New parking-protected bike lanes on Reseda Boulevard. All photos: Joe Linton/Streetsblog L.A.
Yesterday, the city of Los Angeles installed its first ever parking-protected bike lanes. They’re on Reseda Boulevard in Northridge, part of the mayor’s Great Streets Initiative.
As of this morning, the project is roughly one-quarter complete. The new protected lanes, also known as cycletracks, are mostly complete on the west side of Reseda Blvd from Plummer Street to Prairie Street. The full one-mile protected lanes will go from Plummer to Parthenia Street.
The project is expected to be completed by mid-April.
Standard bike lanes put cyclists between parked cars and moving cars. These protected lanes flip the parking and the bike lane, so cyclists are next to the curb, and parked cars and next to moving cars.Nearly every other pole along Reseda Boulevard features this sign explaining the new striping.
A few drivers parked in the nearly-completed bike lane. LADOT bicycle patrol officers were on hand to explain how the new street configuration will work.In the buffer area between the bike lane and parking, there are reflective plastic bollards. Though these may appear substantial, they are designed to collapse if a car hits them. Note the sidewalk cyclist in the back left. This part of Reseda Blvd still sees a lot sidewalk cycling, legal in L.A. Some sidewalk cyclists appeared to be Cal State Northridge students; the campus is a block east.This UPS driver was unloading parcels in the buffer area between the bike lane and the parking. When asked if he liked the new design, he stated that it was uncomfortable for the driver-side door to be so close to moving traffic. This truck (and a couple other vehicles parked briefly) left his lights blinking, though he was parked legally.The protected bike lane is currently on the west side of Reseda for two long blocks south of Plummer Street. It will be extended to Parthenia Street in the next couple weeks.
See these earlierarticles for more details about the project.
