The city had shut it down to keep people from traveling down to the closed beaches and bike path.
Today he sends another one from over the weekend showing just what good it did.
Then again, blocking the bike path and threatening violators with arrest doesn’t seem to be stopping anyone, either.
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On the other hand, Drexler also reports the long awaited bike path improvement through Marina Del Rey is finally ready.
I wanted to share with you these photos from yesterday of what will be one of the most popular destinations for cyclists when it fully opens later this year.
It’s the newly redesigned Marvin Braude bike path section that runs between Mindanao Way and Bali Way. When it opens there will parking for 40 bicycles, dozens of restaurants (seen on left on photos) and shops, as well as a Trader Joes that is already opened and drawing a lot of cyclists right now. It’s on the marina waterfront that will offer ticketed hourly excursions, with Burton Chase park just around the corner.
That section has such a great feel to it. This new path connects to the Ballona Creek path via Fiji Way, and the ocean paths to Santa Monica and Redondo Beach.
It’s like something you would see in Copenhagen, only better.
I would like to see more bike and pedestrian path improvement like this around LA.
This used to be the crappiest section of the bike path, through a section of the Marina that saw its best days back in the ’70s.
Nice to see such a good upgrade.
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Robert Leone forwards word that the bike route through Camp Pendleton from Las Pulgas Gate to the State Park gate will be closed for military operations next week while the Marines blow shit up and stuff.
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Pasadena is offering free basic bike repair to people in need.
Thanks to my old friend Tim Rutt for the heads-up.
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A video explains why an intersection in the middle of nowhere that appears to provide a clear view in every direction could be the most dangerous one in Great Britain.
Hint: It’s not because bike riders run the stop signs.
The mayor of Encinitas is proposing a cycle track alongside Hwy 101 through the city, connecting the new Cardiff Rail Trail with the Solana Beach Rail Trail. Neither of which existed when I lived down there, of course. Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up.
Maybe transit isn’t as risky as people think right now, as the executive director of a transportation policy think tank says there are much greater risks for transmitting the coronavirus. And cars aren’t all that safe, either. Thanks to Richard Risemberg for the tip.
A “despicable” bike thief in the UK is refusing to say what he did with a bike he stole from a front-line medical worker, despite being locked behind bars for the past eight weeks in an effort to loosen his tongue.
April 27, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Anti-urbanist writer insists LA sprawl prevents Covid-19, and cure your coronavirus blues with a simple bike ride
What a load of crap.
In a Sunday op-ed in the LA Times, longtime anti-urbanist Joel Kotkin insists once again that Angelenos love single-family sprawl.
And that spread of the coronavirus proves they’re right.
No, really.
Let’s ignore for now his bizarre belief that Los Angeles residents love living in far-flung communities — and the resulting hours long commutes that come with it, rather than being forced to move to distant suburbs in order to find somewhere, anywhere, they can actually afford to live.
It’s his equally strange insistence that LA’s relatively low rate of Covid-19 infections compared to New York that proves sprawl is better that density.
For nearly a century, Los Angeles’ urban form has infuriated urbanists who prefer a more concentrated model built around a single central core.
Yet, in the COVID-19 pandemic, our much-maligned dispersed urban pattern has proven a major asset. Los Angeles and its surrounding suburbs have had a considerable number of cases, but overall this highly diverse, globally engaged region has managed to keep rates of infection well below that of dense, transit-dependent New York City.
As of April 24, Los Angeles County, with nearly 2 million more residents than the five boroughs, had 850 coronavirus-related deaths compared with 16,646 in New York City.
I’d say someone should remind him that correlation does not equal causation, but that would destroy his entire argument.
In Kotkin’s blindered view of the world, the virus spread rapidly through New York merely because people live close to each other and share transit systems.
And was slowed in its deadly progression through the City of Angels because we hide out in our hermetically sealed SUVs on the way to our single-family homes in socially distant communities.
Never mind that Los Angeles shut down at the first reports of Covid-19 infections and deaths, followed quickly by California, while New York waited until the virus was already widespread within the city and neighboring New Jersey.
For his argument to bear any validity, the virus would have to tear through denser neighborhoods like Maywood, Huntington Park and West Hollywood, while sparing less dense areas in the San Fernando, San Gabriel and Antelope Valleys.
Not so much.
As this chart from the LA Times shows, the coronavirus is well dispersed throughout LA County, in dense areas as well as the sprawling single-family communities Kotkin seems to think are virus proof.
The only way to accurately determine what effect density has on the spread of the virus will be to wait until it’s over, and perform epidemiology studies to look at just how and where it spread.
