Tag Archive for LA River

Metro reneges on pledge to complete LA River path by ’28, and life is cheap for Ethan Boyes in San Francisco’s Presidio

March 21, 2024 / / No comments
Just 285 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

We’re still stuck at 1,018 signatures, so let’s keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us! 

Actual image of Metro executive promising to complete LA River bike path, by Schwerdhöfer for Pixabay.

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It’s now 92 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 33 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

No bias here. A Toronto bike lawyer suddenly had his mic cut after asking a city counselor to denounce anti-bicyclist comments made at a recent public forum that had devolved into a war of words, with one commenter threatening to run over any bike riders that get in his way.

No bias here, either. A UK petition calling for bicyclists to “display registration, pay road tax and have insurance” has closed after drawing just 353 signatures in six months.

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Local 

Investing in Place considers the implications of LA’s newly approved Measure HLA, and what needs to be done to prevent implantation from devolving into a chaotic mess, and leaving already underserved communities behind.

Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, is looking for volunteers to help with next month’s Finish the Ride and Finish the Run in Griffith Park.

Metro is offering a new and improved on-demand process to rent their new and improved electronic bike lockers.

West Hollywood approved a Complete Streets makeover for Willoughby Ave, as well as parts of Gardner Street, Vista Street and Kings Road, replacing the existing sharrows with curb extensions, scaled traffic circles, protected bike lanes, wayfinding signs, a mini-park, and enhanced crosswalks near schools.

Pasadena wants your input on a proposal for quick-build Complete Streets improvements along Allen Ave to improve access to the Metro A Line Station, and connect to existing bike lanes on the city’s north side.

Santa Monica cops will conduct yet another Bike & Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Operation on Saturday, ticketing any driver, bicyclist or pedestrian who commits a traffic violation that could endanger anyone on two wheels or two feet. As usual, ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits so you’re not the one who gets written up.

 

State

More on the Encinitas bicyclists calling for removal of a curb-protected bike lane on the coast highway, after a 48-year old man was found dead next to his cruiser bike early Sunday morning, even though there is no indication yet that the barriers played any role in his solo crash; Oceanside bike lawyer and BikinginLA sponsor Richard Duquette says the rash of bike crashes since the lanes were installed may be an argument to remove those barriers, but not all protected bike lanes.

A Palo Alto website says a proposal by Caltrans to install green bike lanes on busy El Camino Real is the wrong way to go, because it would encourage bicyclists to ride on a busy street interrupted with frequent entrances and exits, and other “ingress and egress interruptions.” Or is it just that only drivers deserve safe, direct routes to wherever they happen to be going?

 

National

Bicycling reports Strava is now giving you even more data to obsess over. Or you could just, you know, enjoy riding your bike, instead. Read it on AOL this time if the magazine blocks you. 

Cycling Weekly says forget Amazon’s Big Spring Sale if you’re looking for good deals on quality bikewear, although you can find some deals on bike tech.

Bike Portland says a whopping 94.5% of women and non-binary bicyclists responding to a recent survey reported some form of traumatic harassment while riding on the streets. Which should be astonishing, but sadly isn’t. 

A Montana man says he hated ebikes, but using one to go elk hunting changed his mind. Although I suspect the elk might have a different opinion.

 

International

Cyclist considers the best titanium road and gravel bikes, as prices for Ti bikes continue to drop, while simultaneously going pretty damn far in the other direction, too.

Strong Towns examines how cold, hilly Montreal became a year-round bicycling success story.

With a timeline only Los Angeles could envy, Edinburgh, Scotland officially opened the city’s longest bike lane after a ten-year process, with a local councilor complaining that contractors had made a “pigs ear” of the installation work.

Manchester, England bike advocates are calling for the removal of new barriers recently installed to keep “antisocial motorcyclists” off a bridge forming part of the UK’s National Cycle Network, warning that the “unlawful, discriminatory” barriers would block access to anyone with a disability.

New hiking and biking trains will roll out of Prague to take bike riders and hikers to trails throughout the Czech countryside.

After nearly 60 years of riding, a 70-year old Gibraltar man calls for more bike lanes, as well as stricter regulation of e-scooters.

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could have an electronic crankset with an automatic transmission, and no chain or belt drive. That feeling when a groundbreaking rock opera becomes a Broadway musical because you fell off your bike.

And who needs a mountain when you’ve got an e-mountain bike in DTLA?

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

LA approves ban on bike chop shops, and environmental groups pull support for awful Geary-designed LA River plan

June 15, 2022 / / Comments Off on LA approves ban on bike chop shops, and environmental groups pull support for awful Geary-designed LA River plan

As expected, the Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance to ban open air bike chop shops on public property.

