A late start to the week won't prevent this week from being a major week for cyclists around Los Angeles County. However, the highlight of the week could be the "town hall meeting" being held by Senator Barbara Boxer and Secretary Ray LaHood on the re-authorization of the federal transportation trust fund downtown this Friday. In addition to the normal weekend madness, there are two fun and educational ways to let your hair down.
Wednesday -The Los Angeles County Bicycle Advisory Committee will meet to discuss the county's upcoming Bike Master Plan. The main agenda item is a review of their public outreach materials and outreach plan. The meeting will begin at 7:00 P.M. in Metro Headquarters. For more information, click here.
Thursday -The Bike Working Group for the Arroyo Seco project will meet to discuss the status of the bike trail associated with the project. Streetsblog has provided some coverage of this project in the Spring of last year. For more information on this meeting, held at the River Center, click here.
Friday -Metro is hosting what is basically an all-day "Town Hall Meeting" with Boxer and LaHood to discuss the upcoming reauthorization bill. Will it be a wonk fest? Will they give a time line for when we can expect re-authorization? We'll find out from 9:30 A.M. to 3:45 P.M. at Metro Headquarters. For more information, read the Streetsblog preview, here.
Friday - When he was the Caltrans District 7 Director, Doug Failing was known for having some sympathy for cyclists and held his own Bicycling Advisory Group which was somewhat more friendly to the general public than the city's. Now that he's running the highway division at Metro, he's re-committing to the cycling process by holding a "bike roundtable" at 2:00 P.M. For more information on the meeting location and agenda, click here.
Saturday -C.I.C.L.E.'s monthly urban expeditions ride tours the L.A. River. My wife and I did a similar ride with CICLE last year, and it was great. Joe Linton, author of the blog Creek Freak and the book Down by the L.A. River, leads the group. Departs at 12:30 at L.A. River Center Street: 570 W. Avenue 26. For more information, check out the calendar posting at Creek Freak.
Sunday - Since the Gold Line Eastside Extension has opened, Metro Planner and Latino Urban Forum leader James Rojas has taken advantage of light rail's entrance to East L.A. to host several educational and "experational" tours. This week's tour, "Exploring the Enacted Environment of East L.A." begins at 1:00 P.M. For more information, contact James at jamesrojas@alum.mit.edu or call 626 437-4446.
