The streets of Hollywood could look at lot different in the next 20 years.
If we can all manage to survive that long.
The city has released the new Hollywood Model Development Report conducted by consultants Fehr + Peers to plan for development in the Hollywood area by 2040, including streets and mobility.
They operated on the assumption that nothing can be done to mitigate Hollywood traffic congestion, so the focus was providing alternatives to driving.
Like riding bikes.
In fact, the study calls for a number of lane reductions to make room for bike lanes, protected and otherwise — including protected bike lanes on Hollywood Blvd and Melrose Ave.
Along with bicycle friendly streets as part of the Neighborhood Enhanced Network proposed in the 2010 bike plan.
The bad news is, the plan is based on LA’s Mobility Plan 2035, which is already gathering dust on the shelf.
And predicated on the support of Hollywood councilmembers who haven’t been elected yet.
Then again, that could be a good thing, since the ones we have now appertains to be too risk averse to make the major changes necessary to provide alternatives to driving and improve safety on our streets.
Let alone confront the angry drivers who seem to be setting the city’s transportation policy these days.
Thanks to Brandi D’Amore for the heads-up.
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Great Twitter thread from LA Bike Dad looking at the long-lasting effects of racial discrimination in Los Angeles. And how it lines up perfectly with LA’s most dangerous streets.
It’s definitely worth a click to read the full thread.
And here’s what LADOT General Manager Seleta Reynolds had to say in response.
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As long as we’re visiting Twitter, Pedal Love discovered what may be the best ever bicycle sidecar.
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Marin Facebook users seem thrilled to see a group of bicyclists stopped and ticketed by sheriff’s deputies.
If you have a strong stomach, it’s worth the click just to read the comments. Like this, for instance.
Funny how people often want to ban bicycles from narrow roads because they think it’s too dangerous for bikes. But it never occurs to them to ban the cars that make them that way, instead.
Never mind people, like the woman below, who think bicycling is too dangerous because of all the dangerous drivers on the roads. And somehow continue to believe the myth that if they innocently hit a lawbreaking bicyclist, they’ll be held responsible.
Most of the time, no one is. And in the rare case when police blame someone, it’s usually the victim.
Thanks to Frank Lehnerz for the heads-up.
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Now you can be the proud owner of a classic 1989 Eddy Merckx team bike made for the late, great 7-Eleven team for the low, low price of just $6,700 US.
As long as you promise to let me ride it.
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Local
Candidates are lining up to fill the seat of CD12 Councilmember Mitch Englander, who is walking away from the district he was elected to serve. We’ll have to wait see which of the candidates support safer streets, if any.
LADOT has released the environmental study for the Winnetka Avenue Street Improvements project to extend the existing bike lanes on Winnetka Ave.
After the recent disastrous proposal for a road diet on Pasadena’s Orange Grove Blvd, the city is giving it another shot with a proposal for a lane reduction, bike lanes and improved crosswalks on Cordova Street; a public meeting will be held to discuss it on Tuesday. Rose City NIMBYs and traffic safety deniers will undoubtedly be out in force to oppose it, so anyone who lives, rides or works in the area should turn out to voice your support.
State
An op-ed on a San Jose website says the mayor’s recent bike crash was no accident, but blames bad road design instead of the inattentive driver. Only the other hand, the mayor says any head defects he may have were a pre-existing condition.
San Francisco Streetsblog says no, bike commuting rates did not drop 19.9% in San Francisco, and 25.8% in Oakland, as reported in last week’s USA Today article.
Oakland plans to speed up repairs on one of the city’s most dangerous streets, a week after a 14-year old boy was critically injured when he was dragged three blocks by a hit-and-run driver.
Washoe County is continuing to build bike paths in the Truckee Meadows, despite a drop in ridership.
National
US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is one of us, after surgery to repair an undisclosed broken bone suffered in an undisclosed bicycling fall and/or crash. Evidently, it’s on a need to know basis. And apparently we don’t.
A bike industry writer says e-scooters don’t appear to threaten the bright future of ebikes.
An ebike maker is used as a model for how to successfully raise prices without losing customers after they get hit with a 25% tariff increase for parts imported from China.
A Utah law firm concludes that downtown Salt Lake City and Provo are the state’s most dangerous places to ride a bike.
A New Mexico State legislator is riding her bike 300 miles to the state capital for the new legislative session.
Who needs employee parking? A Colorado company gave all of its 85 employees new $1,300 ebikes.
A Colorado man put thirteen old kids bikes along his fence for anyone to take. Only to find others continually adding bicycles to the line to replace any that get taken.
A 73-year old Michigan man has now ridden his bike across all seven continents after finishing a leisurely ride across Antarctica.
An Ohio driver pled guilty to aggravated assault for a road rage attack on a man and his wife. But he did write a letter saying he was really, really sorry.
An Irish boxer goes head-over-heels after hitting the skids on the streets of New York.
The rich get richer. Bike friendly DC is going to get three new protected bike lanes in the next three years.
A Florida man is being held on $10,000 bail after he was busted for riding a gas-powered bicycle, despite a suspended license for DUI.
International
Treehugger says drivers should thank bicyclists for modern roads, instead of complaining about us.
Maybe a hot bath doesn’t burn as many calories as riding your bike, after all.
Life is cheap in Calgary, where a bike rider was charged for killing a 75-year old man as he walked in a crosswalk — except he was only charged with failure to stop at a red light. We can’t complain about killer drivers getting off with a slap on the wrist, and not hold deadly bicyclists to the same standard.
A Toronto op-ed calls the modest bicycle one of humanity’s great emancipators.
Police are looking for a British bike rider who smashed a driver over the head with his bike lock after a crash. Seriously, there’s no better way to go from victim to criminal than trying to retaliate against a driver. Or anyone else.
A 20-year old English college student has set a new record for the youngest person to bike across the world, riding 18,000-mile through 14 countries in 159 days.
Bike advocates in the UK accused the country’s Highway Code of victim blaming for tweeting that bike riders should wear helmets and “appropriate clothing for cycling,” rather than calling for safer streets and better driver education.
Britain has been ignoring their own government agency’s advice to prioritize active transportation over driving every year since 2015.
A man in the Netherlands was killed after somehow getting stuck between a fence and the roof of an apartment building bike shed; authorities were unsure what he was doing there. Although considering that he got stuck around 3 am, we can probably make an educated guess.
Sure, let’s go with that. A Zambian man told a divorce court he used the used condoms his wife found in his pants to repair bike tires. No, seriously.
There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole and vandalized a ten-year old autistic New Zealand boy’s custom-made three-wheeled bike.
Competitive Cycling
Once again, a cyclist has been stripped of his title after testing positive for a banned substance. Except this time, the doper is a 90-year old US track cycling champ.
How bicycling became entrenched in Eritrean culture, despite the difficulty obtaining bikes and parts. And led to the first black Africans to compete in the Tour de France.
Last year was the most successful year yet for Rwanda’s nascent cycling programs.
Finally…
Probably not the best idea to steal a police bike five minutes after you’re released from jail. Nothing like reading a six-mile long poem while you ride.
And seriously, who carries a shotgun on a bicycle — let alone uses it on their riding partner?
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Thanks to Connie L for her generous donation to support this site. The holiday fund drive may be over, but donations are always welcome and appreciated.
On the New Zealand bike theft article it is just as interesting to read the comments to the article. People there have the same complaints about the Criminal Justice System as you see regularly on Next Door in Los Angeles.