By Kate Linthicum
Los Angeles Times
March 1, 2011
Cyclists flood Spring Street for the city’s first CicLAvia, which closed many streets for part of a day last October. (Gina Ferazzi, Los Angeles Times / October 10, 2010)
The Los Angeles City Council approved a new blueprint Tuesday for the city’s streets that shifts focus away from automobiles.
The bicycle master plan calls for an eventual network of 1,680 miles of interconnected bikeways, including more than 200 miles of new bicycle routes every five years. It also calls for a safety campaign to educate drivers about sharing the streets.
“It’s a cultural shift toward different types of transportation,” said Councilman Ed Reyes, one of the plan’s major proponents. The challenge now, he and other lawmakers said, will be in implementing it.
The City Council agreed last year to put 10% of the city’s share of money from Measure R, the 2008 sales tax to support transportation projects countywide, toward initiatives for cyclists and pedestrians.
City Councilman Bill Rosendahl said some of the Measure R money should be used to bring the bicycle plan to life. He stressed construction will not start until the council comes up with the required money and specific projects are approved.
“We are not changing any streets as of this moment,” Rosendahl said. But, he continued, “what they have given us is a great map to work with.”
The plan was designed by city planners and transportation experts with significant input from L.A.’s growing bicycle activist community.
dontblockthebikelane 