slowed down even a fraction of the speed, you can get a high increase in the amount of safety and reduction in the fatal -- fatalities that result from car collisions. for us in san francisco, today, we'd pick peabody to be the first school, the first of 200 in san francisco that by the end of this year and through next year and january will get at least three or four of these signs posted all around the routes contingent with the schools. it will buy our vehicle code reduce the speed from the normal 25 miles per hour or some of them 30, to 15 miles an hour all around these schools. that is going to increase the level of safety in a very dramatic way. this idea results from the very first meetings that we had when we pulled together a pedestrian

safety advisory committee made up of all the different agencies and volunteer agencies within san francisco that reflect at all of the agencies that we mentioned earlier today. they met already. they are going to continue meeting because it is not just about the sign, but this is the first physical indicator of slowing down traffic. our police chief is committed to making sure he works with the parents, educating the drivers, and ultimately, enforcement by citations that will have to be done when there is violations that occur, but we will start with the great effort of educating parents, educating drivers, including public drivers as well as private drivers and people who are coming down the streets. i think that you will probably observe that until these signs go up, you will see cars coming down and probably inappropriate speeds, and that is what we want to do, keep them slowdown. this will definitely be a verifiable thing to reduce

pedestrian accidents that occur, especially for our kids, the most vulnerable ones. you can see them. they are kind of half awake when they are coming in, and i saw that with a very real thing. they just want to get to the courtyard, to the playground, and they will not necessarily be aware of everything here, so the speed reduction is extremely important. i am here to announce this, the sign it -- the signage that will go up, and that the enforcement measures will be there along with the education. that is the way we do things and do them better. mayor newsom at the end of last year executed an executive director of that had the departments coming in informing the task force -- and forming a task force, which i am pleased to give me, to get the best ideas. it also announced that we have the goal to reduce pedestrian fatalities and accidents by 50%

by the year 2000 -- i believe it is 2020. this will be the initial efforts to start doing this. there will be more to come as we meet with supervisors and others. i know the other supervisors in our district have strongly expressed this to be one of their top concerns. i will be working closely with you to get the best ideas forward, working with even groups like our bicycle coalition, too, because they no traffic -- they know traffic. we announced this today to be a dedicated effort, and we will be paying strong attention as the year goes by and make sure all the signs go up and the education and enforcement start. thank you very much for being here. [applause] >> thank you, mr. mayor. partnership within the elected family is important to make this work. you heard that eric mar is no

stranger to peabody schools. you know he represents the richmond district. what you may not know is that he along with the rest of the board of supervisors said also as the board of the san francisco county transportation authority. in mention that because they are providing the majority of the funding for this initiative. so i want to thank the board in their capacity as the transportation authority for their leadership and the funding support to enable this to happen and ask eric mar to come up and say a few words. >> thank you, everyone, for being here. i rode my bicycle from where i live, and i see that people are speeding by in the mornings even as parents are dropping their kids off. i know this simple policy change will actually save lives. i think these signs and community education that the mta and police department and all of the city family will be working on in the 200 different sites and schools will help save

lives. i also wanted to say that as a parent, i know that as we get to work quickly, sometimes we do not understand as drivers that we share the road with people who are pedestrians and also bicyclist as well. i think signs like this -- even reducing speed in of the sensitive spots, maybe senior centers and other places might be an additional change. when members of the bus a coalition came out to speak at hearings for the community operations committee that i sit on, that was a strong urge that we reduced speed limits, not just around schools but in other sensitive areas. i also wanted to add that mayor lee mentioned that a number of studies had been done in our department of public health. they have looked closely at how policies like this can help make community safer and save lives, so thank you for the efforts. the last thing i wanted to say was that it does not come without a cause.

