Gil Cedillo’s Bike Lane Meeting 2014

The most hardcore cyclist on Figueroa: Every weekday, this Cypress Park mother of two, shuttles her children up and down Figueroa via bicycle between The Riordan Childcare Center and Arroyo Seco Museum Magnet School.

 

THURSDAY, MAY 8TH, 2014 6-8PM,

The Honorable, Gilbert Cedillo, Los Angeles Councilmember for District 1 is hosting a Community Meeting on Bike Lanes for North Figueroa at Nightingale Middle School.

As we recall, just last year there were several of these North Figueroa Bike Lane meetings with presentations by Los Angeles Department of Transportation, Los Angeles City Planning, and the neighborhood councils along north Figueroa. But that was last year. (When the bike lanes and road diet were supposed to be installed.)  Since then, Mr. Cedillo was elected as Councilmember to Council District 1, where North Figueroa languishes. As soon as Mr. Cedillo took office in July, he put the brakes on this approved project for Figueroa. Months passed without the slightest hint of action on the North Figueroa project. It has taken phone calls, petitions, emails, protest rides, and arm tugging to get his attention on this matter. He may have hoped we would go away, but we haven’t. So this May 8th we get a Community Bike Lane Meeting.

This is progress, but it’s not. According to Mr. Cedillo’s invitation, the LADOT presentation reduces the road diet and bike lanes length and proposes new (not in the 2010 Bike Plan) compromises.

First and foremost, the new proposal takes the North Figueroa bike lanes from Ave 22 to Ave 52 instead of York Blvd as planned last year, creating a one mile gap between the rest of the Northeast Los Angeles bicycle lane network. Also being presented from Mr. Cedillo’s office are no road diet alternatives that places Bike Sharrows on SIDE STREETS  such as Sycamore Terrace, Avenue 50 and Monte Vista instead of Figueroa. Make no mistake, this “Alternative” is an attempt to marginalize cyclists and pedestrians as much as possible and maintain the dangerous road conditions on Figueroa.

What’s more, is that this is called a Bike Lane Meeting, when it really should be called a “Road Diet Meeting.” Because, that is the ultimately the most important issue. It just so happens that this road diet is being achieved by installing bike lanes. It is important to stress that it is not just about giving cyclists a dedicated space to ride on Figueroa, it is about making Figueroa SAFER for ALL road users. It is about bringing North Figueroa up to 21st Century standards, it about matching the successful road improvements seen in more affluent parts of our city, it is about protecting the public, saving lives, improving property values, and bringing prosperity to the businesses of North Figueroa.

For all intents and purposes, Thursday’s meeting looks like just another bureaucratic hoop to jump through, only to be ignored again. However, it may turn out in our favor, ending with a triumphant proclamation by Cedillo, deciding to move ahead with the 2010 Bike Plan much like Jose Huizar did last year at the Colorado Blvd Bike Lane meeting. At this point, we don’t know. But we do know that we will not be going away. We will continue to press for positive change and safety improvements on North Figueroa for All.

Bike Lane Community Meeting
Thursday, May 8th, 2014 6pm-8pm.
Nightingale Middle School Cafeteria
3311 North Figueroa Street, Cypress Park 90065
Indoor Bike Parking
Metro Bus Lines 81, 84.

RSVP with the District Office at (323)550-1538 or go to: http://goo.gl/zsaZF9

 

 

 

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Happy Holidays From Fig4All

The weather was warm on the first day of December. By One O’Clock in the afternoon it was a bright and sunny 81° on North Figueroa. The street was unusually quiet, the normal rumble of motor traffic had been replaced by the sound of drums, marching bands, trumpets, announcers, kazoos, circuit-bent electronic toys, amplified holiday music, cheering and bike bells, all curtesy of the 69th Annual Northeast Los Angeles Parade.

Santa road a Nihola bike, Aktive from MOM Ridaz gave rides to Mount Washington moms in Flying Pigeon LA’s pedicab, Charlie did bicycle parkour, the Eastside Bike Club road their four-person party bike, families donned “FIG4ALL” suffragist-style sashes, kids and adults alike did a non-stop “Holiday Circle of Death” down Figueroa. It was a fun way to end a victorious and frustrating year for safer streets in Northeast Los Angeles.

Cypress Avenue, Monterey Road, Via Marisol, Eagle Rock Boulevard, and Colorado Boulevard all had bike lanes installed over the past year. In downtown LA, on some of the heaviest-traveled streets in the city, road diets were initiated. This year saw the largest implementation of the 2010 LA Bike Plan yet. Meanwhile, North Figueroa continues to languish behind, with only a promise of bike lanes and road dieting to hold on to. To add insult to the actual injuries suffered by pedestrians and cyclists by drivers on Figueroa, word from our new City Council Member Gil Cedillo’s office is that even more bike lane meeting like the ones we had this year will be held again next year. The question at this point is wether we politely wait for leadership from Garcetti, Huizar and Cedillo, or do we get more militant and re-initiate the monthly NELA Critical Mass rides and start doing London-style Die-Ins?

So Happy Holidays and keep walking, running, riding, and rolling into the New Year. It has to get better. If it does, next year we will bring figs.

Bike Lanes Are No Problem For LAFD

Cyclists ride by Highland Park’s Los Angeles Fire Department No. 12 on Figueroa.

A popular complaint from the Bike Lane Opposition is that First Responders will be hampered by stripes in the roadway used to create bike lanes.  This claim has been championed by Highland Park resident and bike lane opponent, Hart D. Fisher who makes it a point to shout at the Neighborhood Council meetings that, “LAFD No. 12 is opposed to bike lanes on Figueroa Street.”  While such claims always seemed dubious, the Eagle Rock Patch  now confirms that in fact, “The Los Angeles Fire Department has ‘no concerns’ about the transformation of auto traffic lanes to bicycle passageways.”

According to the article, Tim Fremaux, from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, has been in contact with LAFD’s Captain Luke Milick, who oversees LAFD’s Hydrant and Access Unit. Captain Milick is responsible with making sure that fire apparatuses are not impaired with access on roadways due to construction or obstruction. (E.g., Prohibiting parking of cars on narrow Mount Washington roads during Red Flag Alerts.)  To quote directly from Patch:

“’Captain Milick has no concerns associated with re-striping of roadways to include bike lanes, regardless of whether these projects involve removing traffic lanes,’ Fremaux wrote in his e-mail.”

And why would they be concerned?  The well-trained personnel of the Los Angeles Fire Department know how to navigate across road stripes and around traffic.  If anything, the bike lanes will add more space for First Responders to navigate.  In emergencies, cyclists are especially capable of getting off the street and onto the sidewalk, while drivers can pull over into the bike lanes to free up space for emergency vehicles to use.  The important thing is that we all remember to Pull To The Right.