By Robert Ellison. Updated on Monday, September 29, 2025.
Starting from this parking area makes for a brisk walk up to Milagra Ridge and then a nice loop at the top before returning by the same trail. Milagra Ridge used to be a Nike missile site (SF-51), still has some WWII remains (Battery #244) and a reservoir. I thought it looked like a nice enough day to brave Pacifica but by the time I'd loaded the dog and driven down the fog had swept in. Still a pleasant 3 mile hike.
I have wanted a decentralized social network for alongtime. Maybe this Fediverse thing is starting to get legs. Bluesky and Mastodon can now talk to each other via Bridgy Fed. Threads can post to Mastodon. ITHCWY has been on ActivityPub for a year now and it's become a significant source of traffic and comments. If you are on Mastodon or a federated service you can follow me at @[email protected]. I plan to get even more federated over the next year.
I waded foolishly into the debate around turning the Great Highway in San Francisco into a park, and found that the data doesn't support the fear of carnage in the Sunset when this road is closed. I also made a custom GPT to discuss the San Francisco budget with, and had to spend some time writing the missing manual to even know what to ask. Too late now, but here's a guide to the March ballot measures (watch this space for November) On a national level I got to update my NPVIC page now that Maine has joined.
By Robert Ellison. Updated on Monday, September 29, 2025.
Hike from Banff to the Hoodoos on the Bow River, then around the back of Tunnel Mountain and back to Banff. Clearly you could close the loop but in this case we had some well deserved ice cream and then got the bus back.
(Published to the Fediverse as:
Tunnel Mountain #hike#banff#tunnelmountain#map Hike taking in the Bow River Hoodoos and Tunnel Mountain in Banff, Alberta, Canada.)
(Published to the Fediverse as:
Canadian Water #photo#waterfall Photos of Sunwapta, Athbasca, Overlander, Nairn and Brandywine Falls in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada.)
(Published to the Fediverse as:
Humpback Whales in the Strait of Georgia #photo#whales#humpback Photos of three whales near Vancouver, British Columbia)
There is some debate in San Francisco at the moment around permanently closing the Great Highway to traffic.
This road was closed during the pandemic and I regularly visited with my kids to enjoy a bike ride in a safe and beautiful environment. There were also 'slow streets' dotted around the city, many of which persisted. These still have cars and parking and are much less compelling.
Opponents of the plan are concerned that traffic displaced from the Great Highway will make neighborhood streets more dangerous. The hope is that this traffic will shift to Sunset Boulevard but the reality is likely some increased traffic in the Outer Sunset. This seems like a reasonable complaint, but so far I haven't seen any data. Since August 2021 the Great Highway has been closed weekends, holidays and Friday afternoons. Is it possible to see the impact?
I downloaded injury accident and fatality data from Data SF. This covers the entire city so I first cut the data set down to an area bounded by the Great Highway and Sunset Boulevard (including both) and Lincoln Way and Sloat (excluding both). I then picked a pre period from May 28, 2017 to February 29, 2020 and a post period from September 1, 2021 to June 4, 2024. Both periods are 1,008 days which is 36 28 day periods. Here's a chart of injury accidents (number of people injured in total) by week day:
The good news is that injuries are down overall. Monday through Friday the total decrease is 26%. When the Great Highway is closed at the weekend the number of injuries decreases by 44%. It looks like the streets have got safer when the Great Highway is closed. Before the pandemic you would be 14% more likely to get injured at the weekend, for the last few years this has flipped to 14% less likely.
I also looked at deaths. There are only two, both in the post period. One was on a Saturday and one a Monday. That's not enough data to try and draw any conclusions.
Given how nice that stretch of road is, I'm now a big supporter of the Great Highway Park concept.
In case it's useful here's the code behind the analysis:
(Published to the Fediverse as:
Does closing the Great Highway cause an increase in traffic accidents? #politics#sanfrancisco#greathighway Analysis of data from DataSF shows injury accidents are lower when the Great Highway is closed to traffic.)
I just sent this note to my senators (Padilla and Butler):
"Being a presidential voter in California is like playing the Trolley Problem without a lever. I know my vote won't make much of a difference, but I can no longer vote for President Biden. I was an enthusiastic supporter in 2020. I'm grateful that Biden defeated Trump. I'm proud of the work this administration has done to reduce carbon emissions, make healthcare more affordable and increase domestic semiconductor production.
While impressive, these accomplishments are sunk benefits. If Trump is allowed to prevail in the 2024 election much of this good work will be undone. That will likely be the least of our problems as a country. President Biden is now almost certain to lose the election. We are currently stuck with everyone realizing that this is true, but too few willing to make their position public. We risk a catastrophic election result unless a landslide of hard truths are delivered in the next few days.
Biden ran on a platform of being the bridge to a new generation of leadership. He must fulfil this promise and start the process of passing the torch immediately. As my representative please take a public position that this must happen as I'm sure you must privately believe. Thank you."