the transportation authority -- and i chaired the finance committee of the transportation authority. we just a lot of -- i think it was $20,000, and the mta is contributing money as well, but it is well worth it when it helps save lives and keep our communities safer, so thank you very much, everyone. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor. there is another body that the voters have empowered to essentially manage and regulate traffic, and that is the sfmta board, and they took an action a couple of weeks ago to legislate the first batch of these zones to create, which has enabled under our recent 2007 state law, the creation of these school zones that allow us to create the 15 miles per hour safety zone in front of schools. on behalf of the sfmta board, i am happy to welcome up to the microphone, one of my bosses,

director brinkman. [applause] >> thank you. i am so glad to be here. there is a growing body of research that shows we can make the schools -- the streets safer, and one of the ways we can do that is reduced speeds. if all else fails and a collision results, this speed limit saves lives. i am pleased to be here and to continue to work with the rest of the city, the rest of the organizations, and to know that they have the support of the mta board in these very important initiatives. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, director. the mayor and supervisor mar mentioned that there's different city agencies working together to make this happen. i think they both mentioned the health department has been a very strong partner, and i want to work knowledge there great work. it is their research that i want to reiterate the exponential

decline in the likelihood of serious injury or fatality for every 5 miles that you lower the speed limit. it is a powerful tool to ensure safety in the streets if in the unfortunate event, despite all of our efforts, there's impact between a vehicle and a person. it is a very important effort. the department of public health is a great partner. another great partner in this effort is san francisco police department. very pleased to have the san francisco chief of police here. [applause] >> thank you. the message is clear -- slowdown. pay attention. keep the kids safe. those of you that were here this morning -- it is very hectic at drop-off times. the kids are very excited. i remember all too well when i was a little kid going to school in san francisco. you are excited to get back

amongst your friends. a couple weeks ago, i was present when the young fan was hit by a car. nothing impacts a person more than an injured child, especially as serious as that was, and it is so unnecessary. it is a very expensive citation, but it is one that if you are putting the kids in jeopardy will be well deserved, and it will be given. please, slow down our run schools. pay attention. no electronic devices. no texting. keep our kids safe. avoid the ticket. [applause] >> thanks, chief. our host here today and really the focus of our efforts is the san francisco unified school district. this initiative will reach all elementary schools in san francisco, but the majority of our kids are in our public schools. we are very pleased to have them as a partner. very pleased to have here representing the school district not only the principle of this

school but the president of the board of education -- principal of this school. [applause] >> thank you. i am so happy to be here as part of this partnership. i think this once again demonstrates the value of our partners. san francisco unified has gone through so many different challenges, and we have realized that we cannot do what we need to do for our students without the help and support of the city, and mayor lee has been an incredible force in lockstep with all the work we have been doing at san francisco unified. it has been great to have a parent who is in our schools who understands the challenges we are up against an really thinks about what we need to do for the safety of our students. if you look around, this is a very dense neighborhood. this is not only about our students but the community that supports our students. as families are coming out of the garages, the idea that the

speed limit will come down is significant. we're also encouraging students to back-to-school or walk to school. we have been really encouraging our families to do that, and this will give us yet one other leverage point to get them on the streets. we are telling them we are making it more safe for them to come to school biking and walking. i am so happy to be part of the city family to be able to do this. on behalf of carlos garcia who could not be here this morning and all of our schools, thank you so much for your hard work and helping to make our kids safe so that we can get them here. they will be here every single day so that we can get them to learn and get them on to college, so thanks again for all of the work around helping us to do that. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. finally, the voters and the

board a dozen years or so ago made a very important policy statement, and that was declaring san francisco to be a transit first policy city. that does not mean about transit only. the policy is about getting people out of their cars, providing better, safer, more convenient, safer ways for people to get around san francisco, which includes by bicycle and walking. if we want to get people on their bicycles and walking, they need to be safe, and that is what this initiative is about. carter realizing that policy takes a lot of work from folks not only within the mta and our partner agencies and the school district, but people outside the government. there are some very strong advocacy organizations and organizations that help educate, that helped inform policy, that help shape the public debate about this. i want to acknowledge the san francisco bicycle coalition, a great partner with us. to close out here, from walk sf