Because it’s entirely possible that an area with lower population density could show a significantly higher rate of infection per capita than an area with two or three times the population.
And let’s not forget the role that redlining and racial convents have played in how LA’s communities formed, and the relative wealth and health of their residents.
Kotkin concludes by simultaneously making, and refuting, his own argument that people prefer sprawl.
At the same time, most Californians seem less than eager to abandon their single-family homes for the pleasures of what some call “elegant density.” Even before the pandemic, they were voting with their feet for less density and lower costs. Even as L.A. County’s population has started to decline, over 87% of all the growth in the region in this decade took place on the periphery where single-family homes and spacious apartments are still remotely affordable.
State policy, urban planners and pundits may decry this trend, but after a pandemic, dispersion may well seem a safer bet than densification. It turns out Californians are already headed in that direction.
Exactly.
Angelenos continue to move to far-flung neighborhoods, often against their own wishes, because those are the only places they can afford to live.
Besides, the best argument against Kotkin’s love of sprawl is to just go outside and take a deep breath.
And let what has recently turned into the cleanest air of any major city remind you what life could be like without hundreds of thousands of people driving into the city every morning.
It’s just tragic that so many people had to die to get us there.
At the same time, there’s lots of evidence that shows density isn’t destiny.
Highly populated cities in Asia, including Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong, have seen a fraction of New York’s cases. The same is true for America’s next densest big city, San Francisco, which issued a shelter-in-place order nearly a week before the East Coast metropolis. As of Saturday, the Bay Area city had reported only about 1,300 confirmed cases — compared with more than 8,450 in the city of Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, they insist on following the lead of too much of the American press by presenting unsupported arguments on equal footing with demonstrable evidence to the contrary.
Because opinions aren’t facts.
No matter who has them, or how loudly they express them.
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On the other hand, Times columnist Robin Abcarian gets it.
After what she describes as weeks of “major mood swings and a bizarre feeling of dislocation,” she found a simple solution.
At this weird moment in history, with an invisible virus making life hell for so many, I daresay that getting outside and communing with nature, where it can be done safely in a socially distanced way, is one of the best ways to regain a sense of well-being and optimism.
I defy you to wander around the wetlands, or get up close to a colony of frisky sea lions, and not be thrilled to be alive.
Seriously? A writer for Cycling News says riding with earphones is pointless and selfish during the lockdown, and any other time. In California, it’s legal to ride with one earphone in your ear, but not both; it’s also smart to keep the volume down to a level that allows you to hear people and traffic around you. But it would be nice if drivers were required to keep their volume down so they can hear, too.
I like him already. The councilman who got the most votes in the Dominican Republic’s latest election arrived for his inauguration on a bicycle, his preferred form of transportation for the past several years.
Sad news from Great Britain, where bicycling fatalities are running twice as high as normal for this time of year, despite the country’s coronavirus lockdown; 14 riders have lost their lives, along with another in Northern Ireland.
Welsh bicyclists are limited to riding within a “reasonable walking distance” of their home under the country’s lockdown rules, whatever that means. That can vary from a few blocks to several miles, depending on who’s doing the walking. And the question is whether the same rules apply to people in motor vehicles, or if they’re singling out transportation riders.
The driver, identified as a 43-year old man from Oxnard, was traveling north on Statham. However, police aren’t sure which direction the victim was riding.
Let alone how or why the driver struck him.
There’s no word on whether excess speed, drugs or alcohol played a role. Or whether the victim had lights and reflectors on his bike nearly two hours before sunrise.
Unfortunately, there’s still no explanation of how the crash occurred, or why.
Police are looking for the driver of a second vehicle that was in the area around the time of the crash, and ask him or her to come forward with any information.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Michael Nunziato and all his loved ones.
Meanwhile, SaMo resident David Drexler confirms the beachfront bike path is officially verboten. And the path on the California incline is now, too.
Even if that part gets ignored.
SM closed the incline that leads to the overpass that drops you on the beach. They fenced the bottom I saw today but a gap in the fence was open and as you can see some people still went over. But to further discourage you if you venture over to the beach, SM bulldozed sand barriers you see in the photos to make your bike ride annoying (unless you have a Mountain Bike?).
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Things like this are why I love the LA bicycling community.
Just as I was about to post this page, I got a late night — or early morning, if you prefer — email from Daniel Gaffey with a great offer on behalf of his company, Silver Lake Electric Bicycles.
Free bike bailout shuttle
So my company started an electric bike tour a few months ago. It turned out to be a pretty bad time to do that, with COVID cancelling all the rides we had worked so hard to book. Nonetheless we’ll survive but a lot of the equipment is now just idle.
