Bicycling

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

A recent article in the newsletter for the Cheviot Hills Homeowners Association provides an amazing example of how two people's viewpoints, and rhetoric, can present two different stories. When I first read the article from CHHA, I actually didn't recognize that it was coverage of the same story I wrote back in September of 2010.

Cyclists riding South on Main Street in Santa Monica are "welcomed" to the City of Los Angeles by a bike lane that disappears at the city border.  For no other reason than switching sides of a political boundary, cyclists who were riding in a bike lane in Santa Monica are moved in to the rest of traffic in Los Angeles.  And, the two-lane Main Street doubles to a four-lane one as well.  Welcome to Los Angeles!

If you live in the Venice area and want to learn more about the project to make Main Street from Navy to Windward Circle, please attend the Venice Neighborhood Council Meeting this coming Tuesday. LADOT and Councilmember Rosendahl's staff will be on hand to present on this project. LACBC will also be there to offer support for the project and talk about the community benefits.

View 2011 Metro Call for Projects - Bikeways in a larger map Google Map of Bikeways projects put together by Bikeside's Daniel Rodman

2011 is looking to be a great year for Greater Los Angeles' do-it-yourself-do-it-together bike wrenching spaces. The Valley Bikery is moving into their new space at 14416 Victory Boulevard; that's Victory at Van Nuys Boulevard. The Bikery has their grand opening party coming up on Saturday January 29th.

We've spent a lot of blog space questioning the value of the mammoth I-405 Widening Project, but the project has brought some good news to cyclists on the Westside.  Via twitter, Rach Stevenson announced that the southbound bike lane on Ohio Boulevard by the V.A.'s office has been restriped and moved out of the gutter.  Before this welcome change, Biking In L.A. referred to this bike lane as "the worst bike lane on the Westside."

The LAPD/Cyclists Task Force has released a "Bike Theft Alert" to encourage and educate cyclists on the many ways to best secure your bicycle.  There are a few nitpicks I have with the two page flyer,  I think Streetfilms' bike locking expert would have kittens at the thought of someone locking their bike with just a U-Lock, but as cycling becomes more and more common we're going to continue to see bike theft become a larger and larger problem.  It's good to see the LAPD taking an active interest in preventing bike thefts instead of just dealing with the issue after the fact.  And it's double good to see them working with the community to put out the best flyer that's possible.