Spring St. Material Testing this Sunday

0% chance of rain! The weather couldn’t be better for the planned material test on Spring St.

Abundant sunshine. That’s what we have been waiting for, as Spring Street’s green bike lane will finally be undergoing a planned material test starting this Sunday, July 15th. Testing will occur along three blocks; 1st St. to 2nd St., Cesar Chavez Ave. to Arcadia St., and Aliso St. to Temple St. As many of you already know, we’ve had to cancel a number of past material tests due to inclement weather, but it looks like mother nature will be cooperative this weekend. 

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A tour of the coming Downtown L.A. Bikeway Network

UPDATE: There will be an Open House tomorrow (5/30/2012) between 5:00PM and 8:00PM to discuss the upcoming Downtown Bikeway Network. The event will be held at Aiso Plaza (Judge John Aiso Street & 1st Street). For more information, click here.

First St. at the last CicLAvia. This stretch will have bike lanes in the next two months.

We hope everyone had a great Bike to Work Day! Special thanks to all the riders and pit stop volunteers that made the week’s festivities possible. Hope everyone got to enjoy their Cliff Bars and other promo items at the various pit stops! 

Just a year ago, Downtown Los Angeles was devoid of any dedicated bicycle infrastructure. Last April, the 7th Street bike lanes brought the first dedicated bicycle facility right to downtown’s doorstep. Then in late November, the highly anticipated southbound Spring St. green bike lane brought the first true bikeway to the heart of downtown Los Angeles, connecting Chinatown, the Civic Center, and the Historic Core to the edge of South Park. This past February, Main St. joined the fray, extending the Spring St. bike lane southwards between 9th and 16th/Venice Blvd with a two-way facility.

We’re happy to report that within the next three months, LADOT will be installing the highly anticipated complimentary northbound lane to Spring St. on Main St. from 9th to Cesar Chavez, giving Downtown L.A. a true north-south backbone for its burgeoning bicycle network. While Main St. is an important facility, it is just another piece of the downtown Bikeway network coming together.

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If You Build it They Will Come

We’re looking forward to seeing similar results along the future Main St. bike lane

We’re happy to share some great news from the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. After conducting bikes counts on Spring Street – both before and after the installation of the green-buffered bike lane project – the numbers are in. Results show that more people than ever are biking on Spring Street. The weekday morning and evening counts showed a 12% increase in ridership.  Weekend counts showed an impressive 250% increase in number of riders.

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Spring St. material testing this weekend

Material testing will begin this Sunday, April 1st (and that's no joke)!

Update: Canceled yet again due to weather forecasts for rain. We’ll try again soon. More news to come.

The Spring St. green bike lane will be undergoing a planned material test starting this Sunday, April 1st. Testing will occur along three blocks; 5th St. to 6th St., 6th St. to 7th St., and Aliso St. to Temple St. LADOT will be testing a variety of materials and application technologies to identify the best combination/s for our city’s unique roadways. For more information about the materials that we will be testing, check out our previous post here. We would like to remind everyone to please be mindful of the cones and to avoid driving on the coned off segments on the day of the installation. If you access driveways/garages on the west side of Spring along these three blocks, entry and exit will be restricted from 1AM-4PM. Be sure to plan ahead – consider moving your car to another street or lot in advance if you know you will need to use your car on this day. More information on these restrictions can be found at the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council’s website.

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New Date! Spring St. Green Bike Lane Material Testing

Spring St. green bike lane on the day of its grand opening

UPDATE: Testing is now tentatively scheduled for the weekend of April 1st.

UPDATE: The testing scheduled for this weekend has been postponed due to the weather forecast. We’ll let you know more details on rescheduling as soon as we have them. Thanks!

 

The Spring Street buffered green bike lane represents a major step forward for bicycling infrastructure in Los Angeles. The bike lane and its green pavement, along with the 4′ painted buffer alongside it, provide bicyclists with enhanced visual separation from motor vehicle travel lanes. Spring St. is truly a complete street, serving bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit users, as well as motorists.

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Main St. (Downtown) Bike Lanes and Spring St. Material Testing

Bike lanes going in on Main St. 9th St. to Venice Blvd.

Main St. in Downtown Los Angeles will soon be getting bike lanes from 9th St. to Venice Blvd./16th St. Installation is scheduled to begin the weekend of February 11th and be completed by February 18th. These new bike lanes will pick up right where the Spring St. bike lane left off, extending the bikeway network south towards South Park. Design work has also begun for a northbound bike lane on Main St. (from 9th to Cesar Chavez) that will compliment the existing southbound Spring St. bike lane.

LADOT will also be conducting green material testing along Spring St. on Sunday, February 12th. Six different material types will be tested along three blocks: 7th to 6th, 6th to 5th and Temple to Aliso. More information (and driving/parking restrictions for that day) can be found on the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council’s website. We’ll have more on the material testing later this early next week.

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Re-Greening Spring Street

A quick update on the touch up work that will be coming soon to Spring Street. Last Monday, we celebrated the opening of Downtown L.A.’s first green bikeway. The green colorization is intended to increase bicyclist comfort and motorist yielding behavior. Unfortunately, inclement weather did not allow for the paint to fully set, leading to some blotching that many of you have no-doubt seen.

The tentative date for the touch up work will be this Sunday, December 4th. Temporary “No Stopping” signs will go up sometime this week for the impending roadwork. Expect to see DOT work crews and cones placed along segments of the bike lane that require touching up. Please be mindful of the cones and do not ride or drive along the wet pavement to avoid unnecessary tire marks and to allow the paint to completely set.

Expect to see crews along Spring Street this Sunday

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