I’d like to offer something to LA bicycling which has given so much to me, by converting our tour van into free emergency transport for the duration of the COVID shutdown. If you (and others) are somehow stranded on a ride, I will send a guide out to help you or your bikes get home. The van holds six mountain bikes or four road bikes and has a good set of tools and air on-hand.
Call 213-537-6774 if your ride goes bad and you have no one else to call. We’re licensed and insured, you can look us up at webikela.com.
Think of it as your own personal rescue wagon when things hit the fan.
So on behalf of all of us, thanks to Dan for a really bighearted offer.
But give ’em a little something for helping out if you can. Because they’re not making any money now either.
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Orange County will mark Bike Week this September, with Bike to Work Day to be celebrated on September 22nd. Thanks to the Orange County Bicycle Coalition for the heads-up.
San Diego’s KPBS looks at how Covid-19 is changing the city’s streets, concluding there’s more bicycling and walking, and fewer cars. The question is how can cities continue to encourage that after the lockdown is lifted? Because the last thing we need is to go back to the former auto-centric status quo.
World champ Ruth Winder responds to the cancellation of the women’s cycling tour by baking sourdough babka and delivering them by bike to her friends in Boulder CO. But riding to LA with a couple wouldn’t be that far out of her way, would it?
CABO President Jim Baross writes that John Forester, author of Effective Cycling and the father of America’s vehicular cycling movement, passed away last week.
Reported to me today by his son Jeff Forester
John died April 14, 2020 at 90 years of age
He was Born Oct. 1929
I have known John primarily related to bicycling and CABO. Some things I know about him off the cuff:
Author of Effective Cycling now in a 7th edition, former League of American Bicyclists Board member (was he board chair at one time?), instrumental in the formation of CABO, certainly the Father of the concepts and trainings of vehicular cycling, an early outspoken advocate for the rights of people to use bicycles on public roads, etc. etc.
Whatever your opinion of vehicular cycling, Forester was hugely influential in the ’70s and ’80s, and throughout the past 50 years. Both in affirming the place of bicyclists on our streets, and blocking the growth of separated bikeways.
He fought for what he believed right up to the end, long after most modern advocates and planners had left his philosophies behind.
But in his day, his work was a revelation, creating the framework most road cyclists employed through the last decades of the past century.
Senior digital editor Matthew Fleischer writes that the coronavirus shutdowns are making it clear just how toxic car culture really is.
The coronavirus is making it abundantly clear that cars are their own kind of plague. And, in many ways, our lives are better when we don’t have to use them.
Some city leaders have come to this realization and are refusing to allow their automotive status quos to return after the lockdowns end. In Milan, Italy — one of the hardest-hit cities in the world by coronavirus — planners have already begun preparations to permanently transform 22 miles of streets for non-automobile use after witnessing reductions in air pollution of up to 70% during lockdowns.
Then there’s this.
Frankly, the idea that we can transport ourselves sustainably en masse in toxic 4,000-pound battering rams is just as delusional, entitled and self-destructive as the “liberate” protestors who are demanding a premature end to coronavirus-related stay-at-home orders…
There is no herd immunity from the damage caused by millions of personal automobiles roaming the streets at all hours.
Seriously, this will probably be the most insightful thing you read today. If not, it’s still a damn good way to spend the next few minutes.
Or he can use this as a rare opportunity to actually make it happen.
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Closing or narrowing streets for cars in response to Covid-19 continues to make news here in LA, across the US and around the world.
Los Angeles political advocacy group Streets For All has forged a powerful coalition of LA-area groups to lead the call to keep Angelenos physically and mentally healthy during the COVID-19 crisis.
The road space in Los Angeles is now dramatically overbuilt for the current vehicle traffic volume, causing vehicles to travel at dangerous speeds – average speeds are up 30% on our wide open roads according to LADOT. At the same time, the average width of our sidewalks is 4.4’, too narrow to allow people to pass each other while maintaining 6’ of distance. As a result, people are forced to be in close proximity with each other, risking proliferating the virus or walking, running, scooting, or biking in the street next to speeding cars. This isn’t just a street safety issue, but a public health issue as well…
While the top priority is limiting COVID-19 spread and saving lives and livelihoods, there must be a long term plan to sustain the mental and physical well being of Angelenos. Isolation and inactivity can lead to increases in chronic health conditions like heart disease and obesity and pose other mental and physical health risks that we may pay for as a society for years to come.
