S.F. in a nutshell - Polk and Pine

A pedestrian makes his way through the crosswalk at the intersection of Polk Street and Bush Streets in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. The Walk About Town column is about a project to improve Polk Street's walkability, where shoppers and pedestrians could get better safety in intersections and on the crowded sidewalks on Polk Street near Geary and Pine Streets. less A pedestrian makes his way through the crosswalk at the intersection of Polk Street and Bush Streets in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. The Walk About Town column is about a project to ... more Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close S.F. in a nutshell - Polk and Pine 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Those who want to understand San Francisco should go to the corner of Polk and Pine streets. It is all right there, the debates, the pedestrian/bike/car confrontations, and the convoluted civic process.

San Francisco is in the middle of trying to create a plan to add more bike lanes there. This battle epitomizes the challenges of a growing city - how to blend 21st century transportation needs with a large population in a small space, all the while dealing with the scary possibility of change.

"I think this fuss is good," said Liz Nolan, who attended a community meeting Tuesday night. "We need to talk to each other."

So far, the discussion has been remarkably civil. Maybe that's because none of the advocacy groups thinks the other side is wrong - it is just that they happen to be right.

Certain truths are self-evident. Bicycle traffic in the city has increased 71 percent over the last five years, according to the Municipal Transportation Agency. Polk is a well-established and much-used north-south route for bike riders. And the street continues a transformation to a bustling business center.

Put those all together and what do you have?

"It's a turf war," says Ray Bair, a Polk Street merchant who is part of Save Polk Street Coalition, which opposed the MTA's original plan, which would have eliminated nearly 18 percent of parking spots on the street.

The outcry against that plan forced the MTA to come up with six alternatives. There are diagrams of full, protected bike lanes all the way up Polk, a mixture of bike lanes and "sharrows," where bikes and cars share a lane, and even one that turns lower Polk into a one-way street.

At meetings like the one on Tuesday, earnest, young MTA staffers wearing name tags stood in front of the schematics, like docents at an art museum, explaining the various possibilities.

And that's all fine. The problem is the various groups seem to be working from different scenarios. For example, Jukie Schwiet of Good Vibrations on Polk says merchants she knows "are nervous that taking parking away will affect business negatively."

That's possible, but there's never been an abundance of parking on Polk Street. And even Save Polk supporters admit about 80 percent of shoppers come to stores on foot, bike, or public transit.

But there are some shaky premises from bicycle boosters, too.

"There was considerable hand-wringing about Valencia Street," said Leah Shahum of the Bike Coalition. "And that certainly hasn't hurt the street."

True, but Valencia, which went from four vehicle lanes to two for cars and two for bikes, is a wider thoroughfare that had room to expand. It's like the bike advocates who ask if it wouldn't be nice to turn Polk into something like the tree-lined Las Ramblas in Barcelona.

"Absolutely," says Bair. "I loved Las Ramblas. First, I drove to the public parking garage and left my car, then I enjoyed Las Ramblas all day."

That takes us right back to reality. There isn't enough parking. Or enough room for bikes. Tim Hickey has been using his bike as his primary transportation for four years, sometimes taking his 20-month-old son, Liam, with him. He's been hit by cars three times and believes protected bike lanes are the only reasonable solution.

"My wife would not let me take Liam on Polk," he said. "It's too dangerous."

The buzzword at the latest meeting was "compromise."

Except it's impossible to have a compromise. The street is too narrow; the traffic flow is too congested. Sooner or later a decision will be made since the changes are timed to happen when Polk gets repaved in 2015, and one of the groups will be unhappy.

That's when the protests, accusations and lawsuits begin. That's how it usually works in San Francisco.