The ordinance is intended to give police a tool to address the proliferation of chop shops dealing in stolen bicycles, often found in homeless encampments throughout the city.

Here’s how CD15 Councilmember Joe Buscaino described the ordinance.

He said the new law, which is modeled after a similar one in the city of Long Beach, would target people in possession of five or more bicycle parts, a bicycle frame with the gear cables or brake cables cut, two or more bicycles with missing parts, or three or more bicycles on public property.

It also is written to specifically exclude people with a valid business license, as well as someone fixing their own bicycle.

While bike theft and receiving stolen merchandise are already illegal, LAPD officers tell me it can be difficult to make a case, since most bikes are never reported stolen, and it’s almost impossible to identify a bicycle once it’s been dismantled.

Even if they can make a case, it’s usually just a misdemeanor, since it’s hard to prove the value of the stolen bikes are more than the $950 value for grand theft. Which means the suspects are usually back on the street doing business again within days.

Whether this will be successful in preventing bike thefts, or simply becomes a tool for harassing and criminalizing homeless people, remains to be seen.

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Environmental groups have pulled their support of the proposed LA River master plan, accusing officials of ignoring their recommendations for the awful Frank Geary designed plan.

His designs would simply hide the river’s concrete channels under elevated parks, rather than return it to a more natural state.

Hopefully, it will never get built, even if it is approved.

But it will inevitably get tied up in court, and delay any real action on improving the river for years, if not decades.

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Local

He gets it. In an interview at LAX, Hanging with Mr. Cooper star Mark Curry says stop complaining about high gas prices and start riding a bike.

Active SGV led a toxic tour of Avocado Heights and City of Industry sites threatened by pollution, culminating with a stop at lead battery recycling plant Ecobat.

Long Beach plans to move forward with highway interchange improvement projects that would have been part of the now-cancelled 710 Freeway widening, including some protected bike lanes.

Lime is planning to test a new electric motor scooter with a top speed of 20 mph in Long Beach, deploying several hundred of the bikes in the city.

 

State 

Bills are starting to move forward in the state legislature again after it passed a budget framework, including one that would provide CEQA exemptions for sustainable transportation projects.

Yes, please. A San Francisco city supervisor wants to start holding public town halls after every traffic fatality. Although that might be just a tad impractical in Los Angeles.

 

National

Slate says traffic safety ads may be good at making puns, but they don’t change driver behavior to improve safety.

Colorado is preparing a $12 million statewide ebike rebate program, in the wake of Denver’s highly successful one. Meanwhile, California’s $10 million ebike rebate program remains in limbo, with no estimated start date.

A group of military vets are planning a 1,900 mile, 41 day ride to recreate the legendary ride of the Buffalo Soldiers, who rode from Missoula, Montana to St. Louis to prove bicycles could be a viable form of transportation for the military.

Heartbreaking news from South Dakota, where a 53-year old Canadian man was killed by a truck driver while on an 838-mile bike ride to raise awareness about kidney disease, and raise funds for a kidney transplant for his granddaughter; the crowdfunding campaign for her transplant has raised over $22,000, topping the $20,000 goal.

Over 200 people turned out for Boston’s first Pride bike ride.

ESPN’s ESPY award winner Jason McElwain was seriously injured when he was hit by a driver while riding his bike in Greece, New York; the autistic student manager of his high school basketball team, McElwain gained fame when the coach put him in near the end of the team’s final home game, and he responded by sinking seven three-point shots. He’s now a motivational speaker.

UPS is testing small battery-powered delivery trucks designed to operate in New York bike lanes. In other words, just one more obstacle putting bike riders at risk. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

Hoboken, New Jersey could decide that 20 is plenty, as the city council considers a proposal to lower city streets to 20 mph.

Seriously? Police in Philadelphia are looking for a burglar who broke into a bike shop and stole a 1996 military prototype bicycle worth an estimated — wait for it — $100,000. For that price, it must be made from Unobtanium.

An artist painted a message of hope in a Pennsylvania town, after the man she had planned to paint it with was killed by a driver while riding his bike. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

 

International

Electrek asks if Urban Arrow’s new e-cargo bike is the luxury SUV of the ebike world.

POC’s newest bike helmet is made for sustainability, made of 50% recycled materials and designed to be easily disassembled and recycled at the end of its usefulness.

A man walking his dog stepped in to rescue an 82-year old English man after he was knocked off his bike and attacked by a frenzied cow; he used the man’s bicycle to fend off the one-ton animal until it turned to attack another man.

