SAN FRANCISCO—On Saturday, July 18, skateboarders will begin to slow down after the city of San Francisco placed speed bumps in the Dolores Park area.
Executive Director at San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, Jeffrey Tumlin, tweeted on July 18 at 6:49 p.m.:
“SF has a world renowned skate scene I love. So I hate doing this to Dolores. But two pointless deaths. Consulting now with leaders about building stronger skate culture and co-designing Slow Streets.”
A few hours later, Tumlin corrected his statement by tweeting: “Correction: life threatening injuries. No confirmed fatality.”
The hill near Dolores Park has been known to hold gatherings where skaters come down hill full speed on their skateboards and there has been instances where they’ve fallen face first or hit a vehicle and flipped over it.
On July 17, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, District 8 at City and County of San Francisco, Rafael Mandelman, spoke about skaters on Facebook and stated:
“For the third time in a little over a week skateboarders have taken over Dolores Street by Dolores Park. I understand kids wanting to skateboard, have fun, and congregate after having had to shelter in place for several months now. However, the public safety concerns extend well beyond the possible spread of COVID-19 and serious injuries have occurred to participants, neighbors and passerby..Over the last week my office has been working with SFPD, MTA, and Public Works to find a solution that will stop this dangerous situation from continuing.”
According to Mandelman, there has been a skater who has had seizures from injuring himself coming down that hill.
Representatives of Tumlin and Madelman have not responded to San Francisco News for comment.
