River Bike Plan and River Bike Ride

L.A. Bike Plan map for central/west area - click for link to detailed pdf files

Late last week, the city of Los Angeles released its draft maps for its update to its Bike Plan.  Formerly called the Bicycle Master Plan (now just the Bike Plan) and last approved in 1996,  the Bike Plan designates a city-approved network of bike facilities.  These include on-street bike lanes, river/beach bike paths and shared-lane bike routes.  You’ve probably already guessed that L.A. isn’t bike paradise and that the plan isn’t going to get us there tomorrow (and even that the bike planning process hasn’t been as committed, thorough and transparent as it might have been)… but, like the L.A. River plans, this is an important opportunity to take some steps in the right direction.

What I expect that creek freaks will be most interested in are the plans for bike paths along our rivers and creeks.  The bike plan calls for bike paths along the Los Angeles River, Arroyo Seco and Ballona Creek which have been in past plans for quite a while.  It shows new bike paths along portions of the Tujunga Wash, the Pacoima Wash, Aliso Canyon Wash and more of Brown’s Creek – all San Fernando Valley tributaries of the L.A. River.  But there are plenty more Valley tributaries missing… like Bull Creek, Caballero Creek, Arroyo Calabasas, Bell Creek, and others.

Another omission is that some of the bike lanes planned for the Cornfield Arroyo Seco Specific Plan are shown as “unfeasible.”  This is, hopefully, just a matter of the department synching up their various plans.

Luckily, it’s still a draft and the city is asking for our input, so if you’re interested, take a look at the draft plan maps, and submit your comments to the City Planning Department.

And if you’re looking to get some first hand exposure to our local river bike paths… plan to ride the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition’s Los Angeles River Ride – THIS SUNDAY!  There are various distances for the occasional rider to the hard-core centurion.  See you there!