Public Meetings to be Held February and March 2008 at Four Neighborhood Locations Los Angeles (January 22, 2008) - The City of Los Angeles will be holding a series of public workshops to discuss the Bicycle Master Plan Update, during the months of February and March 2008.
City of Los Angeles Bicycle Plan provides a guide to develop a Citywide bicycle transportation system. The intent of the Bicycle Plan is to expand bicycle usage through further development of bicycle riding facilities, improvement of existing facilities, and creation of bicycle support programs. Ideally, the bicycle network will increase bicycle usage in place of automobiles.
By increasing the number of cyclists who use the bicycle for transportation, traffic congestion may be reduced and air quality improved. In addition, bicyclists can experience health benefits through increased physical activity. As part of the update for the Bicycle Master Plan, the City is inviting the public to attend a workshop. Workshops are scheduled throughout Los Angeles, at four (4) neighborhood locations, during the months of February and March 2008.
Central/South Los Angeles Date: Saturday February 16, 2008 Location: Expo Center Swim Stadium-Community Room Address: 3980 S. Menlo Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90037 Time: 10am-12pm
West Los Angeles Date: Wednesday February 20, 2008 Location: Felicia Mahood Multi Purpose Center Address: 11338 Santa Monica Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90037 Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm
Valley Area Date: Wednesday February 27, 2008 Location: Marvin Braude-San Fernando Constituent Services Center, Conference Room 1B Address: 6262 Van Nuys Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91401 Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm
Harbor Area Date: Saturday March 1, 2008 Location: Banning’s Landing Community Center Address: 100 E. Water Street, Wilmington, CA 90744 Time: 10am-12pm
The Bicycle Master Plan Update is being coordinated as a joint project with the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation and Department of City Planning. For more information about the Bicycle Master Plan Update meeting, and other aspects of the plan, please access the website at www.labikeplan.org. - # # #-
OK...you made me listen to Wendy. I had almost forgotten about her...:)
She's standing up to the test of time pretty well...:p
OK, here's some musical trivia for you. Remember the Naughty Sweeties? The song Alice?
CritEastwood
01-27-08, 12:56 AM
I bet Greg remembers the Naughty Sweeties. He's quite encyclopaedic with music around that time.
Wendy-O is dead.
dddave
01-27-08, 02:39 AM
i went to one of these meetings for a bicycle boulevard on 1st street in long beach. it was such a fcking joke.
alicestrong
01-27-08, 04:37 AM
i went to one of these meetings for a bicycle boulevard on 1st street in long beach. it was such a fcking joke.
How is that? Tell me about it.
dddave
01-27-08, 01:46 PM
it was basically all the 1st street residents there yelling about how they don't want the bike blvd on their street. they brought up a bunch of really STUPID points that they probably thought were awesome. the best one was that it will increase noise. WHAT? another was that a guy said he was afraid he'd hit a cyclist while backing out of his driveway. another was that they were worried that it would be on a national map of bike trails and that people from all over the country would come and ride their bikes on 1st street. all stupid sh*t like that. they kept saying that it would "destroy" their "historical street." some people shouted "do you drive a horse and carriage?" i said " would you like them to rip out your street lights and put in gaslamps?" then later on they all said that they were in favor of a bike blvd... just not on 1st street. just a bunch of crabby old NIMFY people.
alicestrong
01-27-08, 01:55 PM
ha ha ha ha ha
OK...dddave I think it works like this...
How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time...;)
ckeizer77
01-27-08, 01:58 PM
I'll be at the Valley meeting. I'll cover the minutes on my blog as well.
alicestrong
01-27-08, 02:59 PM
Thanks Corey that would be swell...:)
Not sure which location I will be at just yet...
Tumbleweed
01-27-08, 03:34 PM
it was basically all the 1st street residents there yelling about how they don't want the bike blvd on their street. they brought up a bunch of really STUPID points that they probably thought were awesome. the best one was that it will increase noise. WHAT? another was that a guy said he was afraid he'd hit a cyclist while backing out of his driveway. another was that they were worried that it would be on a national map of bike trails and that people from all over the country would come and ride their bikes on 1st street. all stupid sh*t like that. they kept saying that it would "destroy" their "historical street." some people shouted "do you drive a horse and carriage?" i said " would you like them to rip out your street lights and put in gaslamps?" then later on they all said that they were in favor of a bike blvd... just not on 1st street. just a bunch of crabby old NIMFY people.
