Work begins on downtown Long Beach bicycle lanes

Construction began Monday on two bicycle lanes in downtown Long Beach, part of an overall plan to make the city more bike-friendly, officials said.

The project, scheduled for completion by March 11, is designed to help bicyclists navigate downtown, reduce conflicts between bicyclists and motorists and encourage bicycle riding.

It marks the final phase of construction in the Broadway and Third Street Separated Bikeways Project, said Sumire Gant, the city's transportation programs officer.

The lanes will be built along Broadway Avenue and Third Street from Alamitos to Golden avenues. Both Broadway and Third will be outfitted with special traffic signals for drivers and bicyclists, and the lanes will be separated from motor traffic by a painted median island and a curb next to on-street parking.

The project's $639,594 cost will come out of city transportation funds, Gant said.

The city will study the efficiency of the new design in six months and again in a year, Gant said. If approved by federal and state agencies, the city could make the bikeways permanent by installing landscaped medians.

Parking on the south side of Broadway will not be affected during construction, but parking on the north side of Broadway and the south side of Third Street may be inaccessible at times, he said.

Residents will be allowed free parking in designated city lots, Gant said. Construction should not cause congestion along Broadway and Third Street during the day, he said.

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-- Nate Jackson

Image: Map shows location of bike lanes under construction in blue. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Galaxy420*]

What a waste of money in a recession.

[TrueFreedom]

cool. Hopefully it proves to be beneficial, and other cities follow suit to be more bike friendly.

[Rick Risemberg]

Apparently it's not a waste of money to build endless car lanes and parking, though car and fuel fees and taxes cover only 16% to 50% of the cost of building and maintaining roads. (And we're not even counting the costs of watershed destruction, emergency services, police patrol, air pollution, etc.)

Bikes move people FAR more cheaply than do cars, and don't waste valuable space that could be used for taxpaying homes and businesses or services such as schools, parks, and libraries.

Indeed, during a recession, cars are a wasteful. luxury, and we should concentrate all the more on bicycles, transit, and other efficient ways of connecting people to their destinations.

By the way, you can park twelve bikes at commercial destinations in the space of one car--and surveys show that for the most part, cyclists spend more per visit to stores etc than drivers do--and can window shop much more easily.

Bravo Long Beach! You're building your community and economy in one of the best ways possible, through encouraging bicycle travel! Keep it up!

[Galaxy420*]

Great, Long Beach is now going to have annoying Bicycle riders all over the streets. More bike riders that think they own the road, that can ride in the middle of lanes blocking and impeding cars from going by; all while wearing their super cool skin tight bike suits, reflective sunglasses and wind resistance helmets. I saw the bicycle lights they are putting up all over the place in long beach and it looks more like a distraction to drivers than anything. Another stoplight under the regular traffic lights, it is just a accident waiting to happen when some motorist mistakens the bike light for the regular light. And plus putting up all those ugly bike stations everywhere, what a eye sore. And I didn't even see anyone have a bike on any of them.

[Scott]

So glad to hear of new bike lanes. This generation will be known for changing the way we move!

[Resident]

Look forward to using these lanes. This is a great improvement for the neighborhood. The only people complaining don't live nearby and are upset they won't be able to drive their wasteful SUVs 45mph on the way to the freeway.