Streetsblog Los Angeles

We're losing the google battle on the Spring Street Green Buffered Bike Lane. Thanks, L.A. Times.

For the second time in just over a month, the Los Angeles Times devoted a good portion of its real estate to hitting the Spring Street Green Buffered Bike Lane. A lot of the piece hits the same points as last month’s editorial on the same topic, but transportation writer Ari Bloomekatz goes into greater detail and includes interviews with Film L.A. and even a brief recap of Carlos Morales’ run-in with a film crew last week.

In an attempt to head off a flood of anti-Green Bike Lane stories, Streetsblog would like to respond to some of the points in the story.

1) The Green Lane Ruins the “Anytown USA” feel of Spring Street for film companies

I have to admit that I’m far from an expert on this, so I talked to a former producer, who asked not to be named in this story, if this was true.  His response, “as if the green lane would show up in the film and ruin the shot and the opportunity to convince the world that this street is NY or Chicago or Budapest or Bangkok or Saigon or Nairobi or any other urban street filled with cars that are registered in CA and operated by unlicensed operators who lack insurance.”

Taking out the rampant sacrasm in the above quote, the writer does hit a point that there are a lot of cities that do have green bike lanes and that more and more of them are coming online.  In the long term, the film industry could be thrilled that there are green bike lanes in L.A.

2) Drivers are confused by the lane and try to drive in it.

Those drivers should be ticketed.  The Driver’s Manual is very clear about driving in bike lanes.  It says nothing about color.  Don’t drive in bike lanes. This is basic.
Read more…

Negotiations continue between representatives of the Financial District and Metro staff concerning the tunneling options for the Connector through the district continue this week behind closed doors according to sources familiar with both sides of the negotiation.  Both Metro and the Mayor’s Office have ignored attempts to ask about the status of the discussions and nobody was willing to speak “on the record” about negotiations.  However, there are a few things Streetsblog has learned that it can share.

As Streetsblog reported earlier, a group of powerful businesses and advocacy groups have banded together to demand what they consider equal treatment for the city’s powerful Financial District when it comes to how the tunnel for the Connector is built and whether or not the District deserves its own subway stop.  A strongly worded letter and lobbying effort caused the Metro Board to delay a vote on the final environmental documents for the Connector last month.  The Board vowed to take up the issue this month, but at this moment the exact timeline is uncertain.

A relatively small group has been in the negotiations.  Metro’s team has been headed not by Connector staff, but by Metro’s Chief of Strategic Planning, Martha Welbourne, showing as high a level of commitment to working something out as possible without CEO Art Leahy sitting in on the meetings.  The main topics of discussion is how to come up with a new tunneling plan for the Connector through the Financial District that is less disruptive to the community and still allows for a future station at 5th and Flower.

Representatives of the District have complained that the “cut and cover” method for creating a tunnel for the light rail through the District would create hardship for businesses in the area.  However the fully underground tunneling project similar to what is planned for Little Tokyo and the rest of Downtown Los Angeles would preclude  a station at 5th and Flower.  A station in that area would be approved with the environmental documents, but at the moment there is no funding for such a station in that area.

Advocates for the rail line are worried that if a different tunneling option is agreed to, that a lag would be created in the environmental clearance.  Most Metro watchers, Streetsblog included, believed that the Regional Connector would receive its final approval last month.  Would a new tunneling plan require new environmental studies?  Depending what new compromise is reached, it could.  But the months that a new study would take would still take less time than a lawsuit against the project funded by the obviously well-financed Financial District. Read more…

LAPD and Downtown BID Bike Patrol go for a ride. All Pics: Carlos Morales All captions: Damien Newton

On Thursday, March 1, 2012, the LAPD Central Traffic Division deployed eight motorcycle officers to Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) in what was called a “Bike Lane Sting.”  The LAPD’s mission was to educate and issue traffic citations to motorist, cyclist and pedestrians whose actions infringed on the rules of the road.   The focus was on bike lanes violations.  The task force deployed along both the green striped bike lane on Spring Street and soon to be striped Main Street.

I road my bike to DTLA to report on the bike sting.  Within minutes of my arrival, I come across the sting in action.  This post will report on four incidents that I thought were worth noting.

Really, she didn't know what the big green lanes with the bike painted in it was for?