Politics
Residents object to bike path
Proposed path would connect Chandler Bikeway with L.A. River bike path and could lead to increased traffic and crime, neighbors fear.
By Chris Wiebe
CHANDLER PARK — Residents on Sparks Street in Burbank are bemoaning a proposed bike route that would utilize their street to connect the Chandler Bikeway to the bike route along the Los Angeles River.
The route would run along Sparks before cutting across to Beachwood Drive via Alameda Avenue on its way to the river wash near Riverside Drive, Assistant Community Development Director Greg Herrmann said. The bike path would share the roadway with motorists — as opposed to being cordoned off completely — and would be designated by a painted line.
But Sparks residents complain that the route would bring more activity to the neighborhood, increasing traffic and creating parking problems.
"My biggest concern about it is that we're connecting a Burbank bike path with an L.A. bike path," Raymond Ferrante said. "There are 100,000 people in Burbank, but there's 3.5 million people in Los Angeles. So that says that there will be about 35 L.A. bikers to every one Burbank biker coming through my neighborhood. My concern is why are we inviting all these people from another town to come through my neighborhood."
Ferrante would prefer to see a route that took bicyclers through the downtown area, which could even result in passers-by spending money at Burbank businesses.
Representatives from the city's Community Development Department have met twice with Sparks residents to listen to concerns.
"We did get a lot of comments, the majority of which were negative," Community Development Director Sue Georgino said.
Some residents worried that attracting more people to the neighborhood would result in higher crime rates, Herrmann said.
"The residents objected to this as something that would bring people into the neighborhood that they didn't potentially trust," he said.
But the opening of the bikeway along Chandler Boulevard has not brought increased crime to that area, Burbank Police Chief Thomas Hoefel said.
"To my knowledge we have had no additional crime reports along Chandler Bikeway," he said. "It is a very safe place."
Still, statistics about whether crime rates increase in an area with a new bike route should be considered to address residents' concerns, Councilman Jef Vander Borght said.
"The level of traffic that is anticipated would be absolutely, absolutely minuscule," he said. "Having said that, we need all the facts to make a decision, specifically the concerns that have been expressed about the heightened increase in crime as a result of the Chandler bike path. I would very much like to know that because, indeed, if it does happen we need to take swift action to correct this. On the other hand, if it's a perception and not a reality we need to convey that message to the public."
Since some of the funding for the Sparks bike path is derived from a Caltrans grant allocated for that specific route, the city must be mindful of Caltrans' requirements, Herrmann said.
"We have to follow the direction of Caltrans, who oversees this grant money and, if we can, if they will allow us to move the money to a different route we will look at a number of different routes," he said.
Though the City Council has ultimate say about where a potential route would be located, if Caltrans were to prohibit the city from using the grant for a route other than Sparks, the funds might not be reallocated to Burbank, he said.
CritEastwood
01-27-08, 09:59 PM
Typical NIMBY garbage.
Placid Casual
01-27-08, 10:22 PM
i went to one of these meetings for a bicycle boulevard on 1st street in long beach. it was such a fcking joke.
I read about this in The District Weekly. Did anybody actually point out, on the record, how moronic the anti-BB crowd's points were?
dddave
01-28-08, 01:59 PM
not that i know of. another thing people kept saying was "why don't you just use the beach path to get where you're going?"
idiots.
ckeizer77
01-28-08, 09:42 PM
I had a guy comment with common logic on an entry I wrote. That Cyclists should take bike paths everywhere. I told him sure, that would be great if there was a bike path or lane going to and from everywhere that one could possibly need to go. I told him to write a letter to Mary Peters telling her that DOT should build bike paths everywhere like he said.