An Irish delivery rider has been acquitted of murder for stabbing a 16-year old boy to death, agreeing he acted in self-defense when he was attacked by a group of teenagers while trying to reclaim another delivery rider’s stolen bicycle.

The capital city of Estonia will give kids the equivalent of $105 to buy a bicycle to encourage them to start riding.

He gets it, too. The mayor of Bengaluru, India says the city’s bikeways can’t have a real impact until they’re connected in a viable network; the city plans to build 378 miles of bike lanes by 2035.

A secondhand ebike has helped a longtime New Zealand bike advocate fall back in love with bicycling on his 37-mile commute.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Tips explains how to follow the Race Across America, aka RAAM, which started yesterday.

Nice ad featuring L39ion of Los Angeles founder Justin Williams for Vuori.

 

Finally…

Evidently, bike polo is still a thing. If you’re already wanted by the cops for threatening a woman with a switchblade, maybe don’t ride an illegal motorized bike.

And bike riders are the new Atlas.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

County releases draft LA River master plan, making bike theft a tad too easy, and gravel biking to the Hollywood Sign

January 15, 2021 / / Comments Off on County releases draft LA River master plan, making bike theft a tad too easy, and gravel biking to the Hollywood Sign

Thank you all for the kind words yesterday. 

I’m still riding that diabetic rollercoaster, for no apparent reason other than my body wants to do to me what rioters did to the Capital last week. 

But if you’re reading this, it means I managed to power through this time.

Photo by The Lazy Artist Gallery from Pexels.

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LA County finally released a draft of the LA River bike plan.

Including, as we noted on Wednesday, starchitect Frank Gehry’s proposal to leave the ugly concrete sewer in place, at least in places, and just cover it up with elevated parks so we don’t have to look at it anymore.

Not exactly the return to a natural state we’ve been promised.

Here’s how Streetsblog’s Joe Linton described it.

The county river plan is trying to strike difficult delicate balance on many issues. At this morning’s press event Supervisor Sheila Kuehl mentioned the balance between an overall “coherent holistic” vision and a “great deal of local community control.” Solis touched on the need for river revitalization to serve park-poor low-income communities of color, while addressing issues of gentrification and homelessness. Historically plans for the river have struggled to find the space to address a broad range of needs in communities it flows through; these needs include parks – with both active and passive recreation – housing, schools, and much more.

The plan ends up trying to address all of these issues within a fairly limited jurisdictional corridor. The river system is a tangled jurisdictional mess. County Public Works (acting as the County Flood Control District) controls the river channel structures, but the adjacent, and in cases underlying, land is the jurisdiction of various cities. The county’s jurisdiction is constrained by the federal U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which mandates flood damage minimization standards. The county has little control over the numerous freeways and several rail lines constrain the river. Many of the complex issues that impact the river – from watershed rainwater runoff to homelessness to gentrification – are largely situated outside the waterway corridor itself.

You can watch the presentation, recorded on Zoom like everything else these day. Just ignore the first minute where everyone sits around trying to not look awkward before it gets going.

Comments will be open for the next 60 days.

Of course, what matters to a lot of us is the ongoing plan to complete the gaps in the bike path, particularly through Downtown Los Angeles and the meat packing district to the south, to create a continuous bikeway along the full 51-mile length of the river.

But speaking strictly for myself, I’d much rather ride along a park-filled natural riverbank than on a concrete river underneath a lush park.

Thanks to Fatema Baldiwala for the heads-up.

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Seriously. At least make it hard for them.

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Gravel Bike California invites you to take a rocky ride to the Hollywood Sign.

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Now this is what a bikeshare system looks like.

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Here’s your Friday mountain bike break.

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

No bias here. A Montreal opposition leader says bike paths are disruptive to residents and merchants, and the city must ensure “social acceptability” before building any more.

Police in England are looking for the driver who intentionally crashed into a bike rider, leaving him with elbow, knee and hand injuries, after the bicyclist complained about the driver cutting him off.

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

A 25-year old Los Angeles woman pled not guilty to fatally stabbing a Metro employee as she rode the B Line (nee Blue Line) with her “distinctive” green bicycle near DTLA.

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Local

Metro is looking for feedback on the agency’s draft plan to recover from the Covid-19 crisis, which could present an opportunity to rethink our streets if they do it right. Or else turn it into another Covid long-hauler struggling to survive.

Speaking of the LA River, the LACBC is teaming with Metro’s BEST program to offer a tutorial on riding it next Thursday.

And speaking of the LACBC, the coalition is offering a half-off fire sale sale on merchandise with the discount code LACBC50off.

Bob Odenkirk is one of us, as the Better Call Saul star rides the streets of Los Angeles.