The first incident: A traffic officer pulled over a driver for driving a block and a half in the bike lane.  The motor officer stated, “At first I thought the motorist was going to make a right turn at the intersection and had merged into the bike lane 200′ prior to the intersection.  There was no cyclist in the lane, I was going to let her go.  But when she proceeded through the intersection and continued to drive in the bike lane, I pulled her over to let her know what she did wrong and issued her a citation.  She said she was not aware of what these green lanes meant.” Read more…

Photo: Joe Linton

The Los Angeles Times ran an editorial earlier this week entitled L.A.’s bike lane blooper. While the Times was generally supportive of L.A. City bike plan implementation, it did come out against green bike lanes in downtown Los Angeles stating that “the green lane spoiled the shots that made Spring the perfect stand-in for Anytown, USA.”

It’s not the main point of this editorial, but, in case the Times and the film industry didn’t get the memo: “Anytown, USA” now has bikes and bike lanes. Spring Street commonly stands in for New York City, which now has plenty of green bike lanes on its streets. Chicago is stepping up with an unprecedented batch of new protected bike lanes. Bike facilities already show up in plenty of movies. I am not a huge film-goer, but can recall spotting on-screen bike lanes in Inception and Mickmacs. If L.A.’s streets do not accomodate bikes, they become frozen in a car-centric outlook that’s fading from Anytown, or at least from Anycity.

Ultimately, though, does film-readiness trump everyday safety and livability? No.

The Spring Street green bike lane is one half of a one-way couplet that flows south on Spring and north on Main Street. Should the Main Street side of the couplet also be green, as has been floated by the city’s Transportation Department – LADOT? The film industry is apparently responding “no” and livability proponents are saying “yes.” I’m going to break ranks here and say that my opinion is that the Main Street lanes don’t need to be green.

Here’s why: Read more…

Photo: Patrick Pascal

The poor Spring Street Green Buffered Bike Lane.  The first “outside the box” bike project in Los Angeles has come under fire from just about everyone for the peeling paint and tire tracks that dominate a portion of the lane.  Even Midnight Ridazz hosts a thread entitled, “Green Lanes Are a Joke,” although opinions ont eh lane are mixed.  In order to bring some balance to the story, Streetsblog went out and found some actual riders of the lane to see what they had to say.

The reaction was mixed.  While just about everyone loved that the lane was there, just about everyone wanted to say something about the application.  Here are some of the comments we received, all without any editing from me other than some “bolding” for emphasis.

First up is Valerie Watson, an architect and Chair of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Complete Streets Committee rides the lane regularly:

As a Spring Street resident, I ride and walk down Spring several times a week.  It’s really remarkable how different it is.  Hard to describe, but it just feels like all traffic is flowing in a more calm, orderly way now.  The bike lane plus full time parking are a noticeable sidewalk buffer for the west side of Spring, and just walking down the street you can see how different that feels compared to the east side with cars zooming along the curb during rush hour where the parking is still under peak-hour restrictions.

Also, the 4′ bike lane buffer really makes a big difference for cyclist comfort – everyone is making a big deal about the green paint, but the 4′ buffer goes hand in hand with the 6′ of green to make this feel really different compared to a traditional 5′ bike lane.  Even though it’s still not the ideal – a separated cycletrack – it’s a step in the right direction. We should not forget that this is a 10′ bike lane - the width of a full vehicular travel lane – re-purposed roadway that is obviously benefiting all modes.

P was the first person to complain to Streetsblog about the paint condition.  Asked to follow-up on his experience, he writes:

I did re-ride the bike lane at the end of last week and much of the paint that was in the worst condition was reapplied.  I had intended to return again this weekend to give it a more thorough appraisal.

The quality of the repaint did not make me confident for the lane’s long term durability.  In addition, many of the potholes did remain (I will send you a picture of one such pothole between Temple & 1st which I took with my phone), particularly in the areas where new paint was not applied.  Most of the potholes were of a size that might fit an apple; some were the size of grapefruit.  Some of the surfaces surrounding bus stops were also unsafe.

None of these deficiencies are out of normal for most of Los Angeles’ streets, but I see these bike lanes as exactly the sort of infrastructure where bicyclists might expect better.  If you encourage bicycles to use a particular spaces, you take added responsibility for the outcomes that result.

Meanwhile, Allison Corona thinks the lanes would be better for the community if there were part of a network: Read more…

One week ago, LADOT and city politicians opened the Spring Street Green Buffered Bike Lane to a flock of media and the appreciative roar of the L.A.’s cycling community.  One week later, cheers have turned to grumbling as the green paint has dissolved in areas, gotten blotchy in others and basially looks like Long Beach’s Green Sharrowed Lane after a year of wear and tear from cars and bikes.

Ugh. Photo: Joe Anthony of Bike Commute News via Instagram

The culprit appears to be an overanxious LADOT who wanted to have the lanes ready for the Monday press conference, even though the weekend preceding the Monday event was a wet one.   In the week preceding the press event, officials warned that the conference could be moved if weather didn’t allow the painting to occur over the weekend.  Quality of paint shouldn’t have been an issue as L.A. spent $50,000 for the green paint job (according to the Times) which is ten times what Long Beach spent on its Green Sharrowed Lane.

