Bike Freeways in Germany

Muhlheim an Der Ruhr or Old Laguna Canyon Road

Duisheim to Hamm 62km long connects 10 cities

To remove drivers from cars Germany is building bicycle highways exclusively for bike use. The bicycle Autobahn connects cities following abandoned rail routes and expanses in Germany's Rust Belt.  A 6-foot wide pedestrian path runs alongside but is separated by a grassy median to prevent people or their dogs from straying into the bicycle lane.

The first 5-km stretch of the Duisheim bike Autobahn is open, 62-km when finished the Bikebahn will remove 50,000 cars from roads each day (study). On the Mulheim route stop at Radmosphere - a bicycle cafe for cyclists.

"Building highways in cities is a life-threatening recipe from the 1960s," ADAC manager Stork. "No one wants more cars in cities."

ALTAIR Irvine holds their Grand Opening 30 September 2017, 27 Model Homes, 10 new neighborhoods. Guess where they drive to the beach? So what will Laguna Beach do, approve Get-Moving toll roads and parking garages, or alternative transportation?

Remember: "Build it and they will come"  Let's build smart    -LS

TODAY is PARKING DAY!

Bag a meter

Add public seating

It's Parking Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Always the third Friday in September, a worldwide event where artists planners designers and residents reclaim public space from automobiles. On 17 September 2010 Laguna Beach residents organized their first Parking Day.

40 years of catch-up

Consulting

When in Laguna choose the appropriate vehicle.

Community Space

Work Space

Social Space

Reclaim public space for our Seniors, public announcements, education, dining, games, organizing, gardens.

Your PARKING DAY Orgnaizers

How to build a Public Parklett in 60 minutes on time with no budget.        -LS

Paris Breathes Celebration 1 October 2017

Credit Click: Forbes, Paris Visitors Bureau

While Paris bans cars to celebrate traffic-free zones called "Paris Breathes", Laguna Beach bans smoking to celebrate "Breathe Easy". Can LB catch-up?

-LS 

How to Build a Laguna Bike Rack, Part 13

Credit: boredpanda dot com and Artist Damon Belanger

Better than bubble gum.   -LS

Sawdust Festival Bike Parking

While claiming to support cycling alternatives to the car, these photographs show the true status of bicycle parking at the Laguna Beach Sawdust Festival after the steel Magnolias were installed. The sculptures remain a colorful distraction to the real need for Sawdust bike parking. Artists rely on bikes but the City relies on image, when will the City opt for car alternatives?   Judge for yourself (click photos to enlarge).

April 2016 Bike Rack Stunt

Transport by bicycle is one way to relieve Laguna's car saturated mobility system but in 2012 the City disapproved bike racks for Sawdust Festival. Effective transport infrastructure is less about opportunistic political photo-ops with city cheer-leading, and more about commitment to Complete Street Policy with effective planning and design. Clearly Artist Liz Avalon is good at design.    -LS

Hoboken NY Parking Solution

Click for Credit: Hoboken411

Finally, a 10,000 car parking garage from a thinking contributor:

• Provides Long-term parking multi-story garage
• Resident FREE parking permit with winning lottery ticket
• 15,000 parking permits are issued each year
• FREE in-lieu parking permits for homeless

-LS

How Yosemite Does Parking

Click for Credit: LA Times Story

From the article:

• 6500 parking spaces
• Staging areas outside the park are impractical, even un-American
• Car driving is free-choice, buses are socialism - Board of Supervisors
• Each year tourists bring $686 Million to Yosemite Valley
• Car entry fee $30
• Park's latest pilot plan:  150 parking spaces available for $1.50 on-line fee
• Laguna gets 6 million visitors per year (Visitors Bureau)
• Yosemite has a million to go

Clearly Yosemite needs more parking, like a parking garage. Mebbe eight? Decades ago the Yosemite Valley Railroad served the valley with passenger trains, restoration of the rail is politically unpopular and financially challenged, but you can still trace the old railbed by car.
     
UPDATE:  10/23/17 Car entry fees are expected to double, $70 per vehicle will pay for bathrooms, parking lots and road construction. Building more car infrastructure draws more cars, what better example than Yosemite.      -LS

Ohio Capitol Does the Unthinkable

Columbus Ohio doesn't have a rail system and they aren't building 8 parking structures. Instead they are buying bus passes for 43,000 workers. 

Click for CITYLAB story

• Office rents tumble, vacancies up, business blame insufficient parking, sound familiar?
• Building parking structures is cost prohibitive and futile
• Developers, property owners, employers, and cities subsidize actual parking costs
• Parking Requirements tie cars to job access
• Building owners pay for Free-Pass instead of Parking Requirements
• Pilot Free-Pass program doubled ridership, frees- up parking
• Laguna Beach Live/Work take note 

-LS

Laguna Beach Land Use Plan

Photos in order: the amount of land consumed in San Francisco for

• pavement
• parked cars
• transit
• bikes

Should Laguna Beach adopt the SF plan?  How about that Oklahoma plan?        -LS

Credit: Matthew Lewis, Twitter

Here's Oklahoma City,  pavement and sidewalks.

CicLAvia San Pedro to Wilmington Sunday

 Think of CicLAvia as a public education tool to build bike modeshare. 

What did Artwalk do for Laguna pedestrian awareness?  Think CicLBvia.   -LS