2010 Bicycle Plan Available for Public Review and Comment

Together with buses, rail, pedestrian-friendly development and other measures, encouraging bicycling is a key component to reducing traffic and air pollution.

Earlier this month, I helped install the first "sharrow" in Los Angeles on Fountain Ave. The Department of Transportation will use its analysis of this pilot location, and others being implemented this summer, to move forward with more sharrows or other ways to help cars and bikes share the road.

The city's overall bike strategy is laid out in the draft 2010 Bicycle Plan, which is now available for public review and comment at www.labikeplan.org and selected libraries. It will also be available on June 30 at the Department of City Planning’s Downtown and Van Nuys Public Counters.

The Bicycle Plan was first adopted in 1996, and was re-adopted by the City Council in 2002 and 2007. The 2010 plan was formulated after years of research and fieldwork, as well as thousands of comments received since an earlier draft was presented to the public in September 2009. The plan (an element of the overall City General Plan) designates 1,633 miles of bikeway facilities. It also contains a Technical Design Handbook that will help the city and residents identify and develop further improvements that encourage biking.