Long Beach officials to get feedback, educate people on city's Bike Master Plan

Many people know Long Beach has bicycling infrastructure. But they probably don’t know where more than 120 miles of different bike paths are or about other programs and projects in the city’s Bike Master Plan.

Additionally, the plan needs some fine-tuning, city plaer Ira Brown said, since it was approved in 2001. In the coming months, Brown said he and others plan to be at nine events in the city’s neighborhoods to get more community feedback and educate people.

The next events include the Green Prize Festival on Saturyday, First Fridays on May 6 and the Bike Festival on May 7.

“We’re always leaing from these events,” Brown said. “We’ll probably do outreach during the summer months and then come back in the fall with their (the public’s) thoughts and ask the people to validate them.”

During events, people can write exactly where they’d like to see improvements, as well as place Post-its with their thoughts, directly on large bicycle path maps.

“What’s great is people can get down and write on the plan,” Brown said of the maps posted at the events.

Many of the events will offer a temporary bicycle lane on a nearby street, where people can test ride.

“We want to have people feel and touch items,” Brown said.

Among the items in the plan are current projects, such as bikeways at areas of Daisy Avenue, 15th and Sixth streets that are in design phase or starting construction. Parts of Artesia and Bellflower boulevards are in the design phase as well, he said.

Another major effort is the Atherton Bridge pedestrian/bicycle project, which is already funded and in the design phase, Brown said. The bridge will coect Atherton Street to the pre-existing San Gabriel Bike Trail by crossing the San Gabriel River. It will extend the Atherton Street bikeway, skirt part of Cal State Long Beach, and lead to an area near the northbound 405 Freeway where it will cross the river.

The city has different types of treatments for different bicycle roadways, including bike paths, bike boulevards, bike lanes and sharrows (shared lane markings). Each has a varying comfort level, Brown said.

Paths are freestanding passages, such as the beach path, he said, and are considered high comfort for users. Another example are boulevards, which are shared with motorists, and are low-speed, low-traffic roads made even slower and with less traffic with items such as speed limits, stop signs, traffic circles and diverters. Lanes are marked bikeways beside roads, while sharrows are where bicycles and cars use the same part of pavement.

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Another component of the city’s plan is the Bike Share Program, which debuted in March. The program allows riders to rent bikes with credit cards, pick them up at any station and retu them at a station near their destination.

To create a bike share account, download the mobile app Social Bicycles available for Google and Apple devices or online at longbeachbikeshare.com. There, users can choose a plan from pay as you go, three prepaid hours or monthly.

People also can rent up to six bicycles in their name, fleet manager Dylan Baker said. They also can hold bikes up to an hour if they have to visit a store, and list the bike as needing repair, Baker said.

Health is another aspect of the master plan, Brown said. Things like safety, reducing emissions and helping increase fitness are important.

“We certainly see this as a win-win for the city,” Brown said.

The city has a plan, but people need to know about it and they need to be encouraged to use it, he said.

“It’s not enough to build facilities,” Brown said. “You have to educate people how to use them.”

For more information on the Bike Master Plan, visit www.bikelongbeach.org/masterplan. Part of the plan is included in the city’s mobility plan, available at www.lbds.info/mobility_element.

Emily Thoton is a staff writer with Gazette Newspapers. She can be reached at [email protected].