by Tony the Tiger Hayes

SAN FRANCISCO–If the Golden State Warriors were to win or even sweep the Cleveland Cavaliers for the NBA Championship their first since 1974-75 could that change the direction for the Warriors in getting a new arena constructed at Mission Bay? San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development seems confident that any proposal or any measure on the ballot opposing it would be defeated and the Warriors will succeed in getting the new arena.

The hot debate had been about traffic issues in the South of Market Mission Bay project and the city has brought forward an 800 page environmental impact report that consists of how traffic would work during arena events. Mission Bay Alliance who has opposed the new Warriors arena says that traffic will be a standstill before and after Warrior games and other events at the arena.

The city environmental report says they have a solution to the traffic problem. When the peak of traffic starts between 6:30PM-7:30PM on weekdays when workers mainly go home at that time in traffic and fans are going to try and get to the arena, the city plans to redirect arena traffic to go onto 16th, Third and Illinois Streets. The UCSF hospital traffic was a concern on how emergency vehicles would be able to access the roads during those peak times.

The city has planned for hospital traffic to use Owens, Minnesota, Fourth and Seventh Streets for access to UCSF during concerts and basketball games at the arena. The city plans to use 21 officers to decipher traffic arena traffic from hospital traffic and that they would have signs posted to say “Hospital Only” for traffic leaving the Mariposa Street exit.

Mission Bay Alliance argues that trying to fit an 18,000 seat arena project consisting of two towers for condos with traffic involved in a two and half square mile area which would also include AT&T Park events on occasion would be reminiscent of what 49ers traffic was like coming in and out of Candlestick Park. Matter of fact with two facilities going it could be worse. The Alliance says that even with the new arena alone it would be impossible gridlock using those streets to redirect hospital traffic and Warriors basketball traffic and maneuvering traffic in general during peak hours.

Arena opponents simply put said it won’t work in a cramped neighborhood with that type of layout: “essentially what the city and the Warriors are trying to do is jam an elephant into a VW. It’s neither comfortable for the elephant nor advantageous for the V.W.” said Sam Singer who is a spokesman for one of the four law firms hired in order to stop the new arena by Mission Bay Alliance.

The City is proposing investing $40 million in transit including four new T line street cars. It is important to note that on San Francisco Giants game days the T line runs only one car as opposed to the N Judah which now runs two cars together on game day and the single car T line feels like that elephant in a VW when riding during Giant game days.

The City also is proposing a crossover track that would allow light rail to pass each other the cost for development for the rail crossover would run into $6.6 million a year to operate. The city is also planning to use traffic enforcement officers from the Municipal Transit Authority to run traffic beside the 21 control officers. Will the cross over idea work? Will using huge amounts of traffic control officers work for Warriors games and Hospital traffic? “There is no way to place an 18,000 seat arena that is going to have an event every other day day across the street from a major hospital and not have it significantly impact the ability of patients to reach that hospital as well as physicians and nurses to get to work” said Singer.

With four legal firms gearing up to fight the Warriors new arena plan and using an experienced CEQA attorney whose practice is environmental law Susan Brandt-Hawley. Hawley successfully fought, argued and worked for the opposition of the 8 Washington Street ballot initiative a proposition that opposed the waterfront condominium in the city’s 2013 election. Later the Warriors wanted to build their new arena at Piers 30-32 but realized that opponents and the waterfront neighborhood was prepared to put an initiative on the ballot and polls showed voters would vote down a Warriors Pier 30-32 arena. Hence the move to Mission Bay and the purchase of the land owned by Salesforce.

As confident this time as the Warriors are about constructing the new arena at Mission Bay, Mission Bay Alliance has now become more than just a wild card but an adversarial opponent of the project prepared with four law firms with CEQA experienced lawyers, traffic engineers who can demonstrate how traffic will be backed up for hours trying to get into an arena event and even some missing the beginning of the event because of parking and being out in traffic.

Tony the Tiger Hayes is a talk show host for http://www.sportsradioservice.com