Neighborhood Focused Bicycle Plans

by Siel Ju on October 15, 2009

10_15_09_pocket_monster.jpgPhoto: Pocket Monster D/Flickr
Thanks to hard-working bicycle activists like Joe Linton and Stephen Box who’ve read through the L.A. draft Bike Plan, Angelenos who care about bikes can get the skinny on the 212-page draft without wading through the typo and error-riddled document themselves. That said, I’d love it if this draft were not so big and intimidating so that more people would be encouraged the actual document — which is why David Byrne’s latest blog post got me thinking.

In his post about “An Evening With David Byrne” — an L.A. event that happened earlier this month — Byrne opines that “LA, like Austin in a way, is so spread out that it has more obstacles to overcome” — and presents some ideas:

I suggested to the city rep that one might try adding bike lanes, etc. in specific neighborhoods, little by little, and not try to instigate a whole citywide program. Downtown, Santa Monica and Venice would be obvious candidates. Her response seemed to imply that the state of LA politics and bureaucracy makes that impossible — if one hood gets something, they all want it.

Byrne’s suggestion got me thinking: Would it be possible to get multiple bike plans going in various L.A. neighborhoods — with shorter drafts of the plans that cyclists in that area could get through more easily? Might that get cyclists more engaged and active in the areas that they live or work in?

I think we still need an overall master bicycle plan to weave those neighborhood plans together — and thus the city’s bike infrastructure together — into a more comprehensive system. But considering the fact that at the moment, neighborhood councils seem to lack the time even to comment on the master plan, as Alex Thompson at Westside Bikeside’s pointed out, perhaps having a greater focus on neighborhood based bike plans — headed up by individual neighborhood councils — could work.

Certainly, neighborhood councils have been more receptive to adopting the Cyclists Bill or Rights, as Stephen Box points out. And efforts like the LA County Bicycle Coaliton’s 4th St. Bike Blvd. already seem to be along this neighborhood-focused vein. Plus, bike plans that focus on smaller areas — like the Burbank Bike Master Plan — seem to be creating more optimism and less angst.

That said, I live in Santa Monica, not the City of L.A., and thus don’t have a neighborhood council. For those of you who do: Do you think we could look to neighborhood councils to push through smaller bike plans in their communities? The pedestrian and cyclist-friendly work of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council certainly seems like a step in that direction –