Streetsblog is working to compile our annual post analyzing L.A. City's new and upgraded bikeways. SBLA is still confirming overall figures, but it appears that the city Transportation Department's (LADOT) bikeway recent output is fairly similar to the prior year: several quality facilities, quite a bit of minimal upgrades (mainly adding new buffers to existing bike lanes), some missed opportunities, and overall new mileage still way below the annual quantities seen under prior Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's mandate.
SBLA has previously reported on several worthwhile new bike facilities that LADOT installed during FY20-21:
- 6.3 miles (!) of new bike lanes on Avalon Boulevard in South L.A. - mostly buffered, with some protected stretches
- New protected bike lanes (alongside new bus-only lanes) on 5th and 6th Streets in downtown L.A.
- New protection added to existing bike lanes on Olive Street, Grand Avenue, and Figueroa Street in downtown L.A.
- Two key blocks of new bike lanes on Figueroa Street in Chinatown
- New bike lanes on 7th Street in Koreatown
Readers can expect the full FY20-21 detailed post within the next two weeks. Below is a preview of a few of LADOT's new and upgraded facilities that SBLA had not covered earlier.
In Lakeview Terrace, LADOT installed 1.5 miles of new protected bike lane on Foothill Boulevard. These extend the existing Foothill bike lanes - east of Wentworth Avenue - all the way to Wheatland Avenue. These lanes are part of a suite of Foothill Blvd Traffic Safety Improvements shepherded by City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez in response to a tragic October 2020 hit-and-run car crash where a driver killed two horses and seriously injured the people riding them.
Near LAX - and nearly under Metro's under-construction Crenshaw Line - Manchester Avenue received a significant upgrade, with existing bike lanes upgraded to protected bike lanes - between Truxton and Osage Avenues. (Photo at top of post)
In the Northeast Valley (where one Valley leader tweeted yesterday "No one is riding a bike"), LADOT upgraded existing Winnetka Avenue conventional bike lanes to protected ones. These extend the existing Winnetka protected bike lanes south from Lassen Street to Plummer Street.
It's not all protected bike lanes out there, though. Among the year's minor upgrades, in South L.A., LADOT added a new buffer to a few blocks of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard's existing bike lanes - between Buckingham Road and Marlton Avenue - just west of the lately-contested Crenshaw Plaza mall. Adding a buffer is just a tiny step in the right direction, but does not extend the city's inadequate bikeway network.
Lastly, below is a challenge for readers.
There's a new stretch of L.A. City bikeway with this new right-turn only signage, which Streetsblog believes is unique among the city's bikeways:
Readers - can you identify where the new mystery sign is located? Put your answer in the comments below.
