On Saturday at 1 p.m., a Sausalito City Council special session could go a long way toward determining the fate of Bridgeway’s picturesque waterfront.

Its iconic views of San Francisco Bay and waterfront sidewalks, shops and restaurants make it an international destination. As a cyclist, I’ve loved riding this wide corridor’s bike route and seeing smiles on the faces of fellow cyclists after navigating challenging Alexander Avenue to the south or less-friendly Bridgeway sections to the north.

Both those bikeway sections need improvement. However, I firmly believe Bridgeway’s waterfront section works equally well for everyone now.

Research from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration shows that our waterfront’s continuous median lane calms and improves traffic flow, reduces collision rates and improves safety, mobility and access for motorists, cyclists, emergency responders and pedestrians.

I think proponents of a plan to grab this valuable median lane to create bike lanes that serve only cyclists appear to falsely claim this section is unsafe. Bridgeway’s waterfront section with a continuous median lane had only one cyclist collision-related injury accident in 10 years. The only Bridgeway safety improvement this section needs is one or two pedestrian crosswalks.

There’s not enough real estate, nor justification, to give a single-interest group 12 feet of width. A $504,600 project grant doesn’t justify spending the estimated $3.3 million to complete this project, which would eliminate one-quarter or more of this area’s needed daytime parking.

Sausalito’s quality of life will be diminished by this plan. With fewer parking options, I expect double-parked emergency, delivery, garbage and service vehicles. I visualize traffic backing up when some need to stop or wait to turn left. It could anger drivers while increasing noise and pollution.

With this plan, blocked drivers and cyclists who are impatient will likely cross into oncoming traffic to pass, raising the risk of dangerous head-on collisions. Proposed curbside loading zones will force many trucks to back up to park, unload and transport supplies and equipment along our sidewalks. Doing that could block pedestrians and damage our waterfront’s ambiance. I suspect emboldened cyclists will go faster and pedestrians will lose the comfort of the median lane’s unofficial refuge area as they exercise their legal right to cross the street.

We know that when an emergency strikes (like a fire or a heart attack) every second counts. In theory, if Bridgeway’s curb-to-curb width stays the same, where lane lines are drawn shouldn’t impact emergency response times. However, I am certain that, without the median lane to help emergency responders navigate the cyclists, double-parked vehicles and drivers who stop upon hearing sirens, they will be forced to slow down and cross into oncoming traffic.

The busier the traffic, the slower the response. Local emergency responses will require traffic control staffing we don’t have.

I am concerned that the report supporting the change understates projected congestion by basing it on offseason data. It appears to absurdly assume every truck and passenger vehicle will somehow find parking (despite fewer spaces) or leave the area rather than double park. It ignores Bridgeway’s critical role in major disasters and evacuations. It mandates higher bike-lane standards than exist for most of Sausalito’s Bay Trail.

It ignores key objections made in public meetings. “The street is rather safe,” Sausalito Police Chief Stacie Gregory said. “Regulating in a different way … would add more chaos.”

According to Sgt. Steven Veveiros, “(the) median lane is a relief valve for residents, commercial purposes and emergency services.”

Additionally, all of this ignores negative impacts on our waterfront’s ambiance, appeal, businesses and pedestrians.

The recommended long-range option preserves the median lane, but plan proponents don’t want to wait. They want to grab our median lane now regardless of community impact, eliminating far too many parking spaces during key shopping hours.

Please join Sausalito residents, businesses and many cyclists in stopping this land grab. Attend Saturday’s meeting and email the Sausalito City Council beforehand at citycouncil@sausalito.gov. Tell them you oppose any bike lane plan that eliminates Bridgeway’s waterfront median lane.

Dr. Roger Taylor, of Sausalito, is a cyclist, and former Director of California’s Emergency Medical Services Authority and RAND researcher.