San Francisco transportation officials are extending a section of protected bike lane on Howard Street after a bicyclist was killed last week in a collision with a truck.
SFMTA officials said that they will “immediately” remove parking on the north side of Howard Street between Fourth and Sixth Streets to create “more space and protection between cars and cyclist," according to the San Francisco Examiner.
On Friday, 30-year-old Berkeley resident Tess Rothstein was struck and killed by a truck driver while she was bicycling on an unprotected bike lane. She was just a few feet from the beginning of the protected portion, which has a barrier between cars and bicycles.
According to a witness account, a driver’s side door from a parked car swung open, prompting Rothstein to swerve into the street, where a truck crushed her.
The protected lane was not extended during planning after local businesses objected to the potential loss of parking. Bicycle advocates believe that it would have saved Rothstein’s life.
“You name it, we’ve got it out there—it’s crowded. The only thing that hasn’t changed is the width of the streets,” he said.
Matier added that the potential loss of parking could drive out small businesses, although a recent study shows that closing city streets to cars can boost retail sales by nearly 10 percent