San Gabriel Valley Home to a Vibrant Cycling Scene, But Few Complete Streets

Located east of Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Valley is home to over 30 cities and 2 million persons.  A strong recreational cycling scene exists in the region, particularly in the northwest and foothill communities where large, long-standing group rides like the seasonal Rose Bowl ride have been a fixture for decades.

Cycling infrastructure, however, remains scarce, varying widely from city to city.  A few communities like Pasadena have a history of bike planning and advocacy, but still have a long way to go when compared with cities like Long Beach; others such as Temple City have just developed their first Bike Master Plan and hope to tap into state/federal funding to realize more complete streets.  The majority, though, has neither invested in nor seriously considered infrastructure that promotes cycling as a viable form of alternative transportation.

Predictably, the result is that most streets in the west San Gabriel Valley – especially regionally significant arterials such as Huntington, Las Tunas/Main, Garvey, Valley, Rosemead, and Atlantic – are traversed on two wheels by only the most intrepid cyclists.  Often traffic-clogged and expressly designed for motorized traffic, too many of the streets that serve our area’s commercial districts are hostile to community members who might otherwise be open to using a bike to venture into town.

Since these corridors cut across numerous cities, improving the situation regionally will be difficult.  A whole host of interests must be coordinated to create a cohesive network of bike infrastructure.  This daunting task is further complicated by the distinct politics of each community.

After coalescing in the Spring of 2010, the West San Gabriel Valley Bike Coalition approached the Cities of Monterey Park, San Gabriel, and Alhambra to pass resolutions for the first time officially declaring May as Bike Month.  While the resolutions were largely symbolic, that initial effort led to meetings with City officials regarding manners of improving bike/pedestrian mobility in these communities.

Now an official chapter of the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition, the West San Gabriel Valley Bike Coalition seeks to bring Complete Streets to the western half of the region by focusing on the communities where our founding members stem from, including the cities of Monterey Park, Alhambra, San Gabriel, Arcadia, Rosemead, El Monte, Temple City, South Pasadena and Pasadena.  At present, our coalition consists of a small but growing cadre of cyclists and supporters of Complete Street policies.  Our members hail from all walks of life, levels of cycling experience and backgrounds.

If you live/ride in the west San Gabriel Valley, or would just like to support the WSGVBC’s efforts, please email us at wsgvbc at gmail.com or join our listserve (wsgvbc at googlegroups.com)