Safe & Healthy Streets

The fourth in a series of five Community Meetings for the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan will be held on Wednesday November 4, 2009 in the Sparr Heights Community Center, 1613 Glencoe Way, 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. The focus of this meeting will be on “Issues in Your Neighborhood” related to walking or biking. This meeting will primarily be about “north” Glendale (which we’re defining as all areas north of the Verdugo Woodlands area), but comments about other parts of the city will be welcome. Anyone who lives or works in Glendale is encouraged to attend. Business owners/merchants are also encouraged to attend. We’re interested in the ideas of people who walk or bike often as well as people who don’t walk or bike much (or at all). Please invite your friends, family, or co-workers to join you. The information provided by the public will help shape the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan, a set of bicycle and pedestrian policy recommendations for the City to adopt. RSVP is requested but not required to colin@la-bike.org Translation into Spanish or Armenian will be provided upon request by calling (818) 548-2000 at least 72 hours prior to the meeting date. Click here to see the flyer listing all the meetings.

Summary of notes from October 29 Community Meeting

Thanks to everyone who attended the meeting on October 29 at the Pacific Park Community Center. We will be posting a summary of the notes from that meeting soon. The detailed notes are here.

Do More Bicyclists Lead to More Injuries?

On October 14 we posted a link to an article, “Bicycle Injuries in US Becoming More Severe” from Reuters that described a study done in Denver, Colorado linking increased commuter cycling and injuries to a lack of bicycle infrastructure. A recent New York Times online article “Phys Ed: Do More Bicyclists Lead to More Injuries?” goes a little further to discuss the “safety in numbers” concept and how the increased number of injuries in the Denver study might be part of a transitional period as motorists become accustomed to driving when more cyclists are present. You can read the New York Times online article here.

Physician accused of deliberately injuring two bicyclists is convicted.

The Los Angeles Times has published multiple articles about bicycling in the past three days. Today, there is an article about the conviction of Dr. Chris Thompson for intentionally causing two cyclists to crash on Mandeville Canyon Road on July 4, 2008. You can read the article here. On Monday, there was an informative set of articles about cycling in the Times’ Health section. You can read that article here. Be sure to take a look at the “Related” box at the bottom left for additional resources and good safety advice. On Sunday, there was an article that put the Thompson trial in context for the local and national cycling community. You can read that article here.

The third in a series of five Community Meetings for the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan will be held on Thursday October 29, 2009 in the Pacific Park Community Center, Sycamore Room, 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. The focus of this meeting will be on “Issues in Your Neighborhood” related to walking and biking. This meeting will primarily be about “south” Glendale (which we’re defining as all areas south of the 134 freeway), but comments about other parts of the city will be welcome. Anyone who lives or works in Glendale is encouraged to attend. Business owners/merchants are also encouraged to attend. We’re interested in the ideas of people who walk or bike often as well as people who don’t walk or bike much (or at all). Please invite your friends, family, or co-workers to join us. The information provided by the public will help shape the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan, a set of bicycle and pedestrian policy recommendations for the City to adopt. RSVP is requested but not required to colin@la-bike.org  Translation into Spanish or Armenian will be provided upon request by calling (818) 548-2000 at least 72 hours prior to the meeting date. Click here to see the flyer listing all the meetings.

Summary of notes from October 21 Community Meeting

Thanks to everyone who attended the meeting on October 21 at the Brand Library Recital Hall. Here’s a brief summary of the discussion from that meeting. If you’d like to read more detailed notes from the meeting, click here. PLACE Grant Coordinator Colin Bogart facilitated the discussion while Glendale City Staff members Marc Stirdivant and Mike Nilsson recorded comments on poster pads. Attendees were asked a series of questions for discussion as well as questions for written responses on index cards. The focus of this meeting was mainly on “central” Glendale which was roughly defined as all areas north of the 134 freeway and south of Sparr Heights/Montecito Park/Oakmont. Here are some of the questions and responses.

When asked for the main reason they came to meeting, attendees mentioned a desire to help make Glendale more bike and pedestrian friendly, the need to improve motorists behavior, a desire for bike and pedestrian infrastructure such as a bridge to Griffith Park and bike lanes on Verdugo Road, and bike safety education programs.

