Long Beach

The city of Long Beach is Southern California's undisputed leader in innovative infrastructure for safe and convenient bicycling.  They're at it again this Saturday, April 23rd 2011, when they unveil the first genuine protected bike lanes west of New York City.

(Update 12:34 - Just received word this event was postponed because of the threat of rain.  We'll let you know when it's rescheduled - DN)

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.