Sharrows

Last month, when the City of Los Angeles finally began placing Sharrows on the streets of L.A., there were a chorus of cheers from the biking community.  The Los Angeles County Bike Coalition has fought hard, for years, for these Shared Lane Markings to be placed on the streets tweeted the news immediately and cyclists throughout the city celebrated.  But almost as quickly, complaints about the program began surfacing.  First at the blog Soap Box, written by activist Stephen Box, and then other places.  The charge?  That by placing the Sharrows a consistent 12 feet from the curb, instead of placing the Sharrows an equi-distance from the center-line, that the Sharrows are mis-placed and perhaps more dangerous than helpful.

In what has to be a double victory for the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition, reports are coming in that Sharrows are appearing on 4th Street in the Mid-Wilshire and Koreatown areas.  The LACBC hasn't just been the leader in pushing for Sharrows on the street, but also in turning 4th Street, a popular bike route, into something resembling the Bike Boulevards of Portland and Berkeley.

(An early version of this post listed the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition as in partnership with the government groups.  That relationship has been clarified below. - DN)

When I first heard of the signs that popped up all over Los Angeles two nights ago urging drivers to pass cyclists with care, my first thoughts were that L.A.'s D.I.Y. culture has reached a tipping point.  Not only have advocates learned that the LADOT and other city departments are unwilling to sacrifice car capacity to cyclist or pedestrian safety, but now they've learned that because of the city's fiscal woes, the city is unable to do anything about other people taking matters into their own hands.

The Sharrows Pilot Project has been an ongoing campaign for LACBC, nearly five years running now, as we jumped hurdle after hurdle working to clear the pilot through the LADOT. Last year City Council President Eric Garcetti championed the issue and the idea began to take off. Now in 2010 we will finally see Los Angeles city streets catch up to other surrounding cities and start implementing sharrows to help create safer and more bike- friendly streets.

Yesterday, I finally had the time to take my wounded Flying Pigeon Bucket Bike back to its nest to get repaired and retrofitted for baby carrying.  As you might expect, Josef "ubrayj02" Bray-Ali was fantastic, the bike is great, and baby has already had his first fun, and safe, bike ride.  You can view a couple of pictures of us here.  But, this is not our story.

Yesterday, the City Council Transportation Committee met to discuss, once again, what the heck is taking so long to bring a Sharrows program to Los Angeles.  For over two years, the program has been a top priority for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, and funding has been in place for a pilot program for over six months.  Conversely, the above painted-lane Sharrows program in Long Beach took four months to move from Mobility Coordinator Charles Gandy's head to the street.

Hermosa Beach and N.E.L.A. aren't the only parts of Los Angeles County to recently see Sharrows installed on their streets.  Don't worry Glendale residents, these Sharrows were put down by the city so they won't be removed within two months.

Last Friday, the city's D.I.Y. Department was hard at work in East Los Angeles installing Sharrows on several city streets.  There was an unofficial count of sixteen painted Sharrows on the street.  Oddly, they seem to be centered in the area surrounding the Bike Oven in NELA's bike district.