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Community Corner

Transit Tales: Cycling Into the Future

The political gears are in motion for a South Bay Bike Master Plan for a network of inter-city bikeways. In this final installment of a three-part series on local transit, Patch checks in on the plan's progress.

Visions of a South Bay Bike Master Plan in the Beach Cities sat rolled up on one of the maps stacked on the floor of Marissa Christiansen’s office in Redondo Beach City Hall.

As she unfurled the map, Christiansen pointed to the array of suggestions, concerns and bold-faced comments that people had penned on the illustrated streets and roadways.

She pointed out that this was just one of many maps that the public has used to voice opinions about the proposed plan.

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“Ultimately it’s their opinions that will shape this document,” she said of the public input on the bike plan. “We’ve heard from so many people who have shared their ideas, and we expect to hear more.”

Those suggestions include establishing more bike parking and creating bicycle lanes on major thoroughfares like PCH and Aviation Boulevard. 

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“We definitely have heard from the public that they do want to see some facilities on these really heavily traveled corridors,” she added.

Christiansen, the director of the South Bay Initiative for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, is spearheading the preparation of an ambitious plan that hopes to link existing networks and bike paths in seven local cities: Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Lawndale, Gardena and Torrance.

After a in those cities, city staffers and consultants are now going over the public comments and suggestions in an effort to produce a draft plan with specific proposals that can be shown to residents, Christiansen said. 

Members of the South Bay Bicycle Coalition and a blue ribbon group of representatives from each city also will review public comments and add their thoughts.

“We basically gave them [all] everything but the kitchen sink to look at and to start whittling down from there,” Christiansen said. “There’s a lot for them to take in and give their opinions on.”

Along with a proposed extension of the Green Line light-rail system, the bicycle master plan is among the most prominent public transit initiatives facing area residents and businesses, including those in Hermosa, Manhattan and Redondo Beach.

The proposed Green Line extension project would connect the existing terminus at Marine Avenue in North Redondo to the Torrance Transit bus hub on Crenshaw Boulevard.

Some options include no new construction, modifying existing bus service and utilizing an abandoned freight track to Torrance.

But unlike the bike plan, which has yet to attract any visible and vocal opposition, a proposal to extend the Green Line another 4 1/2 miles already has been met with resistance from some North Redondo Beach residents who worry that a route that uses freight tracks would disrupt their neighborhood.

During public hearings last year, residents of the Ruxton neighborhood expressed opposition to the plan to use existing freight tracks in their area, voicing concerns about the loss of property values as well as noise, traffic and safety issues.

The MTA is aware of the criticism and is still conducting engineering analysis and an environmental study of the possible choices, said Randy Lamm, project manager for the Green Line extension.

“We are doing our data collection to evaluate where the impacts, if any, are,” he said. “We will determine if we need to mitigate those impacts.”

More public hearings are scheduled for April to enable MTA officials to update the public on the transit plan and what has been done so far, said Lamm, who added that construction could begin in 2014.

As for the bicycle master plan, additional public hearings are planned for the initiative in May when the public will be able to see a more detailed proposal with references to specific streets and roadways that would be affected, Christiansen said.

She already has heard public concerns about bicycle safety on the roads and the need , she said.

“We heard a lot of concern about cyclists and motorists not understanding what their rights and responsibilities are on the road,” Christiansen said. “Ultimately everyone’s right and responsibility is to share the space. Cyclists are allowed on the road just like motorists are, and in our car culture that goes forgotten sometimes.”

The bicycle plan is expected to go before the City Councils of all seven cities by August.  The council members will determine how much, if any, of the master plan will be implemented in their cities.

Just getting those municipalities together to consider a regional bike plan is a triumph, said Alan Thompson, senior regional planner for transportation for the Southern California Association of Governments.

“You have all these different cities working together and developing a plan beyond their boundaries. I think that’s a nice model for others to follow,” he said.

Thompson also had praise for the way the bike plan initiative is being funded. The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition was awarded a $240,000 grant from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was administered through the county’s Department of Public Health.

Thompson called the grant “a new, innovative way of linking transportation choices and public health.”

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