LADOT

One of the major obstacles to building a truly bike friendly city isn't in the engineering and design of a street, it's in the enforcement and respect given to all modes of travel. In the above picture, a truck is blocking the new bicycle lane on Sepulveda Boulevard. Sadly, this not an unusual occurrence in this part of the 1.2 miles of bike lanes.

In April, a pair of North-South bike lanes appeared on 1.2 miles of Sepulveda Boulevard, providing a crucial connection from National Boulevard to the Venice Boulevard bike lanes. The new bike route actually spans two City Council Districts, the 11th District represented by Bill Rosendahl and the 5th District represented by Paul Koretz.

(Not sure what the My Figueroa project is?  Check out this story from last year?)

Over the weekend, Bike Commute News' Joe Anthony snapped this picture of brand new bike detectors for intersections on 4th Street between Mid-Town and Downtown Los Angeles. 4th Street has long been an important corridor for cyclists seeking to access Downtown Los Angeles from points west, but local opposition has stalled some of the more progressive treatments LADOT planned for the road. While negotiations between activists, LADOT and neighborhood groups continue, some features continue to be brought to the "4th Street Bike Boulevard."

This past Tuesday, early in the afternoon, 11-year-old twin sisters Sydney and Alexis left Walter Reed Middle School and began to walk home, a trip that ended at Colfax Avenue and Moorpark Street when they were hit by a car as they attempted to cross the street.

Two weeks ago, while researching a story on LAPD "bike lane stings" for Streetsblog, Carlos Morales came upon a television film crew blocking a bike lane.  When Streetsblog posted pictures and commentary, some readers were angry at the crew for "Ringer" and others were annoyed that Streetsblog was wasteing time writing about something that "real Angelenos" have learned to accept.