Therefore, for the critical reasons of equity, mental health, safety, and the physical well-being of Angelenos, we ask you to authorize the creation of an emergency people street network – using cones or other temporary infrastructure – to create additional sidewalk and open space for people to walk, run, scoot, and bike in, while maintaining 6’ of distancing. On neighborhood streets, this could be as simple as a few cones and a “slow down” sign taking up some of the street, calming traffic but still allowing local and emergency vehicle access. On major arteries, this could be redistributing a parking lane and/or single vehicle traffic lane on each side of the street, while taking care not to interfere with bus stops. These treatments may also advance the Mayor’s goals under L.A.’s Green New Deal to “Activate Streets” and “Prioritize Land Use and the Right-of-Way” in Executive Directive 25. All of this can be accomplished inexpensively and without the need of distracting our police or fire departments with enforcement during this critical time.
It’s worth taking the time to read the full letter. And voice your own support.
Security cam video shows a St. Louis hit-and-run driver plowing into a bike rider, hurling him into the air before flooring it and fleeing the scene; despite the head-on crash, the victim only suffered minor injuries. This video is just as disturbing as it sounds, so be sure you really want to see it before you click on the link.
After an MIT researcher blamed New York’s transit system for spreading Covid-19, a researcher from George Mason University reminds him that correlation isn’t causation, noting that restaurants and bikeshare showed the same curve — and points the finger for spreading the disease at motor vehicle use, instead.
Anyone with information is urged to call Fullerton Police Department Collision Investigator Chad Keen at 714/738-6812.
This is at least the 16th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in Orange County, in what is turning out to be a very bloody year in the county.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his or her loved ones.
April 22, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on LA cuts budget for failing Vision Zero, fight for more space on coronavirus slowed streets, and a 7-year old gets bike safety
Los Angeles has failed on Vision Zero.
The program remains a vastly underfunded afterthought, both on LA streets and in the halls of power.
If they bother to think about it at all, that is.
Which is why it took shutting the city down for Covid-19 to make any impact on the rate of fatal traffic collisions. And which are bound to rebound as soon as the lockdown ends.
So what is the obvious next step for the City of Angels?
Let’s all give a round of applause to Evangelina Gatto, better known as Evie to her friends and family, for her outstanding creative skills and love of bicycling.
We’ve given the Governors Highway Safety Association their share of criticism over the years.
But they get it right this time.
NOTE TO MEDIA: When writing about traffic safety, please use the term "crash," not "accident." It's more accurate. "Accident" suggests something unforeseen & that no one is to blame. Motor vehicle crashes are predictable results of specific actions. #CrashNotAccident#DriveSafepic.twitter.com/586DJCbPHI
This is why people keep dying on our streets. Witnesses saw a Pennsylvania driver toss a beer after running down a kid on a bike, his car smelled of weed, and he had seven convictions for driving without a license. And hadn’t had one since 2001.
The UK is being sued over its £28.8 billion plan road expansion plan — the equivalent of over $35 billion — for violating the country’s commitment under the Paris Agreement; the same people halted a planned expansion of London’s Heathrow airport using a similar argument.
The new and improved — and significantly cheaper — ebike from Dutch bikemaker VanMoof looks like a big hit, with positive reviews from The Verge, The Next Web, and Forbes, with prices starting a couple notches below two grand.
Thanks to Dennis E for his generous donation to help support this site. I’m truly blown away that someone would dip into their own funds to help out during the current financial crisis.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already.
Update: According to the Corona Police Department, the initial report was incorrect, and the victim was riding a motorcycle, not a bicycle.
Which does not make it any less of a tragedy.
caused by his involvement in a single-vehicle traffic collision near the intersection of Via Pacifica Avenue and Willowspring Lane. At the time of the crash, Brady was riding a red Yamaha motorcycle traveling north on Via Pacifica.
— Corona Police Dept. #CoronaPD (@CoronaPD) April 20, 2020
This returns the number of SoCal bicycling fatalities to 15, and just one in Riverside County.
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It doesn’t always take a car to take a life.
Sometimes a simple curb is enough.
That appears to be the case in Corona, where police report a man was killed falling off his bike Sunday evening.
There appears to be a hill on Via Pacifica, which could have contributed to the crash if Alexandru gained speed on the downhill before coming in contact with the curb. And there’s a speed bump on Willowspring that could have caused him to lose control if he was traveling in that direction.
It’s also possible that a driver may have played an unknown role in the crash, if Alexandru hit the curb after he was forced to avoid a vehicle.
Unfortunately, we will probably never know.
There’s also no word on whether he was wearing a helmet, which might have made a difference in this case.
Solo falls like this are exactly what bike helmets are designed for, though it’s possible the force of the impact could have still exceeded a bike helmet’s relatively low design limits, depending on how fast Alexandru was going.
