Less than a month after a bike ride/meeting along 4th Street, the LADOT Bike Program is moving forward on Bicycle Friendly Street improvements. Not only will the LADOT Bike Program be adjusting or replacing all loop detectors along 4th Street to pick up bicycle wheels, but we’re also going to extend the 4th Street Sharrows to either La Brea Avenue or Cochran Avenue.
That’s another 1.7-1.8 miles of Sharrows, which more than doubles the length of the existing Sharrows on 4th Street.
Get ready for more of these
This is big news. Getting something like this done in less than a month at the City is like getting it done in 2 hours in the real world. It just doesn’t happen that often. Yet, here we are.
October Meeting, November Construction
LADOT Bike Blog covered a meeting last month between the LACBC, the Mayor’s Office, CM LaBonge’s Office, and the LADOT Bike Program. Centered around a bike ride along 4th Street, the meeting was meant to get everyone on the same page for what we could do on 4th Street and where we could do it. The LACBC really pushed for short-term as well as long-term actions on 4th Street. One of the most immediate improvements they asked for was recalibration of loop detectors to pick up bikes.
While looking for funding to recalibrate the loop detectors, we came across a surplus in our contract account for Sharrows installations. This was the account the LADOT Bike Program used to install Sharrows over the summer in 6 test locations. This account surplus leaves us with enough funding to complete Sharrows on the rest of the 4th Street Bicycle Boulevard. The LADOT Bike Program hopes to get preliminary installation markings put down today.
BFS Treatments
As covered in our “Anatomy of a Bicycle Friendly Street” series, there are a number of treatments which can be applied on a BFS to make it a better place for bicyclists. Some treatments (like diverters, roundabouts, or chicanes) are long-term projects; they require a lot of planning, engineering, and community outreach before they can be built on the street. Other treatments (like improved loop detectors, better signage, Sharrows) are short-term projects which can be installed while waiting to complete the footwork for other long-term projects.
4th Street, being identified as a “Bicycle Friendly Street” in the Draft LA Bike Plan, will be eligible for the entire gamut of BFS treatments. Once the LA Bike Plan is adopted, the LADOT Bike Program will have all the treatments in the BFS toolbox available in pursuing Bicycle Friendly Streets around the City. In that light, Sharrows and loop detectors on 4th Street should not be seen as an individual project, but as a sign of things to come on a multitude of streets all over Los Angeles.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Christopher Kidd, Christopher Kidd. Christopher Kidd said: LADOT doubling sharrows mileage on 4th St! http://ow.ly/3h1Sz #BikeLA […]
Excellent news for 4th St. riders! But for completely selfish reasons any word on Reseda Blvd.?
Still pending work orders. I can follow up with the engineers for a ballpark timeline.
Hi Chris, do you have the ability to provide cost estimates for the re-design and restriping of Wilbur Ave in Northridge should the restriping move forward?
I’ll certainly ask for you.
If you could be discreet…. I assume there are many who wish to keep this information from the public.
“Pending work orders” is a good sign. Thanks!
The bike lane from Valerio to Roscoe is getting its work orders signed today, hopefully moving into construction phase by next week.
Excellent news!!!!!!
So what’s happening with the Hudson River?
The sharrow there could end up directing riders into the present morass of degrading asphalt and slick algae.
Not that, given its history (and I ride it every day, pretty much) the most recent patch will last very long. French drain, please!
I’ll have to look into it, but I think that the Mayor’s office getting involved in the 4SBB has injected new life into finding a long-term Hudson River solution. I’ll follow up on it next week.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rick Risemberg, Johnny Lam. Johnny Lam said: RT @BicycleFixation: Loop detector reset, sharrows to come soon for LA's 4th St: http://tinyurl.com/3xs2jcj (Saw the pre-sharrow marking … […]
[…] under new management. The 4th Street Bike Boulevard comes another step closer to reality as LADOT doubles the sharrows on the street and adjusts signal detectors to recognize bikes. CicLAvia invites you to help bring […]
[…] Big Improvements Planned for 4th Street in the Coming Weeks (LADOT Bike Blog) […]
This placement of the sharrows puts the rider directly in the door zone, as shown in the photo. Why is LADOT directing cyclists to ride in a dangerous area?
All Sharrows are at 12 feet from the curb in Los Angeles. That’s 1 foot beyond the state minimum set down in the CA MUTCD and well outside the door zone. For more information, go here.
I ride Reseda Blvd sharrows to work. If you ride on sharrow you will not be “doored”. The cool thing most cars slowed down and passed me safely with the sharrows in place.
I’ve said this before hopeful motorist will start respecting bicyclist on the street by seeing more and more bicycle facilities’ on the road and then recognize bicyclist have the same right to be on the road as cars.
Many believe the minimum standard should be 14 feet from the curb to ensure avoiding the door zone.
There are many theories on the correct position for Sharrows. Some believe 14 feet (or 11, or 12, or 13), some believe in measuring from the traffic lane instead of the curb, some believe in placing them dead-center in the travel lane, some believe in providing a colored stripe along with the Sharrow (a la Long Beach & Portland), some believe in different placement depending upon the street geometry. There are a wealth of ideas about Sharrows right now. The draft Bike Plan has striped Sharrows as a non-standard treatment in the Technical Design Handbook, allowing LADOT to pursue them as a pilot project once the plan is adopted. The Sharrows installed by LADOT this year are also a test project, and the report on them (due to be submitted to council next year) will contain any recommended changes to the current Sharrows configuration based on the data we’ve collected in before-and-after studies which documented drivers’ reactions to riders in position on the street.
Did you hear:
LADOT striped bike lanes on York:
http://laecovillage.wordpress.com/2010/12/05/some-good-bike-news-for-northeast-l-a/
LADOT opened the LA River bike path:
http://lacreekfreak.wordpress.com/2010/12/05/there-it-is-ride-it/
and the Bike Plan is up for a Planning Commission vote on Thursday:
http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/12/14/light-appears-at-the-end-of-a-long-bike-plan-tunnel/
Did you hear?
Graduate students have finals. =)
[…] became even more attached to this priority project when I helped mark our second round of sharrows from Wilton Place to Cochran Avenue. Personal prejudices aside, this future bicycle boulevard (called a “Bicycle Friendly […]