
Day 107 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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SoCal’s killer highway could finally see some much-needed changes.
If we can wait that long.
Admittedly, I didn’t have high hopes for the state transportation agency’s Pacific Coast Highway Master Plan Feasibility Study, given their long auto-centric history focusing more on what can’t be done to improve safety than on what can.
But the draft document seems to offer significant safety changes on the 22-mile long stretch through Malibu, though with one key caveat.
As Streetsblog’s Damien Newton puts it, the draft master plan “covers twenty years of projects that could be completed, should funding become available.”
Okay, make that two caveats, given a lack of funding and the extensive timeline.
The plan calls for protected bike lanes for nearly the full length, other than a nearly three-mile stretch where the roadway is considered too narrow, with too many driveways to provide safe protection.
It also includes numerous pedestrian improvements, as well as calling for narrowing traffic lanes to 10′-6” wide, the minimum standard for Complete Streets, according to Caltrans.
Other possible traffic calming improvements — key word “possible” — include, according to Newton, “gateway signage, speed tables at high-traffic crossings, trees, and angled parking,” as well as potential traffic circles and roundabouts, including at the entrance to El Matador State Beach.
But as noted above, the problem — other than coming up with the funding, which could be difficult given the current environment — is the extensive timeline.
As a list of short-term projects makes clear, most of the proposed changes will come 10 t0 20 years from now, if they happen at all.
A major problem given what Newton terms the “staggering” 1,245 deaths and serious injuries from traffic violence in just a five year period, from 2018 to 2023.
Which means the improvements will likely come too late for many bike riders who have taken their chances riding the coast highway for all those years, myself included.
But it could leave a much safer and more livable highway for those who follow.
Photo from Caltrans press release.
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LA County supervisors passed a motion doubling the penalty for participating in a street takeover.
Which is nice, and needed. But it probably won’t actually stop anyone.
Thanks to Damian Kevitt for the heads-up.
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The most impressive thing about this one is watching the guy recover from a death wobble after descending a flight of stairs, more than once.
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We’ve got a long list of Twitter/X posts to catch up on, so my apologies in advance if Elon’s meddling on the site prevents them from embedding properly.
The San Diego Bike Coalition wants to pump up your tires and offer light refreshments this morning.
https://twitter.com/sdbikecoalition/status/1912538639462199489
Streets Are For Everyone reminds us about the bike ride and protest to mark the 3rd anniversary of Andrew Jelmert’s death at the hands of a speeding hit-and-run driver on Griffith Park’s Crystal Springs Drive this Saturday, as promised safety improvements continue to be caught in LA’s typical red tape.
https://twitter.com/StreetsR4Every1/status/1912234183696781562
BikeLA, aka the former Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, is joining Metro for a belated Earth Day Community Climate Action Day on Saturday, April 26th.
BikeLA is also inviting advocates to join them for a Handlebar Happy Hour at Santa Monica Brew Works on Monday, which is the actual Earth Day.
Mark your calendar for the next CicLAvia on Sunday, June 22nd, as Historic South Central meets Watts.
https://twitter.com/CicLAvia/status/1912627142824706228
The Militant Angeleno reminds us that ActiveSGV is hosting a five-mile open streets event following CicLAvia the same day, running from South Pasadena to San Gabriel from 3 pm to 8 pm.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Toronto bicyclists are challenging Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s new law allowing the province to rip out bike lanes in the city, arguing that the law violates the country’s national charter; Bloomberg says the controversy demonstrates why the best bike lanes always get the blame.
A London bike rider complains about gates on the the city’s bike network that are intended to keep out motorbikes and quad bikes, but instead deter elderly and disabled people from riding a bike, arguing the “anti-bike” gates turn Low Traffic Neighborhoods into low bicycling ones.
The owner of a Scottish pizzeria demands that the city rip out new bike lanes in front of his shop, even though it’s part of an $8 million project to increase pedestrian traffic and boost the city’s “café culture and night-time economy,” which should benefit him, too.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A New Zealand dog nearly lost his leg when he was struck by an ebike rider, which completely severed a tendon in the pup’s leg, after the dog’s owner says two men “came flying around the corner” doing at least 18 mph on their ebikes, and only said “get your fucking dog under control” before riding off; however, the 73-year old ebike rider says he was only doing 10 mph, and never saw the dog.
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Local
South Pasadena warns about bike thieves, noting that most of the city’s stolen bikes were secured with flimsy cable locks that are easily cut; they also suggest noting your bike’s make, model, color, cost and serial number, as well as attaching an AirTag to your bike. Which gives us another opportunity to recommend free lifetime registration with Bike Index, which securely records all that information, along with photos of your bike — before anything happens to it.
State
An engineering grad student at UC San Diego, and a handful of other bicycle enthusiasts, spend their Sunday’s bringing bicycles back to life with Bikes del Pueblo in San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood, working on a sliding scale that allows people to pay what they can afford.
Bicycling says the new Levo 4 e-mountain bike from Morgan Hill-based Specialized predestines a future where ebike features that are now included in the cost of the bike will cost you extra. But they hid the story behind their paywall for members only, so you’re on your on if the magazine blocks you.
National
A Texas man was killed when he allegedly went through a red light on his ebike, and crashed into the side of an ambulance.
New York is installing new, smaller traffic signals mounted on the side of the road at eye level for people riding bicycles to make streets safer for bike riders and other street users, while politely not saying they’re hoping bicyclists will actually obey them.
At least one city is funding Vision Zero, with the new budget proposed by Philadelphia’s mayor for the coming year containing $5 million earmarked for Vision Zero, along with another $5 million for a protected bike lane.
International
A British writer says electric road bikes are as dead as wool jerseys and leather helmets. Or maybe not.
The European Union could change the definition of ebikes, with a new proposal limiting them to having “bicycle-like characteristics,” with a maximum 1:6 power boost ratio, and a top speed of just 10 mph.
The bike-centric Netherlands is pushing a new campaign to get people to wear bike helmets, in a country where almost no one does; the campaign notes an average of two hundred bike riders a day end up in emergency rooms with head injuries.
Melbourne, Australia is about to open a new, eye-catching green bicycle bridge as part of the city’s bicycle superhighway; one bicyclist described it as like “riding through a disco.”
A police interview with Australian Olympic champ Rohan Dennis just hours after the death of his wife, fellow Olympian Melissa Hoskins, reveals it began with a typical argument over kitchen renovations, before she fell under his SUV trying to hold onto the door handle as he sped away.
Competitive Cycling
Mountain biking events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are now set to be held in the San Gabriel Mountains at Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas.
Finally…
If you’re going to intentionally swerve your car at a bike rider, maybe don’t stream it live on Twitch. Your new retro-style camper could be made from recycled milk cartons, complete with a built-in set of pro mountain bike tools.
And get ready for waxed chains and new kits that are easier to poop in.
Okay, maybe not actually poop in.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.