SF Officials Say Traffic Would Be Manageable Near Proposed New Warriors Mission Bay Arena
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— The draft environmental impact report (EIR) for the proposed 18,000 seat Golden State Warriors arena in San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood was released on Friday. There was a heavy emphasis on the expected traffic impacts with city officials saying even on big event days, the congestion will be manageable.
Mission Bay Alliance, a group opposed to the development plan, disputes those findings and says that heavy arena traffic will slow down and prevent people from getting to UCSF hospitals during medical emergencies.
San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development project manager for the Warriors, Adam Van De Water, said that won't happen. He helped release the EIR, which has a major emphasis on encouraging transit and providing parking out of the area.
Van De Water talked about the potential for situations where people felt it necessary to drive, where they could park their car when they arrive to the city from the south, and take a shuttle for a mile.
"Then you're never in Mission Bay. You're never in conflict with the neighborhood or the hospital," he said.
Sam Singer, the PR spokesman for the Alliance said the area wasn't designed for an arena. They have a team of attorneys going through the report with a fine-toothed comb.
"There is no way to get 20,000 people coming in and out of that stadium every other day, which is how many events they have planned. It's physically impossible. It's like jamming an elephant into a VW," Singer said.
The Warriors hope to open the arena for the 2018-2019 season. A final EIR is expected this fall.
