Laguna Streets: May 2017

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Caltrans New Bike & Ped Master Plan

California now has one, issued by the Cal Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in May 2017 get it here.

Visit the California Bike and Pedestrian Webpage here.

The plan sets these ambitious targets:

Double walking, triple bicycling, and double transit by 2020
Reduce bicycle and pedestrian fatalities by ten percent per year
Increase the number of Complete Streets projects by 20%

The Caltrans plan should impact South Coast Highway and Laguna Canyon Road directly.

Laguna Beach has no Bike and Pedestrian Master Plan (BPMP), Laguna residents provided a draft plan SEVEN YEARS ago but it was never considered. Neighboring beach cities adopted theirs, see San Clemente's BPMP here, the approved Newport Beach BPMP here.

-LS

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Hey Lagunatics Hello from Paris

In every corner you find....

Hello, all you wannabe bike riders!

It's been the first time I've been on a bike in 30 years!! We are in Paris, and I decided to try once again. I loved biking, as a child. How wonderful to feel the wind against my face, and my feet peddling me again, my heart pounding! I feel safe. I am going to ride my first time down a street closed off to cars, one of many, alternating weekly throughout this beautiful city.

I realize, sadly, that I will never ride a bike in the village where we live ...Laguna. I feel protected and secure in the middle of this bustling city. Here in Paris the government is concerned about my safety and the safety of pedestrians. I realize I will NEVER ride down LCR, and NEVER on PCH. I am fearful. Since I am unskilled and a novice, I won't ride on our hills, fearful I might fall. Only a flat street feels safe.

In Paris, the bikers ride in the bus lanes, and no cars can cut in and out. Today I tried it. I wore my helmet. The rental bike was affordable and I could leave it at my destination. So... now that I rediscovered a new treat...what about my safety when I return home? Again, I realize I will not be riding any bicycles in Laguna. What to do ???

L to R: Under Mayor Anne Hidalgo's plan to remove private cars from Paris many streets are redesignated bike and pedestrian only pathways. This shoreline was formerly a motorway and parking-lot is now a public Parklett. Another motorway now exclusively for cyclists and pedestrians.