EVERYBODY!
Thread started by
Americanspeed at 10.8.10 - 7:04 pm
please send e-mails to this woman explaining why we need bike lanes, thank you.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banks-20101009,0,5955452.column?track=rss
sandy.banks@latimes.com
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What you call the "runiation of my favorite street" is what many others are considering a welcome reprieve from from the ruination of a once quiet residential street that has been increasingly abused by speeders as a major thoroughfare . Does your desire to zip through another's neighborhood supersede the desires of locals to live in a safe environment?
The purpose of the changes on Wilbur are to make a "road diet"
a conscious decision to make wilbur the street people DO NOT pick when they are trying to blast through the valley as quickly as possible.
Yes a road diet does make room for bicycles. And it does have the effect of slowing down traffic,. But its main purpose is to make the road safer for residents, pedestrians, dog walkers, stroller pushers, cyclists, and all other vulnerable road users.
Its hubristic to assume your convenience supersedes the safety and well being of the residents who live in the neighborhoods that you use as a highway.
- Patrick Miller
trickmilla10.8.10 - 7:28 pm
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it is wrong to assume that a driver can even measure the distance visually that a bicycist needs. Do we need to risk someones life on inaccuracies of a badly designed road. Santa barabra has then on single lane roads Long Beach, responsible cities have them why cant LA. We have to wait for a mayor to get hurt for us to do something, for how many people to die and get hit.
veronica10.8.10 - 7:36 pm
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Good info. Dont bother trying to contact the writer of the story. Call councilman GREIG SMITH (818) 756-8501 OR EMAIL councilmember.smith@lacity.org. We are bigger and far more organized than a bunch of lazy fat ass drivers.
shotgun_mike10.8.10 - 9:26 pm
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Your email could look somthing like this............>
Honorable Councilmember Greig Smith:
I write to you in support of the new bike lanes added to Wilbur Avenue.
Reducing the number of car lanes on Wilbur means a safer street. Reduced lanes lowers speeds and increases safety for all road users, whether drivers, passengers, cyclists or pedestrians. The new lane striping is especially helpful for the safety of elementary school children crossing Wilbur to get to Topeka Drive Elementary School and Calahan Street Elementary School.
Thank you for looking out for public safety and the quality of life of all Valley residents as you decide the future of Wilbur Avenue.
NAME
ADDRESS [be sure to include address - let him know you live/work in the San Fernando Valley]
shotgun_mike10.8.10 - 9:30 pm
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I emailed Greig Smith back in August when the initial uproar over the Wilbur road diet surfaced. He replied 3 weeks later, citing a few residents who had complained about increased traffic and said they had not seen any bicyclists on the road.
Irritating quotes from the LA Times article:
"The bike people get mad at me, but cars ought to take priority," and
"Why take lanes away to benefit 2% of the population to the negative impact on the 98% who are driving cars?"
He is reading our emails though so I strongly urge people to send off a quick message in support of the lanes. Mine is flying through teh interwebz now...
Rach Stevo responding to a
comment by shotgun_mike
10.8.10 - 10:04 pm
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The author of this article considers the highest and best use of a road to be as a sewer pipe for automobiles.
Well, sister, I'm sorry but driving at an excessive speed where children play is not a God-given right. A street designed to move only automobiles in residential area destroys the relationships people have with each other, literally rending the social fabric into pieces.
A system of roads turned over to automobile only uses turns the elderly, the poor, and the young into a disabled minority - unable to go about the ordinary business of living.
A bike lane not only provides for a greater share of the road to cover more eventualities in a person's economic life, it slows automobile travel - a net benefit to those living along this street.
ubrayj02 responding to a
comment by Rach Stevo
10.8.10 - 11:08 pm
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I also emailed the author. She is out of the office until Wednesday according to the automated email reply I got. Wouldn't it be awesome if she returned to 50 emails outlining why cyclists deserve space on the road?
Send that info! Sandy.Robinson@latimes.com
Rach Stevo responding to a
comment by ubrayj02
10.8.10 - 11:19 pm
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This is what I sent her:
From your article, I can only assume that you consider the highest and best use of a road to be as a sewer pipe for automobiles.
Well, sister, I'm sorry but driving at an excessive speed where children play is not a God-given right. A street designed to move only automobiles in a residential area destroys the relationships people have with each other, literally rending the social fabric into pieces.
A system of roads turned over to automobile only uses turns the elderly, the poor, and the young into a disabled minority - unable to go about the ordinary business of living.
A bike lane not only provides for a greater share of the road to cover more eventualities in a person's economic life, it slows automobile travel - a net benefit to those living along this street.
__
There is substance to your article, however, in how this bike lane was executed. The long-time bike advocates in this town, those who track every bike lane painted, those who follow up with council offices and with the bureaucrats in city hall - these bike advocates were shocked to find out that this lane was striped. The councilman from the area was shocked. The neighborhood council was shocked. All of these people deeply concerned with a matter such as this shocked - why?
The real story is the LADOT, a department (among several in LA), built from the ground up to completely push aside public opinion and local concerns in favor of whatever project goals its shrouded in mystery managers dream up.
Somebody woke up one morning and decided to paint a bike lane. At least, it seems that way from the outside looking in.
The LADOT has built a reputation as a pre-eminent street planning machine, able to crush local opposition to "innovations" in road design that run in the opposite direction of local quality of life and local commerce. They are not held to any standard but the "Pitchfork Test". That is, unless a group of people show up with torches and pitchforks, screaming an LADOT office or bureau chief's name, the LADOT will pave right over a local community.
And with these bike lanes, will there ever be a count of cyclists using them? No.
Will there ever be a count of the traffic casualties on this street? No.
Any sociological studies to gauge the impact of such a design change? No.
What will we get then? Paint, a little controversy, and big middle finger from the LADOT.
__
So, while I totally support an interconnected citywide bikeway network, I do not support such a network being built unmonitored and clandestinely.
ubrayj02 responding to a
comment by Rach Stevo
10.8.10 - 11:29 pm
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I rode this route tonight to see what the big deal was. Friday nite about 10pm. I saw maybe 5 cars on wilbur from rayen st up to devonshire. The people that are complaining are the people who drop their kids off at school (im guessing). There are maybe 10 houses facing wilbur....the rest are backs of houses (walls). They should just buy their kids a bike. Let em bike to school like i used to .........
shotgun_mike10.9.10 - 12:13 am
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