Searching for road less traveled
By MICHAEL J. TITTINGER Daily Press Staff Writer
DOWNTOWN — The billboard for REI at Fourth Street and Broadway enticed its customers to “Get There Any Way You Can,” but local residents may think twice before taking the model’s lead and hopping on a bicycle in order to do so.
That’s because Santa Monica — a city which knows full well it isn’t easy being green — rates surprisingly low among comparably-sized communities in terms of being a bicycle-friendly metropolis. With just 3 percent of its busiest streets featuring an exclusive path for cyclists, the city gives itself a “poor” ranking in its Sustainable City Progress Report last year.
With more than 160 miles of arterial streets — those roadways designed for a high degree of mobility and traffic — the city has in place less than five miles’worth of designated paths; hardly a means of encouraging more commuting via bicycle, something a city grappling with traffic congestion, parking and energy conservation would seem to embrace.
A Federal Highway Administration study has concluded that the public generally considers bike paths useful in facilitating recreational bicycling, but not commuter riding. Bike lanes within arterial streets have proven more effective in prompting would-be air-conditioned gypsies to don a helmet and utilize pedal power.
City planners have their work cut out for them if they intend to meet their stated goal of having 35 percent of their arterial streets lined with bike paths by 2010, as outlined in the sustainable progress report.
“I would say there is a need for more (designated bike paths), but we need to make sure they are in places that are safe for bicyclists,” said Mayor Bob Holbrook. “People riding bicycles expect to be safe.”
Aside from the dearth of bike paths, the safety of bicycling about the city, especially in a congested downtown area, keeps its fair share of bicycles stored away in the garage.
Holbrook acknowledged as much, pointing out that the northern part of the city is conducive to alternative means of travel, but those looking to negotiate the thoroughfares in an increasingly congested downtown “have to have a death wish.”
“You got to be careful out there,”
Holbrook said. “Sometimes it’ll show a bike lane, but they are narrow. People open car doors. I can’t imagine trying to squeeze between cars sometimes, even though they are marked as bike lanes.”
Holbrook recounted one episode in which he was driving on Ocean Avenue, preparing to park, when he noticed a girl in the street tangled up in her fallen bike. The girl thought Holbrook was going to back up.
“The city hasn’t necessarily gotten on board,”
“Bicycling should be a viable option.” — Mooney said
“I didn’t hit her, but I never saw her,” he said.“I think these things happen more than we imagine.”
SPINNING THEIR WHEELS In the March issue of Bicycling Magazine, editors examined more than 500 cities in an effort to determine the “Best Cities for Cycling.” They used a formula based on a given region’s number of bike routes, bike racks, plans or projects in the works, bike culture, geography, the quality of its roads, weather, expert surveys and reader polls.
While Santa Monica didn’t warrant an official ranking in its bracket of cities with a population between 75,000 and 200,000, it was evident what cities separated themselves from the rest of the proverbial peloton.
The best of the bunch were deemed to be Boulder, Colo., Eugene, Ore., and Ann Arbor, Mich., a city that surprisingly cracked the top three via a 5-percent gas tax being earmarked for the development of non-motor vehicle transportation. In Boulder, city officials removed close to 40 parking spots from one well-traveled street in favor of additional bike lanes.
“That shows real commitment,” said Loren Mooney, an executive editor for Bicycling Magazine. “One thing we know — the more bike lanes that are built, the more people will use them. The more cyclists on the street, the more cars are aware of them, and then we have safer streets.”
Mooney feels its a good sign, at least, that Santa Monica officials admit they are dissatisfied with the bicycle culture on the local level, but adds plenty more focus will be required to foster such an environment and achieve their stated goals.
PEDAL AT YOUR OWN RISK On a positive note, the city of Santa Monica is currently pursuing the development of an additional bikeway and adjacent pedestrian path for 1.3 miles along the Exposition right-of-way corridor, between Centinela Avenue and 17th Street. The project will ultimately be the westernmost segment of an envisioned continuous bikeway from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles. Phase one of the Exposition Light Rail Project incorporates an adjacent bike facility from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City.
As it stands now, the 3.11-mile stretch of bike path on the beach is the city’s lone dedicated bike path.
“They really don’t have a lot of bike lanes. They could have more,” said Carol Acutt, of Venice, while locking up her bike alongside husband Robin last week near Chess Park. “Downtown, you feel like you’re taking your life in your hands. I don’t feel comfortable. The buses are scary... very aggressive.”
Two years ago, Sabrina Champi, also of Venice, saw a bicyclist killed when a car turned to get onto the I-10 freeway.
“I’ve been cut-off before,” said Champi, who prefers Venice’s side streets to cycling around Santa Monica. “Downtown is a dangerous area. It’s a real bitch.”
Cyclists taking to the sidewalk in efforts to escape the traffic is not an uncommon site in the downtown district — defined as Ocean Avenue to Lincoln Boulevard to the east, and from Wilshire Boulevard to the north to Pico Boulevard to the south.
Bicycling Magazine’s Mooney insists fleeing to the pedestrian pavement is never advisable, not to mention illegal.
“It’s virtually always a better idea to be on the streets, but never try to beat a bus. Who do you think is gonna win?” posed Mooney, an avid cyclist. “Of course, the best thing to do is talk to the city government so a cyclist doesn’t have to choose between battling a bus or battling a pedestrian.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 18, 2006. Read the original PDF.