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Some Recent L.A. City Bikeway Improvements

1:53 PM PDT on August 4, 2021

Newly protected bike lanes on Manchester Avenue. All photos by Joe Linton/Streetsblog L.A.

Streetsblog is working to compile our annual post analyzing L.A. City's new and upgraded bikeways. SBLA is still confirming overall figures, but it appears that the city Transportation Department's (LADOT) bikeway recent output is fairly similar to the prior year: several quality facilities, quite a bit of minimal upgrades (mainly adding new buffers to existing bike lanes), some missed opportunities, and overall new mileage still way below the annual quantities seen under prior Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's mandate.

SBLA has previously reported on several worthwhile new bike facilities that LADOT installed during FY20-21:

Readers can expect the full FY20-21 detailed post within the next two weeks. Below is a preview of a few of LADOT's new and upgraded facilities that SBLA had not covered earlier.

New bike lanes
Foothill Boulevard's new protected bike lanes extend across the historic Big Tujunga Wash bridge made famous in the movie Chinatown

In Lakeview Terrace, LADOT installed 1.5 miles of new protected bike lane on Foothill Boulevard. These extend the existing Foothill bike lanes - east of Wentworth Avenue - all the way to Wheatland Avenue. These lanes are part of a suite of Foothill Blvd Traffic Safety Improvements shepherded by City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez in response to a tragic October 2020 hit-and-run car crash where a driver killed two horses and seriously injured the people riding them.

Near LAX - and nearly under Metro's under-construction Crenshaw Line - Manchester Avenue received a significant upgrade, with existing bike lanes upgraded to protected bike lanes - between Truxton and Osage Avenues. (Photo at top of post)

Newly protected bike lanes on Winnetka xx
Newly protected bike lanes on Winnetka Avenue

In the Northeast Valley (where one Valley leader tweeted yesterday "No one is riding a bike"), LADOT upgraded existing Winnetka Avenue conventional bike lanes to protected ones. These extend the existing Winnetka protected bike lanes south from Lassen Street to Plummer Street.

New buffer added to existing MLK Boulevard bike lanes in South L.A.
New buffer added to existing MLK Boulevard bike lanes in South L.A.

It's not all protected bike lanes out there, though. Among the year's minor upgrades, in South L.A., LADOT added a new buffer to a few blocks of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard's existing bike lanes - between Buckingham Road and Marlton Avenue - just west of the lately-contested Crenshaw Plaza mall. Adding a buffer is just a tiny step in the right direction, but does not extend the city's inadequate bikeway network.

Lastly, below is a challenge for readers.

There's a new stretch of L.A. City bikeway with this new right-turn only signage, which Streetsblog believes is unique among the city's bikeways:

Can anyone identify where this new bikeway right turn signage is located?
Can anyone identify where this new bikeway right turn sign is located?

Readers - can you identify where the new mystery sign is located? Put your answer in the comments below.

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