Here's the deal: For years, Agatha Hoff has noticed what she calls "a truly dangerous situation" on the Golden Gate Bridge: Pedestrians, bicyclists and bridge workers having to share - at least during weekdays - the span's east sidewalk. Last year, more than 30 accidents happened that involved bicyclists and others on the bridge's east sidewalk, said Hoff, who wondered why the bridge district can't open the west sidewalk to ease the congestion. The short answer is that the district can't because of dangerous work being done on the west sidewalk, which is closed to bicyclists and pedestrians from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays. "The west sidewalk has access to needed utilities and has energized equipment in use by workers (which is powered off on weekends)," Mary Currie, public affairs director of the Golden Gate Bridge, said in an e-mail. "The nature of the activities and equipment on the west sidewalk make it unsafe for both employees and the public to allow bicycle or pedestrian access during these times." Currie said the work that's now being performed on the span's east side - painting its vertical suspender ropes - "is temporary and can only be done from the east sidewalk, and we are moving as quickly as possible to complete this effort." Currie disputes Hoff's characterization of the situation as dangerous, saying that "bicycle-versus-pedestrian accidents are quite uncommon and there is little, if any, demonstrated safety advantage to separating bicycles from pedestrians. In fact, the most serious accidents occur when bicycles and pedestrians are separated, mostly due to the speed of bicyclists."

This article appeared on page C - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle