http://veloallegro.org/2011/11/cyclist-aware/

If you’re new to road cycling, or maybe want to brush up on bicycle law, BikeLongBeach.org has a great section on their site called Bike 101. The information is pretty much everything you need to know about bicycling safety, security and even how to report a pothole. The city of Long beach wants to know. Really.

VISTA BIKE BOULEVARD

Construction on Vista continues with much positive feedback from the
residents. The anticipated date of completion remains the same for
Vista, however the dates for the closures at Park and Ximeno have been
changed due to construction issues that have been resolved.  It is
anticipated that Ximeno will remain closed through August 13th, with the
closure of Park shifting to August 16th – September 10th which will
still coincide with the Termino Drain street closure.  The remaining six
roundabouts are under construction and the anticipated date of
completion for landscaping and irrigation remains at September 17th.
The traffic signal at Redondo is scheduled to be complete and fully
operational by October 11th.

BROADWAY and 3RD SEPARATED BIKEWAY

Construction continues on this project with signal work expected to
continue through September.  The schedule for full completion is still
being developed, with completion expected by the end of 2010.

TWO PRESS EVENTS NEXT WEEK

1.  Bike Sharing/Integrated Mobility Hub: Tuesday, August 3rd at 10 a.m.
in the Civic Center Plaza Press event announcing the coming of the bike
share program and the integrated mobility hub with bike sharing, car
sharing and secure bike parking.  Two bike share providers, Bixi and
B-Cycle will be on hand with bikes that people can ride on.  We will
invite the employees to come test them, as well as the cycling community
and downtown residents and businesses.
2.  Bike Corral Grand Opening: Wednesday, August 4th at 6 p.m. at Utopia
Restaurant on 1st and Linden Press event unveiling the city’s first bike
corral with a reception on the outdoor patio at Utopia.  LB Cyclists
will also be on hand for this inaugural event.

BIKE SAFETY EDUCATION AND AWARENESS

The two bike safety education grants will be kicking off this fall.
Bike safety in the elementary and middle schools will begin in September
through Safe Moves in partnership with Tony Cruz. The Bike safety
awareness campaign is also scheduled to begin soon. The media outreach
contract has been awarded to R. Antonette, a Long Beach firm, and the
public outreach contract has been awarded to The Idea Group, also a Long
Beach firm that is headed by Georgia Case and includes  Allan Crawford
on the team. We are developing the contracts and finalizing the scopes
of work as the firms are getting the required insurance documents and
other requirements ready for submission.

BIKE MASTER PLAN UPDATE

KOA is finalizing the “vision map” that incorporates all of the
improvements we’ve been hearing about at all of the meetings Charlie’s
been attending since he got here, as well as all that Courtney has been
gathering through the Metro Blue Line Bike & Pedestrian Access Plan.
KOA
has added proposed bike boulevards throughout the City to round out that
effort, and we are meeting with Lakewood next week to improve
connections on Carson and all of our connected corridors. We are also
scheduling a meeting with Signal Hill, and other adjacent cities in
Orange County.
Thomas Fields & Associates is the outreach sub for KOA. The outreach
effort will begin in September with going out to speak and gather
comments from 20 community groups throughout the city, and then hosting
nine community meetings, one in each district.

BIKE FRIENDLY RETAIL DISTRICTS

We’re getting started on the bike friendly retail districts through the
RENEW grant that was awarded through LA County Health and Long Beach
Health Department.  Bixby Knolls, 4th Street Retro Row, the East Village
and Cambodia Town on Anaheim are the four districts that we will be
working with to create a bike friendly district (we are identifying
other potential BFD’s through the Bike Master Plan).  We will be
developing promotions and events to encourage customers to bike to these
districts during year one.
The grant is small ($9,000 per year for two years for each of the four
districts), so there will be no infrastructure improvements funded, but
we will identify infrastructure needs as part of this process in year
two.  A local partnership team with April Economides of Green Octopus
and Carina Cristiano from the Connected Corridor will be coordinating
this effort with each of the business districts. Each district will also
receive a cargo bike which they can use for promotions, delivery, etc.

Original article from Fast Company
London’s mayor Boris Johnson wants to see a “cycling revolution” in his town. But transport transformation requires more than a bright coat of paint.


Read the entire article and view additional photos and Video on Fast Company’s web site

While idealistic urbanists plot ways to turn 10-lane freeways into wilderness corridors, London is rolling out brand new superhighways. But these are not the pollution-spewing variety. A series of 5-foot-wide, bright blue bicycle lanes are opening across the city this summer in an effort to improve safety and efficiency for pedaling commuters.


A dozen cycling superhighway routes (initiated by the mayor but sponsored in name by Barclays) are slated to open in the next five years, eventually forming continuous spokes connecting to the center of London from all directions. With cities like Berlin and Amsterdam as models, London aspires to be a model of pedal-powered transport, adding not only the new lanes but also city-wide bike-sharing (a strategy that is so far a success in Denver) as well as more bike parking.


In a promotional video for the new bike lanes (above), London mayor Boris Johnson speaks excitedly about the improvements. “This is somewhere where motorists can expect to find cyclists,” he promises, “A motorist can’t just shove all the cyclists out of the way. This is somewhere—a road, a highway—where you’re just going to find loads of cyclists, and that’s the name of the game.”


Unfortunately, as the BBC reported in the first days of superhighway action, you can also expect to find cars, trucks, and busses in the blue lane. While the bright color and textured surface are designed to deter drivers (or at least heighten their awareness), it seems that more innovative measures are needed. The London Cycling Campaign is asking for speed limit reductions and lanes designed to avoid major, car-filled intersections altogether.


The demand for more radical urban design overhauls calls to mind the woonerf strategy, originally implemented in the Netherlands but now jumping to Germany, the UK, and even Somerville, MA. Woonerf blurs sidewalk and street, and does away with the idea that automobiles have priority of the road. Of course, in London this approach would become a traffic nightmare in many places, but by strategically changing the transport hierarchy, it might be possible to achieve the “cycling revolution” that the mayor aims to incite.


Superhighway photo by smallritual.
Woonerf photo by Dan Burden.

Looking for information about Velo Allegro? This website is a good start!

Read what we’re ABOUT, then find out when our next RIDE is so you can join the fun and check us out.

If you like what we’re doing, join the club by completing a membership form and contacting a club officer or catching up with us at our next meeting.