bike lanes

Eyes on the Street: City of Artesia Bikeways

Artesia is not some kind of bike paradise (yet), but the city is already surpassing its surrounding neighbors with new bike lanes, green pavement treatments, a new bike path, and more on the way

By Joe Linton

2:32 PM PST on November 27, 2023

Eyes on the Street: City of Artesia Bikeways

Green bike lane on 166th Street. Photos by Joe Linton/Streetsblog

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Streetsblog recently visited the southeast L.A. County city of Artesia, which has been quietly making strides toward becoming a more bike-friendly place.

Artesia is about 1.6 square miles, with about 16,000 residents. It’s a very diverse place, with a Little India district thriving alongside multi-ethnic Asian/Latino/Black/white neighborhoods. Artesia is the planned terminus for the future (and soon-to-be-renamed) Metro West Santa Ana Branch rail line. It is located in the Gateway Cities sub-region, much of which is relatively car-centric.

Artesia is not some kind of bike paradise (yet), but the city is already surpassing its surrounding neighbors with new bike lanes, green pavement treatments, a new bike path, and more on the way.

Artesia Active Transportation Plan map of existing and proposed bikeways – see full plan

The city adopted the Artesia Active Transportation Plan in early 2022. The plan identifies 17 priority bikeway projects in the city.

About a month ago, Artesia opened new bright green bike lanes on 166th Street between Pioneer and Norwalk Boulevards. The half-mile long resurfacing project spans three cities: Artesia, Norwalk and Cerritos. The project included a road diet, which the city’s staff report recommended for improving safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and people in vehicles.

New bright green road diet bike lanes on the south side of 166th Street in the city of Artesia

🚴‍♂️ Big news for our cycling community! We are rolling out changes on 166th Street with new bike lanes today! Please remember to drive carefully around the construction area. #166thStreetImprovement pic.twitter.com/Bff23UTGsA
— City of Artesia (@OfficialArtesia) October 19, 2023

New conventional bike lanes on the north side of 166th Street in the city of Norwalk

Artesia is responsible the south side of 166th. The city opted to go a bit further than Norwalk by adding bright green pavement. Artesia already had installed green paint on its Norwalk Boulevard bike lanes.

Artesia is also building its Historical District Recreational Trail along the West Santa Ana Branch rail right-of-way. The walk/bike path is open, but the city is still finishing installing landscaping and irrigation.

The city of Artesia’s nearly completed Historical District Recreational Trail runs diagonally from 183rd Street/Gridley Road to 187th Street/Corby Avenue

The Artesia bike/walk path is open to the public, but the city is finishing installing landscaping and irrigation

The new Artesia walk/bike path is located in the West Santa Ana Branch rail right-of-way, where Metro is planning a new rail line. The city of Bellflower also has a similar rail-trail. Maybe these can serve as examples for rail-with-trail along all of the new Metro line?

Joe Linton

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