County officials celebrated the completion of separated bike and pedestrian pathways on the beachfront Marvin Braude Bike Trail.
But it could have been so much more.
The project extended the parallel walking and biking pathways through Will Rogers State Park, creating a continuous 22-mile separated pathway along the beach from Pacific Palisades to Torrance.
As long as you don’t count the section that was bizarrely routed through a Redondo Beach parking garage, where bike riders are expected to dismount and walk their bikes.
But it didn’t have to end in Pacific Palisades.
Thirteen years ago, Los Angeles officials revived a proposal to extend the bike path two miles north to Malibu, where separate bike and pedestrian paths would be built into the rip rock along the coast to get around the private tennis club at the north end of the state beach.
The proposal would have allowed safe bike access to and from Malibu for beach visitors and tourists alike. Along with the added benefit of allowing bike riders to bypass the dangerously narrow section of PCH leading into Malibu.
Unfortunately, it was killed by opposition from a group of influential LA bike activists who balked at the project’s $30 million price tag, worried the optics of spending that much on a bike path would increase opposition to other bike projects.
Even though the city officials would have sought state and federal grants to pay for it, so it would cost the city little or nothing.
And even though it would take considerably more to build it today, with the price tag increasing with every passing year.
But it would have been done by now. And it would have been wonderful.
I still can’t seem to embed tweets.
So you’ll have to settle for a screenshot of this announcement from Walk San Francisco celebrating the passage of AB 645, which will allow a speed cam pilot program in six California cities, including Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach.
………
The World Cycling Alliance reminds us to celebrate World Bicycle Day this Saturday.
………
A new documentary about America’s only remaining Tour de France winner opens in theaters June 23rd, setting out the cyclist’s “setbacks and triumphant comeback.”
………
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.
More proof we’re damned if we do, and damned if we don’t, as a road raging British driver loses it because the bike rider in front of him stopped at a red light.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A British man is calling for the hit-and-run salmon bike rider who knocked him unconscious in a bicyclist-on-bicyclist crash to turn himself in; the victim gained fame as the owner of an uninhabited Scottish island featured by the BBC.
………
Local
CicLAvia returns to South Los Angeles on Father’s Day, June 18th, with a 6.2-mile route along Vermont Ave between Exposition and Century Blvds; the route is easily accessible via the Metro Expo (E) Line.
An unscientific survey of over 4,300 Angelenos from LAist shows concerns over homelessness and housing affordability dwarfs everything else, including infrastructure and transportation.
The Eastsider reports work is back on track for the highly flawed $80 million redesign of the landmark Glendale-Hyperion bridge, which will include bike lanes, but forces pedestrians to cross four lanes of traffic to get to the single sidewalk; work was supposed to begin in 2020, but was delayed by the pandemic.
Streetsblog visits the dangerously substandard, three-foot wide De Soto Avenue bike lane, two-thirds of which is in the gutter.
State
California Streetsblog says Smart Growth America’s new Complete Streets report raises the bar with strong and effective policies that lay the groundwork for safer streets for everyone.
Both drivers and bike riders are complaining about a construction project to add bike lanes and reverse-angled parking along PCH in Encinitas; the city’s mayor encourages everyone to wait until it’s done, when he says it will become a very popular destination.
Plans for a pedestrian promenade and bikeway on San Diego’s Normal Street have been delayed for eight years in a dispute over a driveway, which has now been condemned by the city.
A Kern County man faces up to ten years behind bars after he was convicted of the drunken hit-and-run that seriously injured two people riding bikes, leaving one with a brain injury; the defense attorney had tried to blame the victims for riding on the roadway without lights or reflectors. Even though neither of them forced the driver to get drunk, or get behind the wheel afterwards.
An op-ed from a Santa Cruz writer says a proposal for a 12-foot wide bike and pedestrian trail next to a rail line fails the safety test because it would be too popular, and wouldn’t allow users to escape in an emergency, due to fencing on one side and a retaining wall on the other.
Sad news from Clovis, where a 36-year old man faces charges for the drunken hit-and-run that killed a bike rider; he had a BAC over three times the legal blood alcohol level when he was arrested after someone in his home turned him in.
