Tag Archive for Gerald Desmond Bridge

Unofficial Bixby bike lane opening on new Desmond Bridge, Beverly Hills popup on Sunday, and the cost of traffic violence

July 19, 2021 / / Comments Off on Unofficial Bixby bike lane opening on new Desmond Bridge, Beverly Hills popup on Sunday, and the cost of traffic violence

That long-planned bike lane over the replacement for the Gerald Desmond Bridge is finally still not open.

The Mark Bixby Memorial Bicycle Pedestrian Path was inaugurated with a private ceremony Saturday on what is now called the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge.

The bike advocating scion of one of Long Beach’s most prominent families, Bixby had fought for a bikeway along the bridge prior to his death ten years ago in a private plane crash, along with four other people.

Despite the ceremony for Bixby’s family and friends, the path is not expected to open to the rest of us for several more months, while a connector bridge leading to it won’t be ready for another year and a half.

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The former Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills is demonstrating just how far they’ve come.

The city is hosting a popup protected bike lane on Roxbury Drive next to Roxbury Park from 10 am to 4 pm this coming Sunday. The lane is designed to protect riders while connecting with existing bikeways in Los Angeles, without removing any parking spaces.

Which means there’s a realistic chance it might actually get built.

https://twitter.com/TamJGuy/status/1416954477685395456

Meanwhile, this is what we could and should have here in Los Angeles.

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Hats off to LA’s Metro Bike workers on their successful campaign to form a union to protect their rights with the company that manages the Los Angeles bikeshare system.

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This is the cost of traffic violence.

Another promising life was needlessly cut short, for the crime of crossing the street near the Beverly Center.

As usual, there is a standing $50,000 reward for his killer.

Police are looking for the driver of a white BMW driving east on Beverly Blvd. Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD West Traffic Division detectives at 213/473-0234.

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The Netherlands is advancing bike safety by removing protected bike lanes on some streets, redesigning them to give priority to the vast majority of users.

The people on bicycles.

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Who says bike riders never stop for red lights?

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

Anti-bike sabotage rears its ugly head in Colorado, where someone has apparently been tossing thumb tacks on a popular bike lane.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a Kalamazoo, Michigan ghost bike. Or any other ghost bike, for that matter.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A Buffalo NY man faces charges for injuring two men with an illegal gun in a bike-by shooting.

A road raging bike rider faces charges for attacking a lawyer on his way to court, after somehow getting blamed for the Indian equivalent of a right hook. A reminder to never resort to violence, no matter how justified it may seem at the time, because you’ll automatically get the blame.

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Local

Streets For All reminds us that the LACBC and Sunset4All are over halfway to their goal of raising $25,000 for LA’s first public/private partnership to build protected bike lanes on the eastern part of Sunset Blvd; make that 55% as of this writing. So what the hell are you waiting for, already?

 

State

A man was seriously injured in a collision in Downtown San Diego when a driver crashed into the e-scooter he was riding.

Also in San Diego, a 65-year-old man suffered a skull fracture, fractured pelvis and multiple other injuries when he was run down by a suspected drunk driver while walking his ebike, after it had apparently run out of juice; fortunately, his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

They get it. Instead of cracking down on teen bike riders, police in Fresno are riding with them.

Santa Cruz pulled up stakes on a popup bike lane, after saying they don’t have the money to make it permanent. Especially since it didn’t even get the full endorsement of a bicycling club.

They kind of get it. San Jose will consider reducing future parking, while leaving all the current spaces intact.

Uber’s CEO says he nearly got killed delivering food by bike outside San Francisco’s Oracle Park baseball stadium for the company’s Uber Eats program.

Alpine County’s 40th annual Death Ride took a back seat to a real risk of death, after it was cancelled when Northern California’s Tamarack fire exploded to over 18,000 acres. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

If you’re riding a bike in Ukiah carrying meth and a loaded gun, put a damn light on it. The bike, that is. Not the gun.

 

National

Two-time NBA champ Ray Allen is one of us, crediting his helmet with saving him from “a far worse fate” after he ran over a tree branch and was thrown from his bicycle.

Outside looks at the new mountain bike boomtown of Ely, Nevada.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole an adaptive bike from a disabled Minneapolis woman. Seriously, just how low do you have to be to steal someone a person relies on for accessibility, let alone transportation? Thanks again to Megan Lynch. 

The off-duty Chicago cop who killed a nine-year old boy with his jacked-up pickup as the kid was riding his bike in a crosswalk got a traffic ticket for “failure to exercise due care for a pedestrian in the road. Yes, a lousy traffic ticket was all he got for killing an innocent kid.

Police in Arkansas used a pair of bait bikes worth nearly four grand to bust a bike thief suspected in a number of high-end bike thefts. But the LAPD still won’t use bait bikes to confront rampant bike theft in Los Angeles, thanks to a ruling from the City Attorney that it might be considered entrapment — despite their successful use in a number of other cities in California and across the US.

