It’d be safe to say that the proposed recycling center at 10th and Harrison Streets South of Market wasn’t a very popular site.
“It was the stupidest location in all of South of Market,” says SoMa planning activist Jim Meko. “I can think of five or six other locations within a block where it wouldn’t have been a problem.”
And Meko is a supporter of recycling centers.
But this intersection had so much working against it, it never had a chance. For starters, the front of the lot, on 10th Street, feeds right into the freeway ramp for Highway 101. At peak traffic times, those lanes are backed up for blocks. As neighborhood groups say, having big recycling trucks trying to turn into the lot, and then attempting to back out into traffic after unloading, was a prescription for gridlock.
The upshot is that after a series of hearings, debates and an appearance before the Board of Appeals, the SoMa center is not happening.