When asked where they liked to walk in Glendale, attendees spoke of numerous streets in northwest Glendale, the Rancho area, and Verdugo Woodlands, among others. They also stressed that the time of day is important, indicating that they didn’t generally like walking during morning and evening rush hour. When asked about the bad places for walking, attendees mentioned bad areas due to speeding motorists including Glenoaks, Glendale Ave., and Verdugo Road. Several attendees also explained that they were concerned about safety in northwest Glendale which is frequently used by student drivers and for DMV testing. Attendees cited a need for sidewalks on Glenoaks between Central and Pacific as well as on Verdugo Road north of Wabasso to enable people to walk to Glorietta Park.

When asked about the bad places for biking, the attendees mentioned a lot of the same places that were bad for walking as well as San Fernando Road, Brand Blvd. (due to the angled parking) and Western Ave. As for good places to ride a bike, Mountain, Kenneth, Flower, Hermosita and Glenoaks were all mentioned.

Finally, there were multiple open-ended suggestions made regarding walking and biking. Several residents suggested the idea of closing some streets once a month to allow for biking and walking, a bike/pedestrian path along the Verdugo wash was suggested, the need for more bicycle parking was mentioned, and some called for more street furniture (and shade) so that seniors who are walking would have a place to rest.

Los Angeles Bike Plan Update

A draft of the updated Los Angeles Bike Plan has been released for public comment and community meetings have been scheduled. Since a large portion of Glendale is bordered by the City of Los Angeles, it’s definitely worth a look and for comments from Glendalians. A number of bike advocates in Los Angeles are critical of the draft plan. A recent summary published by Streetsblog Los Angeles should help to bring you up to date. Also, you might want to cross reference the City of Los Angeles’ proposed bike maps against the City of Glendale’s proposed bike map.

The two public meetings closest to Glendale will be October 26 in Van Nuys and November 4 in Northeast Los Angeles (between Mount Washington and Ernest Debs Park). Please note that there will also be a Safe & Healthy Streets Community Meeting in Sparr Heights on November 4th, so those of you in North Glendale might want to consider the LA Bike Plan meeting on the 26th or some of the other dates. All meeting dates and locations for the Draft LA Bike Plan as well as the draft document can be found here. Even if you can’t attend one of the meetings, you can also submit your comments online via the same website or by e-mailing Jordann Turner at Jordann.Turner@lacity.org  

At this time, the most important comment you can submit is to ask that the deadline for public comment be extended from November 6, 2009 to January 8, 2010 (the date requested by the City of Los Angeles’ Bicycle Advisory Committee and endorsed by the Bike Writers’ Collective, the LA County Bicycle Coalition and other groups). The draft plan is over 200 pages long and the current comment period is far too short.

Safe Routes to School National Partnership Hiring a Full-Time Policy Manager in Los Angeles area

The City of Glendale and the Glendale Unified School District have jointly initiated a Safe Routes to School program in Glendale. The following is a notice from the Safe Routes to School National Partnership which, up to now, has not had a representative in the Los Angeles/Glendale area.

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership is hiring a full-time California policy manager who will be based in the Los Angeles area. The policy manager will influence transportation funding allocations and policies at the state-level and in the six-county region governed by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) to benefit walking and bicycling for children and families, especially lower-income communities most vulnerable to childhood obesity. The California policy manager will work 20 hours/week on statewide issues and 20 hours/week on activities in Southern California, reporting to Deb Hubsmith, director of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, who also serves as Chair of the California State Network. The full job description along with instructions on how to apply can be found here.

The second in a series of five Community Meetings for the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan will be held on Wednesday October 21, 2009 in the Brand Library Recital Hall, 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. The focus of this meeting will be on “Issues in Your Neighborhood” related to walking or biking. This meeting will primarily be about central and northwest Glendale (north of the 134 freeway and south of Sparr Heights), but comments about other parts of the city will be welcome. Anyone who lives or works in Glendale is encouraged to attend. You don’t have to be an avid cyclist or pedestrian. In fact, we also encourage those who would like to walk or bike in Glendale more, but who don’t for various reasons. Please invite your friends, family, or co-workers to join you. The information provided by the public about their experiences will help develop the Safe and Healthy Streets Plan, a set of bicycle and pedestrian policy recommendations for the City to adopt. Translation into Spanish or Armenian will be provided upon request by calling (818) 548-2000 at least 72 hours prior to the meeting date. Click here to see the flyer listing all the meetings.

