Featured Headline: I wasn't planning on doing a candidate survey for the CD 15 Council Race to replace Congress Woman Janice Hahn, so I figured I would watch for other surveys. Bikeside is sending 20 questions to 20 candidates for the vacant seat. You can read their questions here, did they miss anything? - LA Weekly Writes Horrendous Piece About Bicycling Anti-Harassment Ordinance
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- Sheriff: Attacks on Gold Line Rare (Pasadena Sun)
- Sac Bee Editorial: “Transit Funding Proposal Needs More Vetting”
- Bike Share Coming to D.C.'s Capital Mall (Cap. Hill Streetsblog)
- Bike Blog Rips L.A. Bike Planning (View from the Cycle Path)
- A Letter to the Editor the Times Ignored on Bicycle Highways, After the Jump
More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill
“And now, back to gridlock”
Editor, L.A. Times,
In your July 19th op-ed piece about L.A.’s traffic gridlock you mentioned several solutions that other countries are trying and succeeding with in decreasing traffic congestion,
How about this idea?
Have elevated, covered bicycle expressways high above the median strips on freeways. There could be at least two lanes in each direction; one lane would be for electric bikes. The freeway overpasses would be the entrance and exit points. The cover for the bike expressway would be lined with solar panels which would charge battery banks. The stored electricity would be available to charge the electric bikes or rescue stranded electric cars on the freeways below. The construction would be plated and epoxy coated steel and anchored by steel columns. The bike roadway would be a steel grid. There would be no concrete or asphalt. The steel sections would be prefabricated and go up quickly and be easily exchanged for newly repainted sections at intervals so there would be no deterioration. The bicycle expressway if it became popular around the country could save millions or billions in new freeway construction and decrease both our dependence on oil and waistlines of the general public. There would be a requirement that only American steel and labor would be used in the construction. Bicyclists could pay a toll charge and electric bike users could recharge with coin operated outlets along the bike expressway. Everyday there are probably a hundred miles of gridlocked L.A. and surrounding freeways where the proposed swarm of bicyclists would leave drivers in the dust. Frustrated drivers would be easily recruited. The idea could be expanded to city thoroughfares. Bicycle transportation would snowball. General health, the environment and the sense of community would benefit. The world would become a better place.
I’ve got more ideas, but I’ve already run past my allotted 150 words.
Richard Parr
135-17th Street
Santa Monica, CA 90402
Ph. 310 394-0088
Email rparr@verizon.net
