bike lanes

In October, the day after CicLAvia, I pedaled west from Downtown to the Westside on Exposition Blvd. to test the bike lane that run parallel to Phase I of the Expo Line.  I was surprised by the absolutely terrible state of the road and the impact it had on the quality of the ride.  Less than two months later, the city repaved a lot of the route.  Details of the repaving can be found on the Bureau of Street Services website.  For a chart of what segments of the route were repaved, see the chart at the bottom of this article.

For years, residents surrounding the Slauson Avenue Corridor between La Brea and Angeles Vista have argued that the sad looking street needs an upgrade.  What form that upgrade takes is up to debate, some residents want the street changed to allow more cars to move through the corridor while most others want to see the four lane road improved to allow for a better environment for all users.

Over the break, Josef Bray-Ali, of Bike Oven and Flying Pigeon Bike Shop fame, was bicycling on Venice Boulevard when he noticed something odd.  The bike lanes vanished on the north side of the road well before the usual terminus at Crenshaw Boulevard.  Furious, Bray-Ali took to the Internet to excorciate the city and Mid-Town Crossing mega development for sacrificing the lanes for the wishes of a developer.

The poor Spring Street Green Buffered Bike Lane.  The first "outside the box" bike project in Los Angeles has come under fire from just about everyone for the peeling paint and tire tracks that dominate a portion of the lane.  Even Midnight Ridazz hosts a thread entitled, "Green Lanes Are a Joke," although opinions ont eh lane are mixed.  In order to bring some balance to the story, Streetsblog went out and found some actual riders of the lane to see what they had to say.

One week ago, LADOT and city politicians opened the Spring Street Green Buffered Bike Lane to a flock of media and the appreciative roar of the L.A.'s cycling community.  One week later, cheers have turned to grumbling as the green paint has dissolved in areas, gotten blotchy in others and basially looks like Long Beach's Green Sharrowed Lane after a year of wear and tear from cars and bikes.

Via the LADOT Bike Blog comes a first look at the Spring Street Buffered Bike Lanes planned for Downtown Los Angeles. Having spent some time this weekend on the "bike paths" on 3rd and Broadway in Downtown Long Beach this weekend, I can't tell you what a difference a buffer makes.

The Village at USC, a 5.23 million square foot mixed use development being programmed by the University of Southern California, is back in the news. Yesterday, Blog Downtown examined how the retail plans for the project could impact the Downtown. But the project could also have a major impact on the car parking in the area both in the garages that will be developed and on Jefferson Boulevard.

(I was on the road yesterday and missed the big announcement of L.A.'s first buffered bike lane coming this December.  Streetsblog contributor Brigham Yen caught the news first and announced it on his personal blog at BrighamYen.com - DN)

Law enforcement officers are fond of quoting the popular standard "ignorance of the law excuses no one" when dealing with the public but when faced with an accusation of scofflaw behavior, suddenly ignorance is a solid defense.