Nov 03 '09 - 850 W, 2 I - Vote Good + 5 :: Bad - 6 C.I.C.L.E. Urges Key Leaders to Support a Better Bike Plan
Published November 3, 2009 by C.I.C.L.E.
By Joe Linton :: Photo Credit: Streetsblog.org
We at C.I.C.L.E. are getting worried about Los Angeles' Bike Plan. For those of you who haven't heard, the city is in the middle of a big update of its bike plan - the first update in over a decade. The city hired one of the best firms in the nation for bike planning. They released draft maps in May, and a 500+ page draft plan in September. They've been hosting a series of public workshops for plan input, with the final workshop coming up tomorrow night November 4th in Northeast L.A.
While there are some things we like in the new plan - for example, a whole network of Bike Friendly Streets (quieter residential streets that can become Bicycle Boulevards) - we're seeing the overall update process as a train wreck in the making. The new update is non-committal, full of errors, and plans a very significant downgrading of already approved on-street bike lanes. For an overall analysis of the plan, process and draft, readers can start with this summary from L.A. Streetsblog.
We've expressed concerns to Planning and Transportation staff, but it doesn't seem like they're empowered to make the changes needed to make this plan a success. So we decided to express our concerns to folks who are empowered to improve the plan. We think that there's a broad consensus among elected officials, department heads, bicyclists, environmentalists, business leaders, neighborhood leaders and others that we should be making our city more bike-friendly. We're appealing to the mayor, the chairs of applicable city council committees, and the general managers of city Planning and Transportation departments. We're asking for them to use their power and their leadership to craft a bike plan that's truly a step forward.
Here's the letter we mailed to these leaders. We'll let you know how they respond. We encourage Angelenos to write their mayor and councilmembers to let them know how important this plan is to us.
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October 29, 2009
Honorable Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
200 N. Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Honorable Councilmember Bill Rosendahl
Chair, Transportation Committee
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 415
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Honorable Councilmember Ed Reyes
Chair, Planning and Land Use Management Committee
200 N. Spring Street, Rm 410
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Rita Robinson
General Manager, Department of Transportation
100 S. Main St., 10th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Gail Goldberg, AICP
General Manager, Department of City Planning
200 N. Spring Street, Room 525 CH
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Regarding: Bicycle Plan Update
We write to express our alarm at the city's proposed draft Bicycle Plan. We urge you to intervene in the process to craft a bike plan that advances the vision that we all share of an environmentally-friendly Los Angeles where bicycling is becoming safer and more convenient.
The bike plan update, as currently drafted, is a step in the wrong direction. The draft (p.41) states that it contains a net loss of 57 miles of designated bike lanes. Compared to the city's 1996 bike plan, more than 175 miles of designated bike lane streets have been downgraded or omitted. The plan language is frustratingly non-committal; one example of this is that in past plans, bike lanes were "designated" whereas in the current plan they are, at best, "proposed."
Since the draft bike plan documents were released on-line in September, the online documents have been updated, with no notice nor any documentation of what changes have been made. The draft plan has become a moving target. These mid-stream changes (even to correct errors) are damaging to the public trust. At a minimum, any post-release changes should be noticed, documented and prior versions should remain on-line.
Given the content and the process, the current draft plan is receiving a great deal of criticism from bicyclists. Many leaders in Los Angeles bicycle advocacy are urging that the current draft be scrapped, and started over. We at C.I.C.L.E. don't favor this scenario, given that it means a waste of the city's investment in the current update, and a long setback. We hope that the best of the current draft can be added to the already-approved 1996 plan to yield a bike plan that at least moves us forward.
We urge you to use your leadership to ensure that the current bike plan update moves our city in a positive direction.
Sincerely,
Liz Elliott Shay Sanchez Joe Linton
Executive Director Programs Director Campaigns Director
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I think a couple of letter writing salons across town would be a great way to bring this to the attention of these folks in a big way. No copy-and-paste stuff however – we need real letters from people. Maybe tonight, at the Bike Oven, we’ll have time to have everyone write a quick letter to our elected officials about the problems with the Bike Plan – and that it should be either heavily amended, be made more forceful and go through a full EIR, or be scrapped and started over.
ubrayj02 (Email) (URL) - November 04 '09 - 11:27