The Valley

Yesterday, the LADOT Bike Blog announced two new bike lane projects that were completed in the Valley this weekend.

This past weekend, the city of Los Angeles striped two additional miles of bike lanes on Reseda Boulevard. The new 2-mile stretch of lane, reported in-progress here last week, extends from Devonshire Street to Parthenia Street. This stretch is nearly complete with lines fully striped, bike symbols added, but directional arrows missing and hopefully coming soon. It's great to see relatively rapid progress on this formerly-controversial project.

This past weekend, city of Los Angeles work crews were out scraping and putting down preliminary bike lane striping on Reseda Boulevard. The final thermoplastic striping isn't there yet, but the preliminary lines are down. The lanes extend from Devonshire Street to Parthenia Street - a total of 2 miles. Streetsblog readers will recall that these lanes were approved in 1996, but remained unimplemented until bicyclists caught city staff lying about planned peak-hour parking lanes, which would have precluded the approved bike lanes.

This weekend wasn't just a good one for cyclists.  On Saturday, while I was still sleeping off Critical Mass, groundbreaking occurred for the Gold Line Foothill Extension in the San Gabriel Valley.  The rail line was always a popular project with Valley residents, but until Measure R was passed, a measure opposed by several prominent politicians in the area, funding for the project was not approved.  Now, with cash in hand and shovels in the ground, officials are predicting the extension will open in 2014, before the Expo Line will be completed all the way in to Santa Monica. 

On March 24, the City Council Transportation Committee, partially at the urging of Councilman Paul Krekorian, tabled three proposals to increase speed limits for three streets in the San Ferndando Valley.  The increases for Arleta Avenue, Sheldon Street and Hollywood Way were previously discussed in this Streetsblog article.  There's nothing new to report on these proposals, they're the same as they were three months ago, another limit proposal has found its way onto the Council agenda for this Wednesday's meeting.  This proposal would set the speed limit for Hatteras Street., between Hazeltine and Sepulveda, at thirty miles per hour.

Yesterday, the city of L.A. Department of Transportation (LADOT) made good on their pledge to stripe the first new mile of Reseda Boulevard bike lanes. The lanes were approved in 1996, but languished for various reasons detailed earlier, until bicyclists and community members rallied. It's one mile of a five mile gap closure.

New bike lanes are in use on Reseda Boulevard. L.A. StreetsBlog readers will remember that these lanes were approved in the city of Los Angeles' 1996 bike plan, but weren't implemented due to conflicting Department of Transportation (LADOT) plans for additional peak-hour car lanes. When the peak-hour lanes plan faced opposition, LADOT pledged to implement a mile of bike lanes on Reseda Blvd from Devonshire Street to San Fernando Mission Road.

At last night's meeting of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council (NENC,) the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) announced their plans to install nearly a mile of new bike lanes on Reseda Boulevard in September 2009. The announcement was made by LADOT's Principal Transportation Engineer for Valley Traffic Operations, Alan Willis. The new bikeway will extend from Devonshire Street to San Fernando Mission Road.

(Update: the LADOT responded just before "closing time" today.  Here is their official response: The information provided yesterday is accurate and still stands: the Department has no current plans to remove any portion of the bike lane or to install peak hour lanes on Reseda Boulevard.