The report for the Glendale Bicyclist and Pedestrian Count that was conducted in September 2009 is out now. To open and save a PDF copy of the report, click here. The data collected in the 2009 count has also been included into a national bicyclist and pedestrian count database called the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project. We will be conducting another Glendale count at the same locations in September 2010. We will then be able to compare results between the two different counts. After the count in September 2010, we will encourage the City of Glendale to continue conducting counts each September. Thanks once again to all the volunteers who conducted the count throughout the city.
There are a few items worth noting when reviewing data from the three primary count periods: Wednesday morning 7-9 am, Wednesday evening 5-7 pm, and Saturday morning 10 am -12 noon.
Bicyclists
The intersection at Sonora Ave. and Flower Street had the highest total number of cyclists for all of the time periods recorded in the count. The high numbers are probably due to the intersection’s proximity to Griffith Park and the Disney complex, and to Sonora’s role as a primary Glendale corridor to and from the park. It’s not known how many of the cyclists were riding for recreation and how many were riding for transportation. Most likely, it was a mixture of the two. Regardless of the cyclists’ reason for riding, there’s clearly a demand for bicycle infrastructure in the area around Sonora and Flower. Honolulu Ave. and Ocean View Blvd., right in the center of the Montrose Shopping Park, didn’t see particularly high numbers of cyclists during the week, but it did see a high number of cyclists on the weekend when it became the number two intersection for the number of weekend riders. The third highest number of weekend riders was recorded at the intersection of Grandview and Glenoaks, possibly due to the bike lanes striped on Glenoaks last year. Other intersections that saw comparatively high numbers of cyclists during the three count periods include Brand and Broadway, Los Feliz and San Fernando Road, Brand and Chevy Chase, and Maple Street and Chevy Chase. See Table A-3, page 15 of the report, for the data.
Pedestrians
The highest total number of pedestrians was counted at Brand and Broadway for all three count periods. Los Feliz and San Fernando Road ranked the second highest for pedestrians on Wednesday morning and the third highest for pedestrians on Saturday. Ocean View and Honolulu ranked the second highest for pedestrians on Wednesday evening and on Saturday. Glendale Ave. and Wilson ranked the third highest for pedestrians on Wednesday morning and Wednesday evening. Pedestrians were not counted outside the entrance to the Americana at Brand, nor were pedestrians counted on Central between the Americana and the Glendale Galleria. One or both of these locations will be included in the 2010 count.
Intersections on the Riverdale/Maple Physical Project Corridor saw mid-range numbers of pedestrians and bicyclists for all three time periods. This demonstrates reasonable demand with a potential for increased bicyclist and pedestrian use. The Physical Project Corridor intersections are Riverdale and Columbus, Glendale and Maple, Chevy Chase and Maple, and Lincoln and Colorado.
A small number of intersections were chosen for counting on Saturday morning, 8-10 am. These intersections were chosen as locations that might have high numbers of bicyclists at that time. Sonora and Flower ranked number one for total number of cyclists among the seven specially chosen intersections. Glenoaks and Grandview ranked second while Kenneth and Sonora ranked third. Among the seven special locations, Foothill and Pennsylvania ranked number one for pedestrians while Glenoaks and Chevy Chase ranked number two and Honolulu and La Crescenta ranked number three.
Glendale Sharrows in the Press
We’re happy to report that the sharrows on Grandview Ave. are quickly getting press coverage. Shortly after they were painted, Streetsblog Los Angeles posted a story about the Glendale debut of this bike-friendly symbol. Today, the Glendale News Press features a front page story about the Grandview Avenue sharrows. Click here to read the Glendale News Press article.
If you support sharrows and look forward to more bike-friendly street improvements such as sharrows, bike lanes, and bike racks, we encourage you to write an e-mail/letter of support to the Glendale City Council and to the Glendale News Press. Without letters of support, it’s easy to assume that no one cares about sharrows or that the community doesn’t like the new street markings. Please take a minute to send a short message of support.
Additional news about sharrows. The City of Hermosa Beach painted sharrows on Hermosa Avenue just a week or so before Glendale painted theirs on Grandview. You can read about it in the Daily Breeze. The Federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices which dictates all of the signs and street markings that can be used in the U.S. has just been revised to include sharrows. Click here to see the revised Federal MUTCD. Previously, the state of California was one of the few states to officially recognize them. Many states and cities that have implemented sharrows have done so as special pilot projects. Now that the symbol is officially recognized on the Federal level, it’s likely we will see more sharrows painted nation-wide in the coming years.
Burbank Bike Plan Follow Up
The Burbank City Council approved the adoption of their proposed Bike Plan as prepared by the City’s Planning department. The Burbank plan includes some projects that could benefit from collaboration between the City of Glendale and the City of Burbank. Such collaboration is encouraged within the plan which we are happy to see. The Glendale News Press has published an article about the council’s approval which you can read by clicking here. Congratulations to the Burbank City Staff who worked on the plan!
