Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia (center) and Vice Mayor Rex Richardson (left, white shirt) tour the new Artesia Blvd protected bike lanes. Photos: Joe Linton/Streetsblog L.A.Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia (center) and Vice Mayor Rex Richardson (left) tour the new Artesia Blvd protected bike lanes. Photos: Joe Linton/Streetsblog L.A.
Long Beach celebrated its newest protected bike lane facility this morning. The Artesia Boulevard bike lanes extend half a mile from Atlantic Boulevard to Orange Avenue. The lanes are parking-protected, and feature green plastic reflective bollards, rubber curbs, and intermittent green pavement markings.
The majority of the new lanes are parking-protected, meaning that cyclists ride between parked cars and the sidewalk. The parked cars act as a buffer, protecting cyclists from car traffic. At approaches to intersections and at bus stops, the protection drops and there is a merge zone marked with dashed green pavement. (Not dropping the protection would require relatively expensive bikeway signals, similar to Long Beach's Broadway/Third couplet.)
Example of unprotected merge zone at bus stops on Artesia Blvd protected bike lanesExample of unprotected merge zone at bus stops on Artesia Blvd protected bike lanes
This morning's festivities were attended by a crowd of about 50, including city officials, city staff, locals, and bicyclists. Vice Mayor Rex Richardson and Mayor Robert Garcia were on hand to praise the new facility, cut the ribbon, and take an introductory spin.
Long Beach Mayor Garcia and Vice Mayor Richardson cut the ribbon on the Artesia protected bike lanesGarcia and Richardson cut the ribbon on the Artesia protected bike lanes
Long Beach aspires to be the most bicycle-friendly city in the United States. In 2011, Long Beach installed the first protected bike lanes in Southern California. The Artesia lanes mark an important expansion of Long Beach's bicycling facilities. Though the city has bike facilities in various parts of the city, for the most part, Long Beach has concentrated facilities (and bike-share) in denser neighborhoods along the coast, especially downtown. The Artesia lanes are in North Long Beach or Uptown, a relatively population-dense neighborhood about as far from the coast as one can get in Long Beach. They will serve students bicycling to the nearby Jordan High School.
Long Beach is planning to extend protected bike lanes for the entire length of Artesia Blvd, from the city limit with Compton to the city limit with Bellflower. This first stretch was accelerated in conjunction with a Long Beach Gas and Oil utility pipeline project that meant the street was already being resurfaced.
More photos of the Artesia lanes and their celebration after the jump.
Long Beach Vice Mayor Rex Richardson pedals the Artesia Blvd protected lanesxxx
Vice Mayor Richardson praised the new lanes as part of Long Beach's Uptown Renaissancexxx
The Artesia Blvd protected bike lanes include temporary signage directing drivers where to parkParking protected bike lane on Artesia Boulevard in the city of Long Beach. Long Beach due to receive funding for a similar facility on Pacific Avenue. Photo by Joe Linton/Streetsblog L.A.
The portion of Artesia Blvd west of Atlantic Blvd has "candlestick" bollard protection installed earlier this yearxxx
New concepts for rapid bus service across the 626 have ironed out the questions of where an East-West route would run and where demonstrations could begin.
Metro and Caltrans eastbound 91 Freeway widening is especially alarming as it will increase tailpipe pollution in an already diesel-pollution-burdened community that is 69 percent Latino, and 28 percent Black