Day 309 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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If you’re reading this, it means I managed to finish today’s post, despite spending all day dealing with a broken pipe under the bathroom sink, which dumped 50 years worth of accumulated inky goo over everything in the cabinet beneath it.
Good times.
It also means the icky gunk probably wasn’t toxic.
And if you’re not reading it, why the hell am I writing this?
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It looks like things are getting better in the far reaches of Los Angeles County.
First up is a press release from County Supervisor Janice Hahn, touting the approval of an 8.4-mile, $27 million Complete Streets project in South Whittier, expected to be finished just in time for the ’28 Olympics.
Los Angeles, CA – Today, the LA County Board of Supervisors voted to approve the South Whittier Community Bikeway Access Improvements project, which will bring a total of 8.4 miles of bike lanes as well as street improvements to unincorporated South Whittier, with sections adjoining the cities of Santa Fe Springs and La Mirada. The project will bring bike lanes to within one mile of the Metrolink’s Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs Station.
“We are not only adding bike lanes—we are repairing and expanding sidewalks for pedestrians, adding trees, and improving signage to make our community safer and more accessible for everyone. This project is a major investment in a better quality of life for South Whittier and its neighbors,” said Supervisor Hahn, whose district includes the area. “I’m proud that we’re now a big step closer to making this vision a reality.”
Current view and rendering of improvements to Leffingwell Rd.
The South Whittier Community Bikeway Access Improvements project will install 4.6 miles of Class II bike lanes and 3.8 miles of Class III bike routes, without loss of travel lanes or parking. Additionally, the project will provide pavement resurfacing, installing wayfinding signage, construction of bulb-outs, reconstruction of curbs and gutters, sidewalks, and curb ramps, landscaping medians, removal and replanting of trees, replacing streetlights, and upgrading traffic signals with pedestrian push buttons with audio and vibration devices.
Work is expected to begin next July and be completed by January 2028, with an estimated total cost of $27 million. Funding sources include County road funds, Metro grants, as well as federal funds. Additionally, the City of La Mirada will contribute $67,000 and the City of Santa Fe Springs another $18,000.
Next comes this item from Streetsblog’s Joe Linton, who observes that Pomona is becoming bike friendly, “going above and beyond the basic minimums for safer streets, including bikeability, walkability, accessibility, and transit improvements.”
In the last half-dozen years, the city of Pomona has stepped up efforts toward safer, more multimodal streets. As new light rail arrives, the city is working to calm traffic, and to improve bikeability, walkability, and accessibility.
With about 150,000 residents, Pomona is the 7th most populous city among the 88 cities in L.A. County. More than two-thirds of Pomona residents are Latino; the city is also home to a longstanding Black community. Incomes vary in different neighborhoods, but a significant portion of the Pomona population is working class.
And yes, Pomona is in Los Angeles County, even if many Angelenos west of the 605 might assume otherwise.
It’s a good read, and shows what can be done when city officials actually care enough to make the necessary changes to improve safety.
It also might be worth putting your bike on the A Line and exploring the city yourself.
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That’s how you do it.
Utah’s governor has proposed building a 3,100-mile network of paved, protected bike paths spanning the entire state.
Comparing it to an Interstate Highway system, Governor Spencer Cox said the “Utah Trail Network,” 500 miles of which already exist, would put a safe bikeway within one mile of 95% of the state’s population.
According to Singletracks,
The trail system has been in the works since legislation passed in 2023, allocating up to 5% of revenues from six different taxes to the project, not to exceed $45 million per year. In effect, the project has been funded to the tune of $45 million per year indefinitely…
“The goal is to connect the entire state of Utah with a network of paved trails. The goal is to help people have transportation options so they can choose to walk, bike, or scoot to their destinations without having to get in a car,” Stephanie Tomlin, Trails Division director at UDOT, told ABC4.
There is currently no plan for anything like this here in California.
The closest we have is the California Coastal Trail, which proposes connecting existing bike paths along the Pacific coast from Oregon to Mexico. Which is great for bike touring or casual coastal rides, but does little for bike commuters, or anyone anywhere else in the state.
But maybe there should be.
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No surprise here.
A new London study finds that bike lanes help avoid near-misses while bicycling.
The study, published in published in the Accident Analysis & Prevention journal, used helmet-mounted bike cams to record incidents of near-misses with drivers while riding on the city’s streets.