, elizabeth. [applause] >> thank you. what walk san francisco has been working on this campaign to get 15 mile an hour safer speed zones around schools for a long time. we are so excited it is coming to fruition. we are pleased to be here with the mayor, mta, the police department, the school district, and the department of public health as well, which works on safe routes to school. we are here today to establish these speed limits because the thing is -- speed kills. if you are hit by a car going 30 miles an hour, you are six times more likely to be killed than of that car is going just 10 miles an hour less -- 20 miles an hour. establishing these safe speed zones around our schools will make it safer not only for kids to walk to school, but for everybody who walks in our city, and that is everybody. everyone is a pedestrian, and

this is really a step forward acalm traffic around all of our schools and neighborhoods. we are very excited to be here. we have been working for a long time on this campaign, and it is great to see it happening this fall. one thing that has been mentioned is the need for funding to make this and other improvements have been around the city. there will be a bond on the november ballot, a st. bond that will help us make permanent investments in making the streets safer for pedestrians. all around the city, and that is something we really need, a smart investment in a world- class city. again, we are so excited to be here to announce these great new speed zones going into place. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you all for coming out, folks behind me, thank you all. especially for your leadership and support. we will be working hard to get

the suns in as quickly as we can to work with the police department in particular on the outreach, education, and enforcement, and we look forward most of all to seeing the results, the outcomes of most of this. we look forward to seeing a significant decrease in the amount -- or improvement in the safety of the area around the schools as a result of this initiative, so thank you all for coming out, and the safe today. [applause] -- be safe today. close >> anybody on the ladder, you have to make sure. have to make sure.

so are you going out tonight? i can't. my parents say i have to be home right after work. ugh. that's so gay. totally gay. ugh. that is so emma and julia. why are you saying, "that's so emma and julia"?

well, you know, when something is dumb or stupid, you say, "that's so emma and julia." who says that? everyone. announcer: imagine if who you are were used as an insult. >> ok. we will get started. i'm the senior communications manager for the california department of trorbgs spokesperson for the san francisco oakland bay bridge. we have invited the media to give you an update on construction progress for our new bridge. a number of things are happening right now and will continue to happen the next two years as we get ready to open up the new bridge to public service. first, we have a transport ship that recently arrived during our final segment that will be put

in place the next couple of months to complete the main deck for the suspension bridge. we also, the past few weeks, have constructed a cat walk system that is very visible to the public that will act as a platform for our construction team to erect, to basically place the main cable of what will be the world's largest self-anchored suspension bridge out in three-dimensional space. that is another very visual element that continues. as we get closer to the end of the year, we will begin erecting equipment that will be placed out there. it will basically look like a giant conveying machine that will pull the cable strands across over what you see that is the cat walk system. that work will begin, the actual pulling, probably january of 2012. but the equipment is being installed now. you will get a chance to look at

that in the field today. our contractors have been working long hours to ensure that the transition structure is completed on time. we have the westbound portion of that structure that would take you into san francisco. it is nearing completion and should be done by the end of this year. then we will begin construction on the eastbound portion. it has started but you will see concrete being poured soon. then coming in the spring of 2012 we will complete an operation that started earlier this year. we moved eastbound traffic to the south on the oakland side of the bay bridge to accommodate for construction work that will be happening the next couple of years. that will allow us to open the bridge all at once approximately six months ahead of the original schedule. in the spring we will be

basically closing the westbound bridge heading into san francisco for a period of days. we will come back with more information so you will know what will happen. this is similar to other closures. while closed we will shift the approach to the bridge after you come out fof the toll plaza traffic will be shifted to the south that. will allow us to surgically remove a portion of the bridge that is currently in the way of the new bridge's alignment. while traffic is running on the new portion we will remove the old portion and allow us to put the construction crew there and basically complete the new bridge so we can open the entire thing at one time. this is a lot of information and you can go to the bay bridge info.org. before i break it down i want to say tonight is special. we are going to illuminate the

construction lighting on the cat walk for the self-anchored suspension bridge for the first time. and most people when i say big deal it is construction lighting and maybe our architects would say that, but what happens is it is little bit of revealing. this is out there because they have to work at night and they need the pathways illuminated but ultimately it means you are getting an early look at what the bridge will look like at night for the first time at 7:45 tonight. we wanted you to be aware of that. those are the main items we have asked you to see. this is one of the few times we have been able to work out with the contractor that we could allow you to come out and be physically on the bridge and go up inside the tower. we hope you will work with us, follow our safety standards. there will be a number of cal tran personnel to ask questions

regarding safety or access. if you have any questions see me or tony. at this point in time we will -- mike, do you have a quick one? >> why today? just because the lights are going on? >> let's take the q&a. i will run through the presentation because it will help the folks that it is their first time doing it. >> paul, are you ready? this presentation is available on line at our media bar. this is just to give you an understanding of the different elements for the bay bridge. the first piece is the arrival of the final steel deck segment on the transport ship that came in yesterday, on sunday. here is some of the footage of the pieces arriving in the bay underneath our western span.