Forget driving, and explore Indiana’s Notre Dame University by bicycle.

A Massachusetts ebike maker is introducing a new bicycle for first responders, complete with a 70 mph top speed and its own drone.

Horrible news from New York, where man riding a bikeshare bike was shot and killed at point blank range.

Heartbreaking news from New Orleans, where a baby was found stabbed to death in a bicycle trailer; police arrested the baby boy’s mother after finding a sharpened railroad spike covered in blood on her bicycle.

 

International

A writer for Medium makes the case that streets are for people, not cars.

Portland will donate 600 used bikeshare bikes to Hamilton, Ontario, to help keep that city’s bikeshare system going after it nearly shut down last year.

British authorities punish the victim, jailing a man whose bicycle had been stolen for confronting the thief with a fake gun to get it back; he got 13 months behind bars, while the thief only got four.

Life is cheap in Ireland, where a 76-year old driver walked with a suspended sentence for killing a 69-year old man riding a bike. But at least he won’t be able to drive again until he’s 86. And yes, that was sarcasm.

Our old friends Chris and Melissa Bruntlett, who uprooted their two kids to move from Vancouver to the Dutch city of Delft, discuss just how their new home gets bicycling right.

Speaking of the Netherlands, the country’s leading bicycle advocacy group called for a get-tough approach to people who hack their ebikes to exceed the 15 mph speed limit on bike paths, as much as doubling the allowable speed.

An Indian engineer hacked an old bicycle to convert it into an ebike capable of riding at 25 mph, for the equivalent of $267.

A writer for Stars and Stripes begs bike riders to pay attention in Japan.

 

Competitive Cycling

No surprise here, as 22-year old Slovenian Tadej Pogačar took his second consecutive Tour de France in such convincing fashion, it raises the question of whether everyone will be racing for second place for the foreseeable future.

Pogačar swore there’s nothing illegal about his bike, after riders from other teams said they heard strange noises emanating from the rear of his bike, and that of his teammates and three other teams; it didn’t help that Pogačar’s teammate Matej Mohorič made an ill-advised “zipped lip” gesture after winning stage 19.

It’s not every day a pro cyclist turns hero. Chris Froome, Philippe Gilbert and BikeExchange’s Christopher Juul-Jensen were riding back to their buses at the end of stage 17 when they saw a bike-riding tourist ride off the road into a ravine after missing a turn, so they hopped off their bikes and climbed around 65 feet down to rescue him; the man was injured badly enough that he had to be evacuated by ambulance.

Thirty-year old former pro Ian Boswell faces the difficult choice of whether to turn pro again and return to full-time cycling after winning June’s Unbound Gravel race.

Once again, LA’s own diversity-based L39ion of Los Angeles cycling team swept the podium on the men’s side at the third round of USA Crits in Salt Lake City; L39ion’s women’s team sat this one out, giving other teams a shot at victory.

Disappointing to see Cavendish miss out on breaking Eddy Merckx record for most stage wins in the Tour de France, but no one makes the right moves all the time. But after four stage wins in this year’s race, along with capturing the points title, there’s a good chance he’ll get another shot next year.

https://twitter.com/nealrogers/status/1416818588711849985

 

Finally…

Your next full suspension mountain bike could be made of plywood. That feeling when you live in San Diego, and decide to ride your bike to grandma’s 90th birthday celebration — in North Dakota.

And how to spot a clown behind the wheel, without the big red nose and stuff.

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Thanks to Raul M for his generous donation to help support this site, and keep SoCal’s best bike news coming your way every day. 

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

A fitting tribute to Mark Bixby, and biking’s (not so) obvious appeal to fiscal conservatives

March 21, 2011 / / 2 comments

More on the death of Long Beach bike activist Mark Bixby and four others in a fiery Long Beach plan crash last week.

Long Beach bike lane opponent Doug Krikorian recalls friendly disputes with Bixby, while Charlie Gandy remembers bike advocate Mark Bixby’s work on the city’s iconic Penny Farthing sculpture. And LACBC co-founder Ron Milam remembers his single meeting with Bixby.

His family asks that donations be made in lieu of food or flowers, while a public Mark Bixby Celebration of Life is planned for 10 am on Friday, Mark 25th.

Personally, I think it would be fitting to name the new replacement for the Gerald Desmond bridge in Bixby’s honor, since he fought so hard — and so successfully — to get separated bike lanes on it.

Meanwhile, the lone survivor of the plane crash continues to make progress, as Mike Jensen recovers from 2nd degree burns on his back and legs.

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Writing for Commute by Bike, conservative bike advocate Tom Bowden points out that every dollar spent on properly designed bike infrastructure can ultimately defund $10 in automotive infrastructure.