Allez Oops
01-28-08, 11:41 PM
Thanks for the head's up, alice. Unless work gets in the way, I'll be at the Westside meeting on 2.20. Great excuse to grab some fab Oaxacan grub nearby.
dave, based on your experience at that meeting, was it your sense that folks were objecting to change simply out of a fear of change, rather than out of any specific, legitimate concerns?
Was there any common ground established during the meeting -- any room for negotiation -- or did it become an Us vs. Them situation?
I'm asking because it might be helpful going into the next meeting. Thanks ~
dddave
01-29-08, 01:02 PM
dave, based on your experience at that meeting, was it your sense that folks were objecting to change simply out of a fear of change, rather than out of any specific, legitimate concerns?
yea, it seemed to me that they were "objecting to change simply out of a fear of change..." a lot of them were bringing up the "historical neighborhood" thing. all the 1st street residents that were there were very old and seemed very set in their ways. all of them said that they were in favor of a bicycle boulevard.... just not in 1st street. very "NIMBY" logic.
Was there any common ground established during the meeting -- any room for negotiation -- or did it become an Us vs. Them situation?it did sort of turn into an us vs. them situation.. they would stand up and talk and bring up very stupid points, and we would all pretty much say, "are you insane? that is idiotic." a lot of people brought up the possibility of having the BB on 4th street which is fine. most cyclists were pretty much thinking/saying "i don't care if 1st street turns into a BB.. i'm not going to ride it strictly for that reason. if i need to ride down 1st to get where i'm going, i'm going to. if i don't need to take it then i'm not." it would just be nice to have something like this, and 1st street is where the LA bike master planner guy thought it would be best.
grrlyrida
01-29-08, 02:47 PM
Eastsiders don't get any love? :( Is it because we have the la river path? I want to attend one of the meetings, but which one would be closer to silverlake? Do the meetings deal with that specific area of LA?
Allez Oops
01-30-08, 03:53 AM
dave, thanks for the info. Very helpful.
One more q:
Was there any sort of mediator-type person there? Or did each side just kinda stand up and state their side?
Thanks ~
dddave
01-30-08, 03:08 PM
dave, thanks for the info. Very helpful.
One more q:
Was there any sort of mediator-type person there? Or did each side just kinda stand up and state their side?
Thanks ~
yea there was a mediator. he had one of the thickest, raddest mustache i've seen. he was doing his best to move from one side of the room to the other, answering questions, letting people speak, and trying to keep everybody else quiet when it wasn't their turn. after the meeting ended a lot of the cyclists talked for a bit and then split. about ten of hung out and were messing around in the parking lot, track standing, practicing tricks, talking, whatever. a lot of the residents/non cyclists stayed inside and talked to the people who set up the meeting, saying that they didn't appreciate the fact that they hired cyclists to come in and speak in favor of the bike blvd. they thought that we were f*cking scabs!
Placid Casual
01-31-08, 01:43 AM
You mean shills, not scabs.
What exactly did they propose to actually change, physically, about First Street, and did the master planner guy give a reason why cyclists might want to take First instead of, say, Broadway? (I can understand not wanting to take Ocean, which drivers treat like a freeway, but I've never had any problem taking B'way in either direction between Alamitos Blvd and Belmont Shore.)
Allez Oops
02-01-08, 12:44 AM
OK, so do any of you have any requests for improvements specific to the Westside that I might relay on your behalf?
A major boulie in my area (Ocean Park) was recently restriped and relaned. It went from two lanes of car traffic each way, to one lane for cars, one for bikes, each way. Plus a center median.
On the one hand, I gotta applaud the powers-that-be for granting bikes more designated asphalt space; but on the other, holy cow, look OUT for the clueless drivers using the bike lane as a "bonus" lane. Eek!
CritEastwood
02-01-08, 04:02 PM
Clueless drivers, the kind who open doors into cyclists?
Allez Oops
02-01-08, 10:57 PM
Clueless drivers, the kind who open doors into cyclists?
You mean the type who would suggest that the laws are vague in that scenario, and were lucky to be the recipient of the largesse of the doored cyclist?