The Federal Highway Administration offers a fascinating series of road diet case studies from across the country — including three from the LA area.
- Santa Monica’s Ocean Park Blvd road diet resulted in a remarkable 65% reduction in collisions, and a 60% reduction in injury crashes — without increasing congestion as measured by average speeds, or any measurable spillover in the surrounding neighborhoods.
- Adding bike lanes to Pasadena’s Cordova Street increased bicycle traffic and reduced speeding by drivers, without reducing level of service for drivers or pedestrians; there was also a slight decrease in collisions and injuries.
- On the other hand, the road diet on LA’s 7th Street highlights LADOT’s failure to keep statistics before or after making changes to the streets. They had to rely on the LACBC’s volunteer bike count to show bicycle traffic tripled along the corridor; they also received “positive feedback from users” and found “satisfactory” results from an analysis of traffic at key intersections.
It’s LADOT’s failure to keep any kind of traffic safety stats that allows councilmembers like Gil Cedillo and Paul Koretz, as well as recently departed Tom LaBonge, to weasel out of much-needed safety and livability improvements in their districts, since no one can prove they’re really needed.
And the city can’t demonstrate the success of road changes that have already been made in other areas in any meaningful way.
Hopefully, that’s changing under new traffic maven Seleta Reynolds and Mayor Garcetti’s commitment to stat-based accountability.
But it can’t change soon enough.
………
After getting the year off to a great start by winning the Giro, followed by a tough Tour, Alberto Contador calls it quits for the season. And he didn’t even do it on a 1970s chopper bike.
World cycling chief Brian Cookson is worried about hooliganism at the Tour de France after winner Chris Froome was insulted, spit on and splashed with urine. Seriously, it’s just a matter of time before a rider is seriously injured — or worse — by a crazed “fan,” to use that word loosely.
Cycling’s elite riders are coming to North America this summer, starting with the Tour of Utah next week and culminating in September’s world championships in Richmond VA.
But will any of them will be sampling the new EPO substitute that anyone can get online?
………
Local
Streetsblog wants to know if LA is giving the wrong sign for blocked bike lanes.
KPCC looks at the winners of the mayor’s Great Streets grants; there appear to be more street parties in our future.
Speaking of Great Streets, Flying Pigeon thanks Councilmember José Huizar for the pedestrian oriented makeover of Broadway in DTLA. Nice to see someone on the city council who actually gets it, and is willing to make changes that benefit the public instead of blocking them.
Boyonabike says Pasadena’s newly resurfaced Sierra Madre Villa Blvd coulda, woulda, shoulda have bike lanes.
CORBA offers an updated page on off-road trail etiquette. Really, it doesn’t take much to avoid confrontations on the trails. And everyone wins when you make the effort.
Santa Monica bans private bike parking at their still-unbuilt bikeshare kiosks.
SaMo is holding a workshop next week on re-envisioning Lincoln Blvd south of I-10, which could use a lot of improvement. Back in the bad old days, the street was listed as a Class 3 bike route in an apparent attempt to thin the herd.
Walk Bike Burbank hosts the Midnight Ramble Ride on Saturday.
State
The OC Foothills Bikeways Collaborative wants your vote to prioritize bikeway improvements in the county.
Evidently bike theft is a family affair in Seal Beach, as a snatched bike leads to a brawl with the thief’s relatives.
No bias here. After a teenage fixie rider suffers severe head injuries in a collision, San Diego police say they don’t know who had the right-of-way. But blame the victim anyway.
The San Diego Association of Governments will build a bike and pedestrian bridge to connect the Escondido Transit Center with a shopping center anchored by Barnes & Noble. Apparently people who use transit, walk and bike still read books made from dead trees down there.
If you were planning to ride through Camp Pendleton on Saturday, forget it; a shuttle will be available for riders who have to cross the base.
San Francisco cyclists call for adoption of the Idaho Stop law in California, which would allow bike riders to treat stop signs like yields; a supervisor for the city backs the law change. It may seem counter-intuitive, but the Idaho stop law has been shown to improve safety for bicyclists. And it would legalize what most bike riders — and most drivers, for that matter — already do.
Meanwhile, San Francisco bike riders show how following the letter of the law by coming to a full stop slows traffic for everyone; Streetsblog deems it an effective spectacle.
The 10,000 member San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, which has proven itself to be a potent force in influencing city elections, faces a dispute over the balance between member privacy and democratic board elections.
San Raphael is putting the final touches on a $1.6 million shared path through the downtown area.
National
Jane the Virgin’s Gina Rodriguez is one of us. So are the Green Bay Packers.
A cyclist files a $13.5 million suit against an Arizona county over a dangerous bike lane design that led to him being seriously injured in a collision.
Seems like other states take hit-and-run a lot more seriously than California does. A Montana man is being held on $350,000 bond for fleeing the scene after critically injuring a pedestrian and tampering with evidence.
A Kansas man faces a charge of second degree reckless murder in the death of a college professor participating in a time trial last month.
Tragic news from Oklahoma, as a Florida man riding cross country to raise funds for affordable housing was killed by a distracted driver; a second rider was airlifted with a leg injury.
The Minneapolis StarTribune looks at the intersection of camping and biking.
A Connecticut cop responds to a report of kids fighting, and ends up fixing a broken bike chain.
Gothamist asks if New York is leaving bike lanes and the people who ride them behind in their Vision Zero plans.
Florida bicyclists want a little space on Palm Beach bridges.
International
An Alberta paper says a recent dooring death shows the need to improve safety and infrastructure for bicyclists.
A Quebec writer says mandating bike helmets may not be a good idea; shockingly, a bike helmet maker backed the idea before backing off the next day.
Cycling Weekly asks if carbon soled bike shoes are really necessary. Considering the footwear of choice for bike riders in my neighborhood appears to canvas sneakers, I’m going to say no.
The Guardian looks at how Groningen in the Netherlands set the standard for bicycling cities back in the 1970s.
A London rider asks “what’s life without a little risk?” after recovering from a fall when he was cut off by an apparently self-driving Prius.
Portugal tells government employees to get out of their cars and on their bikes.
Finally…
Evidently, posh cyclists ride salmon in bike lanes while sipping espresso. A self-described bike guy learns to love cycling; presumably, he hated it before but rode anyway. Maybe you want to take a bike tour of North Korea before you get captured and killed. Or you might become a dictator’s best friend like Dennis Rodman.
And since when do bike riders take UV-busting fashion cues from Donald Sterling’s self-professed non-girlfriend?
No. Just… no.
……..
Let’s offer a round of thanks to BikinginLA sponsors Jim Pocrass and Josh Cohen; their support makes this site possible.
And thank you to everyone who has contributed to support this site. You help keep it, and me, going.
