At the request of the City Council, the city was hard at work last night making Spring Street in Downtown Los Angeles a less safe and attractive place to be by removing the green paint in the city's first green buffered bike lane.
The buffered bike lane will remain, with the city testing a new, unproven design. The dangerousification of Spring Street was ordered by the Film and Television Industry who made a bunch of stuff up through their Council Members Tom LaBonge and Eric Garcetti. The City Council eventually approved a compromise plan with the new, unproven, design.
Council Member Jose Huizar, who represents the Spring Street Corridor where the green buffered bike lane is/was, fought hard to keep the lane. Trying to paint a happy face on the new green design, Huizar noted that it was 25% as expensive as a traditional green lane. No word on when the new "Garcetti Lanes" will be painted on Spring Street.
The city has yet to announce where the other three green bike lanes will be painted with all of the money it has saved.
Oh, by the way, the Spring Street Green Buffered Bike Lane was shown to encourage more cycling, encourage more use of the bike lane, improve the local economy and make the street safer than a regular bike lane. It was supported by the local neighborhood council, businesses, residents, bicyclists, safe street advocates and everyone that wasn't affiliated with the Film and Television Industry. Now we'll get the chance to see if the success was due to the green or the buffer.