 

State

Orange County has officially, if virtually, opened the new Oso Parkway bridge, complete with shiny new bike lanes. 

Someone appears to be targeting the owner of a Poway bike shop, after burglars broke in and vandalized the shop while stealing several high-end mountain bikes worth up to $9,000; another of his shops suffered a second high-end break-in, while a third was vandalized with swastikas and racist graffiti, causing $20,000 damage to a new shop truck.

Santa Barbara has begun work on a bike and pedestrian safety project around Stearns Wharf, and added bike infrastructure to the State Street promenade to improve safety.

An unlicensed San Mateo driver faces charges for the New Years Day hit-and-run that’s left a bike-riding 68-year old man in critical condition two weeks later.

They get it. San Leandro is considering a road diet on a major boulevard, cutting it from six lanes to four to improve safety for bike riders.

San Francisco is putting another 500 e-scooters on the streets.

 

National

They get it, too. US PIRG says it’s time to hit the reset button and take a fundamentally new approach to American transportation.

A writer for VeloNews takes a contrarian view, arguing there’s no need to increase diversity in bicycling if we’d just stop overlooking Black people who already ride bikes.

A Next City op-ed argues that the real test of whether Transportation Secretary nominee Mayor Pete really cares about cities will be what he does to protect pedestrians from self-driving cars.

Ford is continuing work on a project to allow bicycles and motor vehicles to electronically communicate with each other to improve safety.

No surprise here, as cars, and the drivers in them, remain the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, even as millions of Americans were theoretically confined to their homes. As Streetsblog notes, if a global pandemic can’t get Americans out of their cars, what will?

A new public safety campaign developed after the death of five Las Vegas bike riders reminds drivers to change lanes to pass someone on a bike; the state is one of five that requires drivers to change lanes, rather than merely give a minimum passing distance. Then again, they could just as well remind drivers not to use meth before getting behind the wheel, like the alleged killer allegedly did.

Police in Austin, Texas have a new bicycle supplier, after Lance’s Mellow Johnny’s bike shop refused to sell to them any more in the wake of the George Floyd protests and the weaponization of police bikes by the cops.

New York police have identified a suspect in the shooting of a bike shop employee last summer after arguing with the man minutes earlier.

No bias here, either. A Virginia bike rider gets the blame for hitting a car after his brakes locked up crossing an intersection. But no word on what the driver may have done to make him brake so hard.

A Baton Rouge LA advocacy group is calling for an end to the city’s ban on riding bikes through drive-thrus.

A New Orleans woman awaiting trial for the hit-and-run death of a bike rider last January is back in jail for choking her drunk fiancé to death; she has a history of domestic violence arrests, despite blaming her late boyfriend for attacking her. On the other hand, she apparently only kills in January, so we should all be safe the other eleven months.

 

International

That’s more like it. Toronto is installing more secure bike lockers at a new transit station.

Cambridge, England is considering allowing electric vehicles to share bus lanes with buses and bike riders; one rider said at least you won’t have to smell any nasty fumes when you go over their hood.

Scottish authorities have finally found the body of man who disappeared while on a charity bike ride over three years ago; two men were recently arrested in connection with his disappearance.

British bike thieves continue to target frontline medical workers, as a doctor who hadn’t taken a day off since the pandemic started had his bike stolen — but kindhearted strangers crowdfunded a replacement within hours.

If anyone wants to move to the UK, Brompton is hiring.

An Irish court case hinges on whether a bike with a gas engine is still a bicycle.

A 36-year old Japanese company specializing in unique panda, dinosaur, cucumber and eggplant shaped bicycles is struggling to survive the Covid-19 pandemic. Sort of like everyone else these days.

An Aussie writer says he won’t be jumping on the gravel bandwagon because he’d love it too much, and doesn’t have room for another bike beyond the ten he already owns. Meanwhile, off-road.cc picks the gravel bike of the year and the best gravel gear and accessories.

 

Competitive Cycling

Women’s cycling great Anna van der Breggen will don double rainbow jerseys reflecting world titles in last year’s road cycling and time trial championships as she enters her final year in the pro peloton.

Sad news from Australia, where 1956 Olympian and Aussie cycling great Cliff Burvill died after falling off his bike riding a new crit circuit; he was 83 years old.

At last, there’s some good news about former CART and F1 driver Alex Zanardi, as the paracycling champ spoke with his family for the first time since his crash in an Italian paracycling race last summer, following a series of brain surgeries.

How to train your brain for bike racing.

 

Finally…

Calling the pun police. That feeling when a family stroll on a bike trail could make you lunch for a hungry kitty.

And when your Peloton bike is a national cybersecurity risk.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a damn mask, already. 

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