BikinginLA

Just a brief update today, since last night was lost in IRS hell getting my wife’s taxes ready in time for today’s final extension deadline.

On the other hand, mine were easy; it doesn’t take long when you don’t make any money.

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Let’s start with a new LACBC video prepared for last week’s New Urbanism Film Festival, as Executive Director Tamika Butler discusses her journey to bike advocacy and the coalition’s vision for the future of Los Angeles.

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Speaking of the LACBC, former board member and current LA Bicycle Advisory Committee member Kent Strumpell is leaving Friday on an extended solo bike tour to raise money for the California Bicycle Coalition and the Citizen’s Climate Lobby.

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We’ve had a few updates recently from danger d regarding the unannounced closure of the Orange Line bike path in the San Fernando Valley. Yesterday he went straight to the source to find out what’s going on.

At least it’s good news from the Orange Line bike path construction. Workers on site say they expect the fenced off section to be closed for 6 weeks, so they can build a new path on the other side of the trees in order to build the new flyaway bus stop and comply with ADA standards. The detour is set up but there is room to walk around the fencing on Victory and get back to the path. Workers say this is the only section that will be fenced off.

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Our anonymous Orange County correspondent offers a brief update from the murder trial of Neal Storm Stephany, who was allegedly high on heroin and anti-addiction meds when he ran cyclist Shaun Eagleson down from behind on the coast highway in Newport Beach last year.

Today, Eagleson’s widow held it together as long as she could, but when the prosecution brought out photos from the crime scene again after lunch recess, she whimpered at the images of the gouges left in the asphalt by her husband’s bike, and then broke down so completely at the photo of Shaun’s shredded clothing that her family (& the extraordinary victim services specialist) escorted her out of the courtroom.

She didn’t return.

Court recessed early, and will continue next Tuesday.

Despite the heat, I wanted to go down to PCH. The gouges are still there. And despite the repeated use of the term “bike lane” by NBPD Sgt. Little on the stand and the prosecution, no designated bike lane exists at that location.

No word on whether the jury has gotten a glimpse of Stephany’s reputed “fuck the police” and swastika tatts under his new haircut.

She also adds a few thoughts about the Santa Ana courthouse, where the trial is being held.

I think Civic Center Drive (on the north side of the Santa Ana courthouse there) has preliminary markings for a buffered bike lane. (Or maybe upcoming sewer work, dunno.) New sensors were installed very recently, including a bike sensor, but it’s not marked yet.

Bike racks at the courthouse would be f’ing nice.

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State Assemblymember Chris Holden is holdin’ a meeting to discuss Southern California Transportation issues at 10 am today in Pasadena; if you can’t make it there on short notice, you should be able to view the session online at his website. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

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A few other key stories.

LADOT Bike Blog introduces the city’s first Complete Streets design committee.

Joel Epstein looks at transit envy and other thoughts on making LA the city it can be, including the need to embrace the mobility plan and bike infrastructure the way other cities have.

Streetsblog offers highlights from Wednesday’s meeting of the City Council Transportation Committee, which encouraged LADOT and the LAPD to find ways to reduce speeding in support of Vision Zero, and maybe even legalize the practice of locking your bike to a parking meter, which is currently banned in LA.

A San Francisco columnist calls on residents of a nearby town to stop their two-decade old guerilla tack war on cyclists.

A Chicago cyclist knocked on the window of a car that drifted into the bike lane he was riding in, and ended up under arrest when the driver turned out to be an off-duty cop.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 85-year old man biked from Sacramento to Lake Forest IL to visit his alma mater.

Brooklyn cops commit an act of vandalism by painting parking spot numbers on a bike lane to illegally convert it to their use.

A DC church is fighting a planned bike lane because they claim it would infringe on their constitutional rights of religious freedom. No, seriously.

Georgia police apologize after one of their officers is caught on video buzzing a group of cyclists, and nearly hitting one.

A Florida driver won’t face charges for the hit-and-run collision that killed a cyclist because — get this — prosecutors say there’s no proof he knew he killed a human being, after the driver claimed he thought he’d hit a wild hog. That’s basically a Get Out of Jail Free card for every hit-and-run driver, everywhere.

A London cyclist is caught on video taking his anger out on the rider he just cut off after running a red light and making an illegal left turn. Actually, if you just cut someone off, it is their business.

Finally, just what every cyclist needs, a bike trailer with a built-in grill. But do we really need bike and pedestrian lanes inside an apartment building?

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