Panhandle Cyclist Nearly Crushed By Falling Tree

Panhandle Cyclist Nearly Crushed By Falling Tree

Photo: Mike Vladimer/Twitter

Rose Garrett
Published on February 15, 2015

Late yesterday afternoon, a tree came crashing down on the Panhandle mixed-use path, barely missing a passing cyclist, according to multiple witnesses.

"This tree just fell on a biker in the panhandle bike path," reported tipster Matthew N. "She somehow didn't get injured."

Others took to Instagram and Twitter to post about the incident:

The incident comes as complete funding for Panhandle Park improvements is still in question. Though nearby Buena Vista Park secured $100,000 for its tree maintenance program last year, the Panhandle's recent round of funding is tied to improvements like path improvements and/or better lighting and signage. 

As we touched on in a recent article on the maintenance of San Francisco's urban forest, DPW budget constraints have left a crew of 10 workers responsible for managing 105,000 street trees and fielding roughly 3,700 calls a year for urgent matters like broken branches and fallen trees. 

In the case of yesterday's fallen tree, it seems that the tree met a very San Francisco end.