Okay, so I owe you all an update.
And I promise to get right on that, as soon as I can stay in one place long enough to write one. Too many meetings and other obligations have kept me on the run the past couple days.
And tomorrow doesn’t promise to be any easier, thanks to a morning press conference when I’m usually still checking the news, petting the Corgi — and no, that’s not a metaphor, even if it does sound vaguely dirty — and working on my second cup.
Then again, if you’re not busy Thursday morning, you might want to head to the 7th Street side of MacArthur Park at 9:30 am when the mayor will be hosting a press conference to announce something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
And yes, it’s good news.
And no, I can’t tell you. Even if others have been leaking the news everyone was supposed to keep quiet.
I promise to fill you in later. In the meantime, if you can’t wait, check out L.A. Streetsblog after 9:30 am when Damien will break his paternity leave long enough to spread the good news. And maybe even quote yours truly if he can make heads or tales out of that rambling statement I gave him.
Meanwhile, here’s a perfect example of the benefits of defensive riding.
I often see cyclists run the red light where the Marina bike path crosses Admiralty Way, for no apparent reason. Especially since there’s seldom a long wait there.
Then again, it’s not unusual to see drivers run it, as well.
Most go through just after the light has changed. Which is why I make it a policy to wait an extra second or two to be sure that everyone is going to stop before I cross.
Then there’s this jerk, who blew through without slowing down, several seconds after the light had changed, and while I was already crossing the street.
If I hadn’t taken those few extra seconds, I might have been right in front of him. Not that I think that would mattered to the driver, who seemed to be a hit-and-run waiting to happen.
I see motorists do exactly that at least once a month — often even longer after the light changes than this idiot did it. I always check for cross traffic because of this.
Gah! excited to hear the news! What is it?! I’m thinking real hard, and if it’s bike related…. hm… that the EIR finished early and they’re gonna start on those 40 miles of bikeways immediately?
Will Villaraigosa make ciclavia a monthly event? Something with bikeshare? green bike lanes? Am I getting my hopes up too high? Or am i focusing too much on infrastructure– is this legislation related? Well, will have to wait I suppose…
Something that would have been unthinkable a few years ago…hmmm. What could that be.
The news conference is at MacArthur Park so it may have something to do with more frequent CicLAvia’s since the event has passed by there since its inception.
Or, maybe the city has a goal of putting in 100 miles of bike lanes this fiscal year.
Perhaps its a much more ambitious plan of getting everyone to consider cycling by starting to emphasize putting in much safer low-stress bike paths along primary streets in LA, rather than unprotected bike lanes that are only for mostly young athletic cyclists that will put up with pedaling next to large metal predators moving at 50 mph+. Thats it! A city leader has realized the importance of making much safer low-stress cycling infrastructure that most people from 8-80 would feel comfortable using. Children could then pedal to school instead of being chauffeured around in a school bus, or by their parents.. I’ve got a feeling that is not it and I’m going to be let down and disappointed by the announcement.
Reblogged this on euzicasa and commented:
is everything forgotten in time?
I’m guessing it is Claremont’s move to Silver under the League of American Wheelmen’s rankings?
Or L.A.’s Bronze?
I’m not sure if it’s recently been fixed, but crossing that spot at Admiralty has had an absurdly long wait the past few times I’ve gone there. I’ve waited there for over ten minutes for the light to change. Just recently I figured out that if you go just a bit north there’s another walk signal that actually seems to trigger the light, but the main walk signal buttons on the crosswalk there just plain don’t work. If you don’t know about the second set of buttons just down the street, I can absolutely understand why some cyclists choose to run that light.