Streetsblog’s Roger Ruddick says visiting the Netherlands wasn’t a shock, but returning to the Bay Area afterwards was.
A Lewiston bike shop owner was lucky to survive after “a swell of humanity” rushed to his aid after suffering a heart attack while riding across the Golden Gate Bridge.
A 29-year old Shasta County woman has been sentenced to three years behind bars for the hit-and-run death of a 65-year old man riding his bike. She reported the victim lying on the side of the road, but didn’t say she was the one who hit him; she could have faced a total of five years on the two charges.
National
Portland’s summer-long Pedalpalooza bike festival kicked off its 21st season this week.
This year’s Cycle Oregon Classic bike tour through rural Oregon will be its last, a victim of rising production costs, rider preferences, volunteer capacity and extended fire seasons after 32 years.
A kindhearted 11-year old Arizona boy bought two mountain bikes after his bike was stolen, one for himself and one to give to someone else, after a TV station reported on the lemonade stand he was using to raise the money.
Residents of Houston’s Third Ward are demanding greater protection from a gang of teenagers who have been terrorizing bike riders on a local trail; five bicyclists have been brutally beaten and robbed in recent weeks, and another victim was shot.
Members of a St. Louis bike group are calling for the return of a green bike that was installed as a memorial to one of the group’s founders, after it disappeared just before the second anniversary of his unexpected death.
Massachusetts is considering a proposal for ebike rebates up to $750.
A free six-week Brooklyn bike repair course helps formerly incarcerated people get back on their feet, as well as others who have had run-ins with the law.
French startup Upway has opened their first US location in Brooklyn, selling refurbished and overstock ebikes at a discount.
The libertarian Cato Institute says the racially charged conflict over a New York bikeshare bike illustrates the growing popularity of shared ebikes.
Curbed considers the pitfalls of congestion pricing and how to avoid them, which is addressed to New York’s upcoming congestion pricing program. But it should be required reading for LA Metro and Los Angeles County officials.
A ten-mile bike ride around the National Mall by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and and chief GOP negotiator Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana played a roll in working out a deal with White House officials on raising the national debt limit.
International
Momentum Magazine recommends easy ways to incorporate bicycling into your urban lifestyle.
Canadian cargo bike owners say park the car, and use a cargo bike instead.
An estimated three hundred people turned out for a memorial bike ride in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to honor a 33-year old mother and wrester who represented Canada for over a decade, after she was run down by a garbage truck driver.
The news from Montreal just keeps getting better, as the Quebec city attempts to revitalize commercial districts by closing ten streets for the summer.
As we noted yesterday, a modestly updated version of the classic, British-made Raleigh Chopper bike is back, complete with its oversized gear shifts, albeit at a whopping 2,970% markup.
Bicyclists in Oxford, England have launched their own DIY, crowdsourced online bike map showing low-traffic routes throughout the city.
A self-proclaimed liberal London bike rider made headlines for accusing Just Stop Oil activists, who were blocking a street in protest, of “harming the cause” and “fucking it up for all of us.” I’ve long argued that blocking streets may garner headlines, but you don’t win people over to your cause by making their commutes miserable.
Competitive Cycling
Celebrate the Giro with pink sidewalls on your Italian-made Vittoria tires.
Primož Roglič’s former ski-jumping teammate appeared out of nowhere to give him a key push right when he needed it following a Giro mechanical.
Cycling Weekly offers a detailed analysis of every stage of next month’s Tour de France.
Bicycling profiles 2022 Unbound Gravel champ Sofia Gomez Villafañe, explaining how the Argentine mountain biker became a gravel superstar. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.
Two Russian Olympic track cycling medalists have been barred from competing for failing to adopt a neutral status due to the country’s war in Ukraine.
Tragic news from Tennessee, where a 58-year old lifelong athlete and longtime Ironman competitor has died over a week after he was injured crashing his bike in a Chattanooga triathlon.
Finally…
That feeling when you’re the former world champ, and still have to train for the Tour de France with your kid in tow — literally. Your next foldie could have a magnesium frame.
And your new Porsche could have two wheels instead of four, at far less than half the price.
………
Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin, too.