Police haven’t ruled anything out, including the possibility that drugs or alcohol may have contributed to the crash in some way — which is a very odd thing to say in a solo crash like this, unless they have some reason to suspect it.
Anyone with information is urged to call Corona Police Department Officer Jason Gardner at 951/817-5784.
This is at least the 16th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second that I’m aware of in Riverside County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Brady Alexandru and all his loved ones.
Note: Because of the late-breaking story, there will be no Morning Links today; as usual, we’ll be back with anything we missed on Wednesday.
April 20, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Lee’s office responds to buses in SFV bike lane, Covid-19 claims 2020 LA River Ride, and marking Bike Month by yourself
Thank you for contacting the Office of Counbcilmember John S. Lee with your concern about the bus layover location on Rinaldi. Your message was forwarded to me for response.
As that is a Metro bus layover location, I initially forwarded your email to them for response. I do understand your concern. Our Office does work with Metro to evaluate and locate bus layover locations and this locale is no different. As you may be aware, bus drivers do need to be able to stop along their route to take breaks, etc., and commercial areas adjacent to shopping centers meet their needs exceedingly well.
However, we also consider active transportation as a major part in the first/last mile process in transit so there should be some consideration taken of the existing bike lane impacts. As such, I have asked Metro to evaluate your concerns in an effort to determine if we can mitigate those impacts.
Metro should be responding directly to you shortly.
So that can be read as forwarding the complaint to the responsible department. Or just passing the buck.
We’ll see how Metro responds.
The sign in today’s photo suddenly appeared on my street, even though we’re miles from the nearest bike path. Maybe someone’s just getting ready in case we ever get one.
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More bad news, as Covid-19 claims another victim.
The LA River Ride.
Below is part of an email from LACBC Executive Director Eli Akira Kaufman last Friday.
We had to make the difficult decision to postpone the 20th Annual Los Angeles River Ride due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our priority is the health and safety of all Angelinos especially the essential workers who are on the front lines of the crisis. We need to stay safe by staying the course. The good news is that we have been working closely with the Autry Museum to reschedule in early June of 2021. This postponement to the same approximate date next year gives LACBC, our sponsors, partners, vendors and participants along with the County of Los Angeles time to recover from the pandemic so we can host a River Ride worthy of it’s 20th Anniversary.
Of course we will honor all of the ride registrations for the new date in 2021! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with questions and check out our LA River Ride Reschedule FAQs for additional information.
What he doesn’t say is that this could have a huge impact on the group’s already troubled finances, since the River Ride is the LACBC’s biggest fundraiser every year.
There are many people and organizations that need your help right now.
But try to find a little extra to send the LACBC’s way. Because the group that’s done so much to help everyone who rides a bike in LA County needs our help to get through this coming year.
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Now there’s a good idea.
Robert Leone forwards a message from the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition offering an option to celebrate biking next month, even though their Bike Week has been moved to September.
When – May Power
May is National Bike Month and we hope you will engage with our May Power riding program while maintaining proper physical distance from those who are not part of your household.
May 1 to 9 is Flower Power week. Please take a picture of flowers you see while riding and post with the hashtag #FlowerPowerSVBC.
May 10 to May 16 is People Power week. Take a picture of yourself on your bike and post with the hashtag #PeoplePowerSVBC.
May 17 to May 23 is Pedal Power week. Take a picture of your shoe and pedal and post with the hashtag #PedalPowerSVBC.
May 24 to May 31 is Wheel Power week. Take a picture of or through your bicycle wheel and post with the hashtag #WheelPowerSVBC.
You may have heard that Bike to Work Day is postponed from May 14 to September 24. However you can still celebrate biking on May 14 by treating it as Bike To Wherever Day! If you are not able to get out and bike on any other day, we really hope you’ll still get out and ride at least on this BTWD!
Talk about not getting it. An opinion writer for the Southern California News Group demonstrates a clear lack of understanding of induced demand, while supporting sprawl and complaining that Caltrans will no longer fund projects that increase traffic demand. And noting that California “only” accounts for 1% of global greenhouse gases. Yes, she seriously seems to think that a single state accounting for a full 1% worldwide is a good argument.
Mechanics at a San Diego motorcycle shop are credited with saving the life of a 74-year old man by using a jack to lift an SUV off him after he allegedly rode his bike off the sidewalk into traffic; the victim is hospitalized with multiple broken bones.
You can move almost anything on a bicycle. Even the body of a homeless man in India, after no one else was willing to transport him because of his HIV+ status.
Bikeshare is booming in Wuhan, China as the city that sparked the worldwide coronavirus pandemic returns to life.
