Last race for Golden Gate Bridge lanes?
This past Sunday’s San Francisco Marathon may be the last time the Golden Gate Bridge turns its roadway over for races — in part because some runners didn’t follow the rules.
“We are going to our board ... to talk about the policy going forward,” said Denis Mulligan, general manager of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District.
For years, the bridge district has allowed both the San Francisco Marathon and the Rock ’N’ Roll half-marathon in April to use two lanes of the bridge as part of their courses. Runners were separated from traffic by cones.
However, this year, following the recent attacks in France and England in which terrorists used vehicles as weapons, bridge district officials determined that the runners needed to be separated from traffic by the bridge’s more solid movable barrier. So they closed down virtually all northbound traffic, leaving just one lane open for emergency vehicles and slow-moving escorted buses. The movable barrier separated that lane from southbound traffic, and cones were put in place to mark a buffer lane between the runners and the northbound bus lane.
“We have always been con-
cerned about errant motorists who might have a heart attack or seizure and could slam into the crowd, but now we have instances where people are doing it deliberately,” Mulligan said. Plus, “we are a notable location, and these races bring out an unusually high number of people.”
Some 15,000 runners crossed the bridge Sunday between 6 and 9 a.m. And, according to Mulligan, many of the runners ignored instructions to keep to the two lanes closest to the sidewalk facing the bay, crossed the cone line and ran in the two lanes set aside as the buffer zone and the bus lane.
“The runners were told to stick to the lanes that were coned off, but there were people with earbuds who either did not hear or chose to ignore the warnings,” Mulligan said. “Some of the runners were even doing stretches on the barrier, which was not good at all.”
Mulligan said that the bridge would still be open for running and walking events that occur regularly throughout the year, but that the district’s board would consider having participants stick to the sidewalks.
One answer for future marathons may be to limit the size of the races, or have staggered start times so all the runners can fit on one or both sidewalks.
“We want a public discussion on this,” Mulligan said. “We know that the bridge is an icon, but it is also a roadway.”
He added, “We can no longer just cone off a lane or two. The world has changed.”
Cindy Myers, spokeswoman for the San Francisco Marathon, said that “runner safety is a top priority” for her group as well.
“We work year-round with city officials and law enforcement agencies to continuously improve race logistics and safety protocols,” Myers said, noting that the event draws locals and tourists from around the world.
“Our course is renowned for showcasing San Francisco's iconic landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge,” she said. On the money: Big Tobacco has put up nearly $724,000 to repeal San Francisco’s recently passed ban on flavored tobacco products — and, from the looks of things, it may already have collected enough signatures to put the matter before voters next June.
The repeal is being spearheaded by a group called Let’s Be Real San Francisco, with major funding from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. The group is also backed by the Arab American Grocers Association and the American Vaping Association.
Let’s Be Real spokesman Jaime Rojas said the city’s anti-flavoredtobacco ordinance, which was passed just last month by a unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors, was “limiting freedom of choice” for consumers.
Rojas said his group plans to use its “resources — both financial and those on the ground — to begin educating the voters on what this ordinance is all about.”
The group has until Aug. 7 to deliver the 19,040 valid signatures of San Francisco registered voters to City Hall to qualify the repeal effort for the ballot. And it appears to be close, if it’s not there already.
The firm hired to collect signatures put out word this week that it had reached its goal and stopped gathering names. We’re told the signed petitions are now being verified before they are submitted to the San Francisco Department of Elections.
In the meantime, newly filed campaign statements filed by Let’s Be Real show it has already spent $287,000, including $150,000 to a Sacramento political consulting firm called GOCO and $11,000 to a direct-mail outfit in Santa Ana. The group reported $448,000 cash on hand.
The repeal drive is in response to a law authored by Supervisor Malia Cohen that bans stores from selling flavored tobacco products, which critics say often come in packages designed to appeal to kids.
The measure is not scheduled to take effect until April, giving merchants until then to sell off their remaining inventory.
Cohen wasted no time swinging back at the tobacco interests, calling the repeal bid a “ridiculous effort to put profit over people’s health.”
She said the tobacco industry was relying on the same multimilliondollar formula that the soda industry used last year to try beat back a city ban on sugary drinks, without success.
“We won’t be able to match them dollar for dollar,” Cohen said of the tobacco money. “But we have a groundswell of support.” Rebounding: Former Supervisor David Campos appears headed for a slam-dunk win Wednesday night to be the chair of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee.
Campos is a progressive, “the progressives have the votes, and there is unlikely to be any challenge,” said Tom Hsieh Jr., a member of the outgunned moderate wing of the committee.
Campos was brought to the U.S. from Guatemala by his parents, who had no legal documentation to enter the country. He went on to get his bachelor’s degree from Stanford and a law degree from Harvard, then passed the Bar.
“The idea of having someone like me leading the Democratic Party sends a clear message who we are as a city,” Campos said.
It’s not the Assembly seat that Campos had once hoped to occupy. But the party chair slot would give him a political platform and keep his name in the news while he ponders a future bid for elective office — most likely city attorney.
Meanwhile, Campos said he has no plans to give up his day job as a $240,000-a-year deputy county executive in Santa Clara County.
As for outgoing party Chair Cindy Wu, another progressive, who is stepping down just a year into her four-yearterm? Word from fellow board members is that she found the post too time-consuming.
“I felt like my public service was done, and I wanted to have others have leadership opportunities,” she said.
San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@ sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross