The LA County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a motion yesterday saying that the forthcoming LA County Draft Bike Plan should do more to embrace progressive ideas for bicycle infrastructure. Streetsblog reports that County Supe Zev Yaroslavsky originally proposed the motion, which is not shy about demanding that the bike plan's priority be on innovation: "Of greatest significance, members of the Los Angeles bicycling community have raised the clear and repeated point that the draft Los Angeles County Bicycle Master Plan should do more to embrace innovative street design and bicycle amenities that will improve public safety and bicycling comfort. I agree." The motion explicitly names the Model Design Manual for Living Streets (released recently by the Department of Public Health and the UCLA Luskin Center) as a guideline for the new plan and asked that the plan have built-in methods for adopting new practices as they're approved by Caltrans.
According to Yaroslavsky's website, specific suggestions for the plan include separated cycle tracks and "experimental street design approaches--including the possibility of varied lane and sidewalk widths in some areas."
Grant funding requires that the draft Bicycle Plan, the county's first since 1975, be complete by March of 2012. An October draft of the plan was sent back to staff to make the kind of changes the supes are asking for, so time is of the essence. The Department of Public Works will have to complete environmental review and the Regional Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors will have to hold public hearings before a final plan can be approved.
· At Zev's Urging, Supes Demand Progressive Bike Plan [Streetsblog]
· LA Groups Release Guide to Creating Better California Streets [Curbed LA]
· Here's LA County's First Bike Master Plan Since 1975 [Curbed LA]
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