Summary of notes from First Safe & Healthy Streets Community Meeting

Thanks to everyone who attended the meeting on October 8 at the Central Library. Here’s a brief summary of the discussion from that meeting. If you’d like to read more detailed notes from the meeting, click here. PLACE Grant Coordinator Colin Bogart facilitated the discussion while Glendale City Staff members Marc Stirdivant and Mike Nilsson recorded comments on poster pads. Attendees were asked a series of questions for discussion as well as questions for written responses on index cards. Here are some of the questions and responses.

When asked “What do you think is good or bad about biking/walking in Glendale?” attendees spoke of aggressive drivers and distracted drivers (many on cell phones or texting) as a big part of what’s bad in Glendale about walking or biking. Cyclists and pedestrians seemed to agree that there’s a need for better driver awareness and education.

When asked “What are good/bad locations to walk/bike in Glendale?” the comments included concerns about drivers crowding crosswalks and that it’s difficult for pedestrians and cyclists to get across Glenoaks Blvd. and the 134 freeway. In terms of good locations, attendees mentioned that they liked the Montrose Shopping District as well as many of Glendale’s neighborhoods.

In response to the question “What would you like to change about biking/walking in Glendale?” there was a range of answers. Some spoke of street design changes and infrastructure such as stop lines being placed further from the crosswalks and street medians such as the new median on Glenwood, as well as more bike racks and sharrows. They also spoke of reducing speed limits and the possible use of speed enforcement cameras. Encouragement strategies were also discussed, such as Walk to School Days promoted city-wide, bigger promotion of Bike to Work Day/Week, and more community walks and rides.

Finally, the meeting ended with a discussion about what actions the attendees see the city has taken to improve conditions in Glendale for walking/biking. The group commended the City for its Safe Routes to School program (in partnership with GUSD), bike racks on all Beeline buses, new bike lanes on Glenoaks Blvd., bike racks for bike parking on Brand Blvd. downtown as well as Kenneth Village, and the many lighted crosswalks throughout the city.

Glendale Healthy Streets Meet Up Group

Glendale resident Cindy Coan has launched a Meet Up group to gather for lunch every Tuesday and to go for a lunchtime walk every Wednesday. “I plan to host a weekly lunch to encourage folks to get out on the streets, walking, using public transportation and visiting our local merchants. It is amazing what you see in a city when you get out of your car and walk around. I‘ve discovered more of the city this way. Although I lived in Glendale for over 10 years before I became car-free, by choice 3 years ago – I found places I never knew existed just by walking the same streets I drove daily. Although I don’t expect others to join my car-free quest, I would like to encourage people to slow-down, get out of their cars and discover the city and the people in it. Each Tuesday we’ll pick a local restaurant for lunch and provide information on how to get there on foot or via the Beeline Bus from various points in Glendale.” You can join the Glendale Healthy Streets Meet Up group and be notified about events as they are scheduled.

Reuters Health Article Points to Need for More Bicycle Infrastructure

A recent article in Reuters Health titled “Bicycle Injuries in US Becoming More Severe” concludes that, “Although the public is very enthusiastic about bicycle use as a means of transportation, we think that infrastructure has lagged behind in the US.” Essentially, the article is suggesting that the severity of bicycle injuries is getting worse and that it seems to involve commuter cyclists and motorists more often. The article alludes to the need for more bicycle infrastructure to catch up with the increasing popularity of cycling as transportation, but it can also be argued that there is a need for better education among motorists and cyclists so they can more safely interact on our streets.

The PLACE program, which funds the Safe & Healthy Streets project, seeks to establish better infrastructure for bicyclists and pedestrians as a means to help prevent health problems such as obesity and Type Two Diabetes. The goal is to create a built environment that encourages daily walking and biking so that the overall public health will improve. It’s interesting and worth noting that the medical community is now looking at the need for a better cycling (and walking?) environment to improve public health by helping to prevent injuries.

