Barriers by AT&T Park: She calls them "ugly, temporary barriers," which they are. The barriers in question - metal grids with bars that resemble those used in prisons - are located on the medians along King Street, by AT&T Park, and they've been there for as long as Tammie Shea can remember. Even as the rest of the area has been spruced up, the barriers remain. "I drive past there every day on the way to work (and) I've always wondered if the ugly, temporary barriers are going to stay there forever?" Shea wrote in an e-mail. "It seems pretty weird to spend all that money and not finish the job. That's like leaving the light switch covers out of a brand new house. Would love to see if anyone is on that!" Someone is. Kristen Holland, spokeswoman for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, said the barriers (she calls them "barricades") are a "safety measure" meant to prevent people from running across King Street over the medians - and over the tracks that bring Muni's Light Rail vehicles back and forth along King Street. Holland said "the SFMTA has begun evaluating more aesthetically pleasing options that would provide a solution for the safety issues." It's unclear, though, exactly when the metal barriers might be replaced.

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This article appeared on page B - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle