Confirming the findings of a San Francisco study, this motorcyclist respects the Sharrowed Lane even without a cyclist present.One month ahead of the schedule communicated to guest writer Joe Linton, Sharrows have appeared on the main streets of the1.7 square mile city of Hermosa Beach. The Sharrows were a major part of the city's Bikeways Master Plan, but amazingly that didn't stop them from actually putting the Sharrows on the ground.
After his article last month, cyclists in Hermosa Beach kept in touch with Linton and it's really encouraging to read their excitement in the emails he forwarded me. They say things, without prompting from me, such as:
Please make sure all the credit goes to Julian Katz, Hermosa Beach
Commission who has been the father of this effort. Additional props
goes to the Hermosa Beach City Council for having the vision to show
leadership.
In short, they're proud, not scared, of their bike plan and implementation. They don't say things such as:
We have concerns that when wet, the paint would be slippery and would be a hazard to cyclists and drivers.
Speaking of the LADOT's efforts to stall on placing Sharrows on city streets attempts to work with SCAG to create a pilot program for the City of Los Angeles, Linton also reports that the City and SCAG have yet to agree on a contract. Once that contract is signed, it will take a couple of months before anything actually happens on city streets. In the time since the LADOT agreed to push forward with a pilot project, the Cities of Long Beach and Hermosa Beach have designed, explained, funded and implemented programs on their local streets.
