The closed section of Park Presidio at Clement.
A nearly downed light pole resulted in a partial closure of Park Presidio Boulevard this morning. Police closed off the southbound lanes between Lake and Clement Streets, and the northbound lane between Clement and California.
According to SFAppeal, “The car crashed into the pole near Clement Street at about 4:35 a.m.,” fire department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said. She said the driver was taken to a local hospital with injuries that were not believed to be life threatening but couldn’t say if anyone else had been in the car.
Southbound drivers coming off the Golden Gate Bridge onto Park Presidio were routed around via Lake Street, backing up traffic into the MaCarthur tunnel. Northbound drivers were detoured off at Clement, many of them taking Funston down to California to get back on Park Presidio.
The closure began before 6am this morning and was still going on at 7:30am. A tweet from the Richmond District police station estimated the closure would last two hours.
All the while a KTVU helicopter hovered over the scene for 1+ hours, undoubtedly waking neighbors. Twitter user @dalbizo snapped a pic of a KTVU helicopter. Head over to ktvu.com to see the scintillating video footage from the chopper. Yawn.
Sarah B.
The leaning tower of light pole that caused the closure. Photo courtesy of RichmondSFBlog reader Bob H.
A KTVU News helicopter that hovered over the scene. Photo by @dalbizo
Traffic backed up on Funston between Clement and California.
An officer directs traffic at California and Park Presidio.
It sure did wake me up!
I was wonder where that helicopter sound is coming from all morning since 6:10am. And why is that helipoter hovering anyways? I hope it is helping the situation, not just creating another scene nor waking up neighbors only.
KTVU 2 newschopper was to blame for the noise. I posted a photo on my Twiiter page as is hovered over Park Presidio and Balboa for most of the morning.
Everytime I hear a helicopter hovering above, there isn’t ever good news.
my question is how did that light pole end up that way?
Yes, the helicopter woke me up shortly after 6 am. Really annoying.
Wondered what the copters were all about. I was well away from Clement, down by Cabrillo, so I had no idea what was going on.
Up until a little while ago traffic was still being rerouted on Clement and nearby avenues… lots of frustrated drivers honking their horns outside….
I agree with Roger. Every time I hear a helicopter I wonder what is going wrong in the Inner Richmond. Last time it was the fatal accident on Arguello. 🙁
I’ll echo Grace’s question: what happened to cause the light pole to get dislodged? It looks like it was crashed into with all that dirt around it in the second photo.
I didn’t hear a crash and/or sirens or notice a scene regarding the pole at any time in the night.
(I live along the couple of blocks of Funston that were affected by the traffic re-route.)
CBS 5 news said a car crashed into the pole in the early morning.
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/03/31/damaged-power-pole-shuts-major-san-francisco-roadway/
Thanks, Roger.
I sleep more soundly than I thought!
Helicopters should be banned anytime before 8 or 9am. Crazy that thousands of people had to lose that last hour or so of sleep before the alarm usually goes off. Pretentious news reporters and unnecessary voyeurism. Do we really need to see images from the sky of a leaning light post?
@ Jeff well said. I think the chopper was also below legal altitude. A call to Oakland center FAA to protest may silence this alarm clock
I make a point of calling television stations to complain about their helicopters whenever they hover over the hood, and I urge everyone to do likewise. My experience is that you will get no response and no hint of satisfaction. Stations like KTVU take it for granted that they can do whatever they want whenever they want in the name of what they call news. I have also lodged complaints with my supervisors (to be fair, my last complaint was pre-Eric Mar). Part of the problem is that there is not enough outcry from the people who live in affected neighborhoods. If this is important to you, please contact your elected representatives and the pertinent corporate media.
and then the 2nd and geary toyota makeover started with the jackhammer at 6:50, which was worse than a helicopter. there are names for these people who do these jobs, names they deserve.