectator who uses the garage that is exclusively for university affiliates.
2. PARKING IS BANNED (see photo below) on Lake Merced Blvd. between Winston and Font. This will be a heavy impact on the campus garage due to the large amount of street parking in that area.
   
3. If you are taking public transit, expect delays on the 29-Sunset and 18-46th Avenue.
4. Arrive to campus EARLY. Get yourself a nice breakfast on-campus.
5. If you live on John Muir drive and take the bus the campus, you may want to consider carpooling with a neighbor. Muni coverage will suck. I suggest complaining to your city supervisor and Muni officials NOW.