And he nails it when he writes —

As long as we keep on putting so much emphasis on helmets as the most important safety issue, we perpetuate the myth that cycling is inherently dangerous. Cycling is not inherently dangerous, cars are inherently dangerous to cyclists, pedestrians and motorists. But all this helmet focus does is place the responsibility for safety on cyclists, rather than on the root cause of the problem, which is unsafe driving.

As Bowden points out, when you look at it rationally, biking isn’t a liberal or conservative issue.

Bicycling offers a common sense solution to many of the problems we face, from over-crowded streets to high gas prices. And rather than the wasteful spending some conservatives would suggest, spending on cycling and bike projects can provide benefits that far outweigh their nominal costs.

As Portland’s mayor points out, Portland’s entire biking infrastructure cost as much to build as just a single mile of freeway construction. Let alone what it costs to put a car pool lane on the 405 through Sepulveda Pass.

There was a time when I called myself a conservative, until the political winds shifted far right of where I stood. But even in these Tea Party times, it makes far more economic sense to invest less money to move more people more efficiently — without reliance on expensive foreign oil.

Which should make support for cycling and for bicycling infrastructure a no-brainer.

Wherever you stand on the political spectrum.

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KPCC reports on the proposed bike anti-harassment law. Gary reports that Santa Monica’s proposed Michigan Avenue Bike Boulevard could move a step closer to reality at Tuesday’s SaMo City Council meeting. And he argues that if the city wants people to buy local, bike racks matter, while Rick Risemberg looks at efforts to get bike parking around L.A. Next time you’re riding up Nichols Canyon, keep an eye open for Hatfield’s chef and co-owner Quinn Hatfield. A visit to Pete’s Lemonade Stand to talk bikes and sample a Breezer folding bike. Ride through Camp Pendleton to support wounded service members this Saturday. Streetsblog interviews LACBC and CicLAvia board member Stephen Villavaso about San Francisco’s Sunday Streets. Streetsblog’s Damien Newton and Richard Masoner of Cyclelicious report on the past weekend’s Transportation Camp.

Where’s the disconnect in getting more people of color on their bikes? Tucson delays efforts to cut back on bike parking. After riding 1,100 miles to win the Iditarod Trail Invitational in record time, Jay Petervary sets his sights on RAAM. Denver gets its first coffee bar by bakfiets. A biking blue-blood inventor and entrepreneur in Cleveland. The Columbus Dispatch offers a rare balanced and accurate accounting of how to share the road. A video tribute to winter cyclists in Minneapolis. Keeping up the pressure to get Vermonters out of their cars and out in the open air. Evidently, some New Yorkers like their bike lanes, regardless of what the wives of some U.S. Senators may think. Unlike other transit systems attempts to limit bikes, Washington DC’s Metro wants to quadruple the number of bike commuters on their trains; a writer reminds the Washington Post that it’s really not that hard. Just four counties in Florida account for 7.5% of all the cycling deaths in the U.S. The Lovely Bicycle asks why we’re surprised by the anti-bike backlash.

After a local paper argues that Toronto’s famously anti-bike mayor may not be so bad after all, a writer says yeah, right. The Brazilian banking equivalent of the Good Doctor who drove through a recent Critical Mass ride will be charged with attempted murder.

The New York Times looks at London’s Boris Bikes. Five tips on how to get your bike stolen. Cyclists are accused of hijacking public process. A UK MP proposes a bill targeting cyclists who kill or injure pedestrians, even though only 3 such deaths have been recorded in the last 10 years. More Welsh cyclists are getting ticketed for riding on the sidewalk; bike advocates say it just shows more infrastructure is needed. Servicing Dutch F-16s by bike. More springtime cyclists does not always mean more cyclists. HTC-Highroad cyclist Matt Goss tops the UCI rankings after his dramatic victory in the Milan – San Remo classic on Saturday. Speaking of UCI, at least some pro teams are threatening to leave in dispute over race radios. North American cities offer evidence for Aussie’s that more infrastructure spending results in rising riding rates. A recent comment points our attention to Bishop’s Path Racers of Christchurch NZ, dedicated to restoring classic, and building custom, path (track) bikes; those bikes on their site are damn pretty. Japanese cyclists send bikes to quake-hit Tohoku. Fuel shortages and a lack of visitors mean bikes are back in a formerly popular Japanese tourist town. On vacation in Thailand, Will Campbell offers proof of Bangkok bikeways, even if they do have 90 degree turns. Ten more places to ride your bike before you die.

Finally, Bike Radar asks if dangerous cyclists put us all at risk. And a rider who crashed the marathon course with Wolfpack Hustle on Sunday gets a little help from a few of the 300 riders who came out in the pouring rain.

Congratulations to everyone who participated in Sunday’s L.A. Marathon — and especially to those who accomplished the nearly superhuman feat of finishing despite the record downpour.

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , ,
 
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