County Board of Supervisor Hearing Set for Bike Plan
The plan includes a 5 mile bike boulevard on streets in Altadena and was approved by the County's Planning Commission. With Board of Supervisors, the boulevard and other bike improvements in Altadena will become part of the county's future plans for the t
A hearing has been scheduled for the county's master bike plan, which includes a five-mile designated "bike boulevard" for Altadena and a new bike path of nearly eight miles, starting from Eaton Canyon, which would connect to other paths to form a trail to Long Beach.
The bike boulevard would run east to west in Altadena, starting at the intersection of Windsor Avenue and Ventura Steet. It would run along Ventura, switch north to Calaveras east of Fair Oaks, then later to Mendocino Street, Midwick Drive, Glen Canyon Road and down Roosevelt Avenue (the proposed boulevard route is highlighted in purple on the map on the right). The route of that proposal has been changed several times since it was first discussed at a public meeting last year.
Those streets would continue to accommodate cars but would have traffic calming measures designed to slow drivers down (we've discussed what some of those measures might be on the site in an article earlier this month).
The Board of Supervisors hearing will be Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 9:30 a.m. in Room 381B of the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 500 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.
Second Phase of County Plan
Altadena's Bike Boulevard would be part of the second phase of the county's plan, so, with Board approval, it would likely be completed some time between 2017 and 2027.
In addition to the bike boulevard, Altadena could also see a bike path that would start from just east of the border of Altadena and Pasadena on New York Drive and run south for 7.8 miles along the Eaton Wash, through East Pasadena and San Gabriel, to connect to the Rio Hondo bike path in El Monte.
The overall bike plan includes improvements for unincorporated areas all over the county and would result in more than 60 miles of bike improvements in the West San Gabriel Valley alone, though over half of those would be bike routes, which involve adding road signs identifying an existing road as a preferred place for cyclists to ride.
The full plan can be viewed on right and more details on the plan can be viewed here.
Related:
What's a Bike Boulevard Anyway?
County Aiming for Bike Plan Completion in March of 2012
Read more about the Bike Boulevard proposal here
Read more about the bike path and other local trail proposals
Editor's Note: This article originally identified the Bike Boulevard proposed route as starting at Calaveras and Windsor rathern than Ventura and Windsor.
Dr.Jon Postajian, Chiropractor
8:05 am on Sunday, January 29, 2012
The time for the bike route could t have been better. I've noticed more and more people cycling, especially since the gas prices have rocketed. However I do believe many are also more aware of their health and are striving for a better quality of life through staying fit. I applaud all of you for that. Let's pray that the plans for the new bike route runs smoothly so all our cyclists can do what they love, safely.
Marietta
11:31 am on Sunday, January 29, 2012
At the west end, where is the intersection of Windsor and Calaveras? I have lived at the west side for nearly 30 years and can't place the location. I want to know exactly where the path goes. On the west side of the proposed bike path are all narrow 2 lane streets without sidewalks and curbs. Some of these streets have a high volume of cars. And, I remember the traffic circle on Palm and Marengo. What a fiasco that was! If we don't know what the plan is and where it travels, how do we know if it serves the community well? And with all the budget cuts for schools, libraries and parks, how do we always have lots of money to pour concrete?
Robby
11:16 am on Monday, January 30, 2012
Which I think is Marietta's polite way of saying that Calaveras does not run into Windsor....so whoever came up with this map is a few eggs short of a dozen.
Dan Abendschein
12:17 pm on Monday, January 30, 2012
The fault lies not with the map but rather with the author of the article. My mistake. The intersection illustrated on the map is Windsor/Ventura and it would run along Ventura to Fair Oaks before moving up to Calaveras. Coincidentally, I was biking this route on Saturday on the way to/from mountain biking above JPL, and I've gone that route before, so no reason I should have made the error. I'll change it above in the text.
Robby
1:57 pm on Monday, January 30, 2012
Ah, poor Dan! That's funny.
Yeah, there is a lot of bike traffic on Ventura east of Windsor - lots of recreational bikers on the weekend and lots of JPL commuters on weekdays. And lots of pedestrians as well - I walk my dog there all the time.
Sort of terrifying because it is not a particularly wide street, and there are no curbs or sidewalks there. And it's pretty dark at night. Also, there's the blind corner as you are turning right onto Ventura going north. I see tons of cars and cyclists run both of those stop signs there (Windsor/Ventura, Casitas/Ventura).
Woudn't be my first choice of locations to funnel more bikes through, honestly. Also honestly, this whole project seems like a solution in search of a problem.
Dan Abendschein
2:03 pm on Monday, January 30, 2012
@Robby - As a pedestrian though, you would benefit from having fewer cars in that area right? That is the main thing this Bike Boulevard would accomplish - fewer cars or cars being forced to move more slowly. I think it would be equally in the interest of pedestrians. The main concern I'd have if I lived near there would be that it would be frustratingly slow to drive through if there were traffic calming measures installed.
Robby
10:21 am on Tuesday, January 31, 2012
We'd have fewer cars on the road if we cracked down on illegal garage conversions, groups of unrelated people living in single-family housing, and parking of commercial vehicles/equipment on city streets. We ought to enforce housing and vehicular laws (which apply to cyclists as well) which are already on the books before spending money that we don't have. We also need more buses, running longer hours and more frequently. But bus service doesn't get special bond or grant funding, like trains or bike paths do.
Speed bumps on roads where horse trailers commonly go are a bad idea, by the way! I wouldn't want speed bumps between the freeway and Loma Alta/all the horse properties accessed via Windsor/Casitas.
IsabelJunie
8:32 pm on Sunday, January 29, 2012
I agree with Marietta. I remember the original plan calling for the path to be along Harriet between Fair Oaks and Raymond. I live in the area and, although there are many bikers that use that route, I don't recommend it at all! That stretch has no curb or side walk. Further, the block from Mc Nally to Fair Oaks is quite narrow and many residents and visitors to the area park there. It gets so narrow that there is only room for one car to pass. For some reason this stretch is also used by trucks and buses and people that like to speed. It may have looked like a good route on paper but is not practical (although we would love speed bumps in the area!)
Dan Abendschein
2:10 pm on Monday, January 30, 2012
@Isabel - Speed bumps are one of the traffic calming measures recommended in the bike plan. Most of the measures are designed to make it harder for drivers to speed through an area. The boulevard, from what can I tell, is more about restricting cars than specifically catering to bikes. It would be nice if that stretch had sidewalk though... I've parked and walked there to get to the trail head as well as biked, and you are right that it is really too narrow to accommodate all the traffic, car, bike, and foot, that wants to go there.