While Los Angeles city officials and hired consultants tinker with the draft of a mammoth bike plan, vocal critics in the cycling community complain it does not include enough new bike lanes and presents a mishmash of paths and routes that are unintelligible to the average cyclist.
But instead of merely nay-saying, one group of cycling advocates and bloggers known as the L.A. Bike Working Group is developing an alternative bike plan. They are starting with a network of long-distance bike routes they are comparing to a freeway system for cyclists.
Conceptual maps of the proposed Backbone Bikeway Network envision a network of long-distance routes designed to provide cyclists safe passage between different neighborhoods along heavily-traveled corridors, including Wilshire, Venice, Whittier and Sepulveda boulevards.
"The city really is more palatable when you have a straight shot through it, with less lights and less stop signs," said Mihai Peteu, 28, who helped design the map after holding public meetings with cyclists throughout the city. "I think cyclists deserve to have something similar to the freeway system."
It's just an idea, Peteu said. But given a little funding to paint bike lanes, improve the pavement and create shared bike-car lanes called sharrows, such a system could give cyclists a speedier way around town.
In my opinion, this is not too bad of an idea. Its about time, European countries like Holland and Sweden have designated roads for bikers, cars, and walkers. The US is finally catching on and realizing that not everyone is dependent on oil and precious fossil fuels. With more bike lanes and safer bike lanes people wont be afraid to pick up their bike and ride it the 2 miles it takes to get to work, or to the grocery store, or to their local cannabis clinic :) With 6,000 miles of new bike paths being discussed im hoping for bike paths in the South Bay where its needed most (And not only in our beach cities). Not to mention a hopeful "pothole fillup" cause i sure am tires of pinched tubes.
-Skid Vicious
Article by L.A Times