there is over 5,000 tons of steel on the transport ship and this is the last ship of its type coming in for the bridge. still a couple of hardware items we are awaiting but the bulk of the steel is now here. and what are we actually seeing today? basically, if you look at the very end of the self-anchored suspension bridge there is a gap between that and the sky walk. over the next couple of months the pieces that have arrived will be filling that gap. here you can see, using google, we have outlined the gaps that exist. these are the pieces that recently arrived and need to be placed. the next couple of months you will see us in this order place 13 west, 13 east, 14 east, 14 west, and connect them into the bridge. over 350,000 bolts are used to connect this.

there are 28 sections overall. these are the final four pieces that will complete that deck. they are some of the most complex ones we have had to build for the bridge because inside of them is the anchorage of the structure. the techniques topic are the cat -- the tphebnext topic is the c walks. we have seen this happened. you can see slightly different the process that they used to put them in place. this is vintage footage but the same type of structure. steel cable, steel or chicken wire mesh that the workers work on. we have wooden platforms on top of the mesh. you see this guy struggling a little bit to get in place. these guys had to do some different things than we had to do. but again you can see there the cat walk creates the geometry of the bridge. in the 1930's when those came

out that is when bay area residents saw what the west bands looked like. that is what you are seeing right now. in the past few weeks away put our cat walk in place. you see a couple of film images of what you will see on site as they connect to the top of the tower. this is our back expand, the short expand that goes toward the island. also online we have a couple of quick methods of i think this is some of the electrical work that was done to put the lighting system in place as we get ready to place the main cable. here is a shot for scale that you can see. you see one person working there. the lights are the exact same fixtures that were used on the memorial bridge in 2002. american bridge procured them and is using them here. when we put those in place that was a preview of what that would look like at tphaoeufplt

tonight, the same thing. that is the cat walk segment. the final deck segment installation. that is over the next couple of months. these shots show a little bit of a very large crane -- barge-mounted crane that does the heavy lifting to put the segments in place. the pieces weigh over 1,000 tons and they are put down in place where they need to be and are pwoeplted together that. is a few shots of what the operation will look like the next couple of months. as we finish the year, the hardware will go in place for cable placement and as next year begins we will go into placing the main cable but what is the main cable and why is it different on this bridge? this bridge will be the world's

largest self-anchored suspension bridge with one main tower and one cable. if you follow the arrows, you can see it starts on the east side, comes across traffic over the top of the tower, wraps around the back of the bridge, comes back across traffic up to the top of the tower and anchors back on the other side. if you think of a traditional suspension bridge as a hammock connected on two sides, this is more like a sling, connected on one side and loops around the other. so, if that makes sense, then we can show you sort of what the next process is. in order to put this cable in place we have connections that will be happening primarily on t the eastern side of the self-anchored suspension bridge and the wraparound will be happening on the western side of the bridge. if we look at the eastern side first, you can see how the main

cable comes down into the road that you drive on and like any traditional suspension bridge the cable fans out. this cable is made up of smaller wires. you look at the fact sheet, you will see there are 137 strands, of 127 wires each. the wires are about five millimeters in diameter. each could basically lift a military grade hummer and there are 17,399 of those wires in the main cables of the bridge. so, as it comes down to the deck it comes through the stroud and fans out and ties back within that deck section. that is how it connects on the eastern side of the bridge. if we look back at the main span, the cable wraps around the western side at the island. unlike traditional suspension bridges where two cables move up

and down, our one cable is moving on three plane, coming kraog across track and back. so we have changed the angle and we bring it around. another saddle about midpoint where during construction we can work with the tensioning on the cable so we get it where it needs to be for placement. then on the other side you have the same three-dimensional saddle that takes the deviation as it comes across. so, i hope that makes sense. it is moving in three planes. it is not coming straight down. it is coming at an angle and across. that is on the western side. and there are steel cables inside that beam that are holding down that end of the bridge inside some of the strongest foundations in the world. the cable is made up of strands of wire