Bicycling

Earlier today, AEG announced the completion of the first draft of environmental documents for Farmers Field, the proposed football stadium for Downtown Los Angeles.  The document, available on City Planning's website, is a mammoth 10,000 pages and the ceremonial handing over of the documents to the city at today's event involved 13 overflowing three ring binders.

Although a few state parks will close on July 1, Shuntain Thomas, the Real Rydaz, and We Are Responsible People (WARP) want you to know that the streets of South Los Angeles will be open for riding.

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."

A new series of D.I.Y. signage is popping up around the Westside.  The new "except bikes" signs remind road users that the street side parking restrictions don't apply to sidewalk parking for cyclists.  It's not just a thumb in the eyes to drivers, but a reminder that if you choose to leave the car at home, the Westside's notorious "parking problems" all of a sudden don't seem so pressing.

On Thursday, March 1, 2012, the LAPD Central Traffic Division deployed eight motorcycle officers to Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) in what was called a “Bike Lane Sting.”  The LAPD's mission was to educate and issue traffic citations to motorist, cyclist and pedestrians whose actions infringed on the rules of the road.   The focus was on bike lanes violations.  The task force deployed along both the green striped bike lane on Spring Street and soon to be striped Main Street.

Join us from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Watts to celebrate the launch of Streetsblog in South L.A.!

Lately it seems like every week in Santa Monica there is something new happening that makes it easier and more pleasant to get around without a car. New sharrows there, a new bike lane here, bike racks popping up at shops all over town. New pedestrian oriented mixed use developments are going in several at a time along the future Expo Line corridor and revamped Big Blue Bus shelters are waiting in the wings.

FOUR BOYS WITH BIKES between the ages of 9 and 13 stand in a yard along Hooper St. in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood, looking warily at me as I pull up on my bike. Victor, a solid kid with a swipe of grease across his cheek, tightens his grip on a wrench as the others glance nervously at each other. Strangers tend not to show up in people's yards asking questions very often around here, and these kids are clearly not sure what to make of the situation.

Following last week's controversy about whether or not film crews can block bike lanes, specifically the green buffered bike lane in Downtown Los Angeles, you would think the film industry would have paid enough attention to try to actually follow the law.  You would be wrong.