It examined 94 bicycling near-misses recorded during 317 hours of London commuter footage, gathered by 60 people riding bicycles, while finding —
- Close passes and conflicts at intersections were the most frequent near-miss types.
- Near-misses were more common during morning peaks, on roads with 30 mph speed limits and without bicycling infrastructure.
- Bicycling infrastructure had a protective role but more needs to be done to address close passing and junction conflicts.
One of the study’s senior authors, Nicola Christie, said cycling near misses were often “overlooked” in official statistics as they sometimes go unreported. Calling them “crucial indicators of road safety,” the professor explained that the findings “show that most near misses happen on roads without cycling infrastructure, and that junctions are particularly hazardous.”
“One of the benefits of using helmet-mounted cameras and voice-activated reporting as we did in this study is that they offer an easy and effective way to gather data on cycling safety, which can be used to evaluate the impact of infrastructure changes and safety campaigns,” she explained.
“This research adds to the growing evidence that cycling infrastructure helps protect cyclists and that Transport for London’s action plan to improve cycling safety is paying off.”
Just more evidence that even painted bike lanes can improve safety.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A self-entitled street vigilante was released from a Florida jail, following a viral incident where she got out of her Bentley to confront a bunch of ebike-riding kids for popping wheelies — probably on electric motorbikes, rather than ped-assist ebikes — even though they obeyed her demand to “get off the road” by moving to a nearby bike path, then snatched a phone out of one kid’s hand and threatened to throw it into a canal, before driving off on the bike path. Although it sounds like the judge in this case might be just a tad biased.
Speaking of bias, London’s Telegraph accuses “even bicyclists” of routinely violating a new 10 mph construction zone speed limit in the Islington neighborhood. Which might make sense if every bicycle came equipped with a speedometer, like motor vehicles. Or if bicyclists posed the same risks to others as people in cars.
Sometimes, it’s people on two wheels behaving badly.
The government council in County Cork, Ireland is considering a 14 mph speed limit for bicycles on a local greenway, accusing “speed merchants…in Lycra just whipping past” pedestrians.
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Local
At the same time CARB is killing the state ebike voucher program, the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments has launched their own voucher program, offering eligible residents up to $2,000 towards the purchase of a high-quality e-cargo bike. Although you’ll have to find a way around the paper’s paywall if you want to read the story.
Still no justice in Lynwood, where the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors renewed a $20,000 reward for the hit-and-run driver who killed a motorcyclist in a left-cross crash in 2004.
State
Over 1,500 people turned out for Saturday’s annual Bike the Coast series of rides in San Diego County, along with a post-ride festival benefiting Bike MS.
San Diego cops plan to use engagement before enforcement in dealing with people illegally riding ebikes on the beachfront bike path in Pacific Beach.
Sad news from Salinas, where a woman riding a bicycle was killed in a right-hook collision with a semi driver, the latest in a long string of local crashes.
National
About damn time. Montgomery County, Maryland finally got around to banning drivers from parking, stopping or standing in bike lanes.
International
Cycling Weekly offers a bikepacker’s guide to “jaw-dropping” destinations around the world. As long as you don’t consider anything between Quebec and Patagonia part of the world.
Police in Cancun, Mexico arrested a woman for the hit-and-run death of a man on a bicycle, after identifying her car on security video.
A Canadian law professor advocates for the Idaho Stop Law, arguing that requiring bike riders to obey the same laws as motorists creates a false sense of equivalency. Maybe California can finally get an Idaho Stop, aka Stop as Yield, once Gavin Newsom’s veto pen leaves office next year.
Apparently, you can now add Navarra, in Northern Spain, to your bike bucket list.
This is who we share the road with. A pair of Indian men were sentenced to “rigorous” life imprisonment for the road rage murder of another man seven years ago, who shouted at them after they dented his car with their motorbike.
Competitive Cycling
USA Cycling has opened their fourth annual online fundraising auction, offering everything from entry to Unbound or the Leadville 100 to Tadej Pogačar’s signed World Champion jersey.
Keep your eyes open for Belgian cyclist Wout van Aert running, not riding, through the streets of Laguna Beach.
Cycling Up To Date hosts a rather pointless debate over whether Tadej Pogačar could still dominate using gear from ten years ago. Because the answer depends entirely on whether everyone else was using that same decade-old tech, too.
Finally…
If you’re looking for a new career as a serial ebike snatcher, try not to take one with a hidden AirTag. Remembering when a bike crash meant With or Without You performed without him.
And the mayor of New York is now one of us.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
