Long Beach

You have one last chance to hear the presentation and ask questions or provide feedback directly, Tonight, Wednesday 3/23/2011, start at 6:00 PM in the Mark Twain Library, 1401 E. Anaheim, Long Beach

As unlikely as it may seem, the City of Long Beach has taken significant steps this week to making the above rendering a reality - or at least having it redone by a much more expensive design team. Last week, the Long Beach City Council succeeded in convincing the port to commit to building a bike/pedestrian pathway on its proposed replacement for the Gerald Desmond Bridge.

And now for a quick photographic update from the one bicycle project you've all been waiting to hear about: Long Beach's new bike boulevard on Vista Street. There have been a few hangups along the way; additional money needed to be allocated to remove unwanted concrete from under the street, and apparently the painters had difficulty spelling "yield". Nonetheless, the project appears to be progressing nicely, with construction of a new stop light at Redondo scheduled for next month - providing there aren't any more typos.

On Monday, the Passenger Rail Symposium kicked off with an impressive display of train technology, most of it being used in Europe. But the problem of how to effectively implement train stations, European or otherwise, remains. Fortunately, Tuesday's speakers had plenty to say on the matter, both describing successful stations elsewhere or the prospects for better ones here.

Michael Wolfgang Bauch is a Long Beach based filmmaker, videographer, kayaker, and avid cyclist. He recently talked with Streetsblog over the phone about his latest full-length documentary, Riding Bikes With The Dutch. The film premieres this Sunday, May 9 at the Art Theatre in Long Beach at 5 PM, as part of the Long Beach Bike Festival.

The League of American Bicyclists is something of an oddity in Washington DC. While most other organizations advocate for strip mining, carcinogens, and other unpleasantries, the LAB argues for something which will actually improve people's lives. And while they have sadly spent most of their 130 year history in the shadow of auto, highway, and petroleum lobbies, they seem to be making something of a comeback lately, winning allies in congress as well as the support of Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood.

Last month, when Clarence Eckerson was in town for the Street Summit, he asked me what Streetfilm he ought to shoot besides his coverage of Janette Sadik-Khan's speech and the Summit itself.  For me, the answer was simple.  Long Beach.