A quick reminder, the first in a series of five Community Meetings for the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan will be held tomorrow, Thursday October 8, 2009 in the Glendale Central Library Auditorium, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. Anyone who lives or works in Glendale is encouraged to attend. The series of meetings will be an opportunity for the public to share what’s good or bad about walking or biking in Glendale. The information provided by the public about their experiences will help develop the Safe and Healthy Streets Plan, a set of bicycle and pedestrian policy recommendations for the City to adopt. Translation into Spanish or Armenian will be provided upon request by calling (818) 548-2000 at least 72 hours prior to the meeting date. Click here to see the flyer listing all the meetings.

International Walk to School Day was a Huge Success at R.D. White Elementary

Hundreds of children walked to R.D. White Elementary School this morning to celebrate International Walk to School Day. Groups walked together from five different locations near the school. A brief assembly was held in front of the school before classes began. Students and parents were joined by a group of city, county, and school district officials including GUSD Board Members Mary Boger, Joylene Wagner and Christine Walters, Glendale Council Member Laura Friedman, California State Senator Carol Liu, L.A. County Health Department officials Nandini Sodhi and Suzanne Gero, and Glendale Police Department officers Lt. Gary Montecuollo and Sgt. Dennis Smith. Congratulations to Kara Watne-Sergile and the many volunteers who put this event together. Here’s a link to an NBC News video about the event. You can also read the article printed in the Glendale News Press. Here are a few photos.

Volunteer/parent Mike Colin (center) and his daughter Ailia lead a small group from California & Jackson

The assembly (in three parts) in front of R.D. White Elementary

Glendale resident Sally Browder and her daughter, Grace.

The first in a series of five Community Meetings for the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan will be held on Thursday October 8, 2009 in the Glendale Central Library Auditorium, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. Anyone who lives or works in Glendale is encouraged to attend. The series of meetings will be an opportunity for the public to share what’s good or bad about walking or biking in Glendale. The information provided by the public about their experiences will help develop the Safe and Healthy Streets Plan, a set of bicycle and pedestrian policy recommendations for the City to adopt. Please invite your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers! Translation into Spanish or Armenian will be provided upon request by calling (818) 548-2000 at least 72 hours prior to the meeting date. Click here to see the flyer listing all the meetings.

International Walk to School Day

A group of parents and students at R.D. White Elementary School will be celebrating International Walk to School Day on Wednesday, October 7 2009. The purpose of this event is to encourage children to be physically active by walking (or biking) to school, increase safety awareness for children and motorists (especially in school zones), and to encourage families to have fun and spend time together simply by walking—the easiest way to stay healthy. Five neighborhood locations have been set up where walkers can meet and walk to R.D. White. (If you can’t walk from your house, consider driving to one of these locations, parking your car and walking with the group.) Parent volunteers and school staff will be ready to walk from these locations at 7:50 a.m. on October 7. The locations are:

Glenoaks and N. Adams
Glenoaks and Geneva
Doran and Kenwood
California and Jackson
California and N. Adams

For more information or to help with the event, contact Karin Lunsford at (818) 649-0498. For more information about International Walk to School Day in the USA, click here.

Burbank and Pasadena Bike Plan Meetings

A quick reminder that the City of Burbank and the City of Pasadena are both hosting community meetings for their Bicycle Master Plan updates. Both meetings are scheduled for Thursday, October 1, 2009. Click here for details about Burbank’s meeting and here for details about Pasadena’s meeting. Burbank’s plan can now be downloaded from the Burbank site. It’s a safe bet that Glendale cyclists ride in Burbank and Pasadena. The challenge may be deciding which meeting to attend. The Draft Los Angeles Bike Plan has also been released for public comment. Details can be found here.

David Byrne to Speak About Bicycles and Cities

Musician, author and avid cyclist David Byrne will be speaking on Friday night, October 2 along with a panel of bicycling advocates and professionals as part of the ALOUD series, a program of the Los Angeles Library Foundation. Details can be found here.