Meanwhile other commuters are grumbling that the green paint, where it does remain, masks some large and deep potholes.   One reader, who I do not have permission to quote by name, wrote of the potholes and paint:

These conditions suggest that the creation of this lane is about a DOT that isn’t truly committed to better bike infrastructure, but instead is about political PR.  Otherwise, basic standards of construction and user safety would have been employed.  While the lane’s design is strong, the execution is exceptionally weak.

For its part, the LADOT is guaranteeing that lane will be repainted soon.  ”Rest assured LADOT crews will be back to touch up spots on Spring St,” writes Bruce Gillman, the LADOT spokesperson.  ”We are awaiting new paint to be delivered and a stint of dry weather to assure second application gets put down without too much moisture present.”

At this point, there is no timeline to repave the road.

Image via LADOT Bike Blog

Via the LADOT Bike Blog comes a first look at the Spring Street Buffered Bike Lanes planned for Downtown Los Angeles. Having spent some time this weekend on the “bike paths” on 3rd and Broadway in Downtown Long Beach this weekend, I can’t tell you what a difference a buffer makes.

Even though these lanes aren’t quite the same as the ones in Long Beach, there’s a lot of excitement for the lanes, which the city has promised will be open for business by the end of the year. The excitement has led to a lot of speculation on when in December the lanes are going to open, although I’m starting to hear buzz that they might be open even sooner than that.

Starting last July, food trucks were pushed into private lots for Art Walk. Now they won't be allowed at all during the monthly event. Photo:Apple Guy/Flickr

Last month, tragedy struck during the monthly Art Walk in Downtown Los Angeles when a dangerous driver jumped a curb, crashed into a parking meter and killed a seven week old infant.  The tragedy shocked not just the Downtown and Art Walk communities, but the entire city.  Advocates pointed out that when you have a situation where vehicular traffic is mixed with thirty thousand pedestrians in such a short space as the core of Art Walk, between 3rd and 7th on Spring Street.

Responding the to safety issues highlighted by the crash, Council Members Jan Perry and Jose Huizar appointed a task force to look at safety issues.  Immediately following the crash, Art Walk participants, and some gallery owners, called for the streets to be completely closed off to car traffic during the walk.  However, that option wasn’t seriously considered for this month’s walk.  Instead, the task force focused on removing food trucks from the core of the event in an effort to spread out, and even thin out, the walking crowd.

Yesterday the task force and the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council , already pushed food trucks, already cornered into private lots, out of the core of Art Walk and on to the periphery to the north and south and parallel streets such as Broadway.  The presence of food trucks had nothing to do with the crash that killed the young infant, and if these private lots are used for their original purpose it could make the driver v pedestrian conflict even worse.  However, last month’s tragedy is being used as an excuse to do something many Downtown denizens have wanted for a long time, begin to push back against the festival that temporarily takes over their neighborhood.

This isn’t an art blog, it’s a transportation and street life blog, so let’s avoid debate about the true meaning of Art Walk and focus instead on how to make a major Downtown event work for the people that want to attend, and everyone else.

There are three interests here, and the reason that Art Walk patrons are on the losing end of the debate thus far is that the other two interests are both more entrenched and in this instance are allied. Read more…

My favorite alternative connects the black line running down Broadway to the yellow line snaking through South Central Los Angeles and around the Staples Center. See all the alternatives here.

Tomorrow night, the L.A. Streetcar team and Metro will hold a public meeting to discuss what options will be studied for a new streetcar system for Downtown Los Angeles.  There are seven options on the table, all of them serve a different need, and all of them will bring something new, or rather something old, back to the Downtown.

There’s plenty of information about the project and meeting online.  You can get the meeting details, read a short briefing put together by Metro, or visit the official LA Streetcar homepage and comment on the alternatives.  Last but not least, the streetcar boosters have their own webpage at Go LA Streetcar.

Last week, the mapping blog Big Map Blog, released an old map of the streetcar system from 105 years ago.  The quality of the old streetcar system has become something of an urban legend among transportation reformers.  People talk about the system as though it provided a universal transit system that was unrivaled.

And looking at the map, it’s easy to say why.

Yup, the old streetcars went to Staples Center. You can see a lot more of the 1906 map at The Big Map Blog.

But as impressive as the old streetcars were, it’s time to look forward, at what’s being offered by the current proposals. None of the proposals can replace what used to exist, but each of them brings something new to the table.

Read more…