Momentum Grows against the (Anti) Bike Plan

Councilman Bill Rosendahl

Over at Westside BikeSIDE!, Dr. Alex Thompson, (not the guy who runs over cyclists on Mandeville Canyon), has a great post up detailing the bike related motions passed by the Transportation Advisory Committee that he was able to attend. Two motions passed that should thrill cyclists in L.A.:

1. The Committee stated that the agency tasked with developing the Bike Plan, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, has a bias towards cars that prevents it from carrying out a fair bike plan. The committee called for another agency to lead us to a bikeable city.

2. The Committee endorsed many of the critiques of the bike plan that Thompson and other bike activists have been pushing through neighborhood councils recently:

1. The new LA Bike Plan should extend and enhance the 2007/2002/1996 plan. Currently it is a step backward from previous plans in both language, and bike lane mileage.
2. The deadline for public input must be extended from November 6th (42 days of input) to January 8th (in excess of 90 days.)
3. Every street is a street that cyclists will ride. This is the language of the Long Beach Bike Master Plan, currently a great success.
4. The LA Bike Plan should go through a full programmatic EIR. This will make its ambitions eligible for off the shelf and last minute funding, as well as open the possibility of reducing parking and travel lanes in some locations.
5. Retail should be a positive element in scoring streets for desirability of bikeways. Cyclists want to go to similar destinations as motorists.
6. Bike routes should be eliminated as a designation for the City of Los Angeles.
7. The LA Bike Plan should have predetermined annual performance measures included within it. These performance measures should not allow for the spontaneous designation of streets as Bike Friendly Streets without significant enhancement.
8. Neighborhood pilot projects must be included as an approach for experimenting with street treatments.
   http://www.westsidebikeside.com/labp-ladot-woefully-inadequate-8100/
   

This is just one more city entity to speak out against the bike plan and hopefully will continue to pressure our elected officials into taking action. Bill Rosendahl, this is your committee. Will you publicly call for these motions to become more than words? Will you work to create the bikeable city we know L.A. can become? As Dr. Thompson eloquently states, "The whole community is asking for a deadline extension, and all it takes is for you to make a statement publicly on it and it will happen - for sure. Will you do it? We’ve heard nothing official from your office."

Let's let Bill know what he can do to help our cause. As head of the Transportation Committee, his voice carries a lot of weight. He can do a lot to help fix the broken bike plan and give Angelenos a real bikeable city.