Hooray for Burbank! I used their secure bike lockers at that station for about 7 months and they were great. Kept a bike in one of those lockers overnight and over weekends no problem. Using the locker beats carrying the commuter bike on the bus or train any day.
OverTheHill07.23.07 - 11:08 pm
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Survey was a breeze. I stumbled upon the story below and just really couldn't figure out how residents would oppose a bike lane. I mean... Riverside Dr. doesn't seem like they are having issues w/ safety... run ins w/ horses... or more crime. I mean... well... I don't know.
Burbank Leader
Weekend, October 21-22, 2006
Page 1 Story
Bike lane opponents win city hall fight
Concern that a proposed bike lane along Sparks Street would bring safety problems, congestion trumps $265,500 grant.
By Chris Wiebe
CITY HALL — Sparks Street residents opposing a new bikeway fought City Hall and won.
Yielding to the pressure of a packed City Council chamber — with many in attendance wearing yellow tags on their clothing indicating their opposition to a proposed bikeway — council members directed the city's Planning Department Tuesday to abandon plans to use Sparks and Beachwood Drive to create a regional connector between the Chandler Bikeway and Riverside Drive bike lanes.
"I'm 100% supportive of expanding the bike lanes in our cities and making our city a more bike-friendly city," Councilman Dave Golonski said. "But as we go through that process, we also have to be cognizant of what our residents tell us."
Debating the pros and cons of the many issues surrounding the project was ultimately inconsequential in light of residents' mounted opposition to the proposal, he added.
"Whether I agree or disagree, it doesn't matter," he said. "If the whole area doesn't really want it, I think we should go back to the drawing board and come up with an alternative."
The proposed bikeway was already facing budget shortfalls of $220,000, as a result of escalating project costs, senior planner David Kriske said.
The city would have had to work out funding gaps with Caltrans were the project to have moved forward, he added.
But now that the project is off the table, the future of the $265,500 Caltrans grant, obtained to foster a north-south connection for bicyclists away from main arterial streets in residential areas, will be put in jeopardy, Kriske said.
Sparks residents, who generated petitions from some 600 to 700 people, are just glad the city will not be using their neighborhood to connect Chandler Bikeway and Riverside Drive. They argued that the proposed connector would pose safety hazards for residents and their children, increase traffic congestion, the potential for crime, loitering in the area and also create conflict between horses and bicyclists in an area used for equestrian activities.
"It is not the majority of the citizenry that is opposed," neighborhood resident Nicholas DeWolf said. "But it is all of the citizenry that live in these proposed pathways."
At the council's direction, the Planning Department will now seek out alternative connectors in accordance with the city's master bicycle plan, which aims to make 5% of all trips taken in Burbank to be taken via bicycle.
digablesoul07.23.07 - 11:43 pm
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That is un-fucking-believable.
angle07.24.07 - 1:44 am
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a bike lane will bring crime?
If by crime they mean people going outside and not burning fossil fuels, then maybe...
Or maybe they have something against public drunkenness....
FuzzBeast07.24.07 - 2:10 am
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Just the usual douchebag NIMBYs who don't want smelly poor people (that's who rides bikes, remember) coming near their houses or horses. Just like the Westside homeowners back in the sixties and seventies who adamantly opposed subways coming through their neighborhoods because the subways would make it easier for THEM...you know, THEM...to come in from Watts (in the popular imagination of the sixties and seventies, all black people west of the Mississippi lived in Watts).
Or am I misinterpreting something here?
PC07.24.07 - 3:25 am
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Hmm... I'm wondering if the people at Cruz with us would like to pay Sparks St. and Beachwood a visit for this coming Wes Anderson ride. Talk about an invasion. Even though this was back in October... I'd like to show them what bike riding is all about. Maybe zig zag and just back on Chandler.
digablesoul07.24.07 - 9:43 am
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Maybe that would not be a good idea cause it would prove their point that it brings the "outsiders"but then the city has dropped the plans so then who cares right? Or would it spoil future plans for a North/South route for Burbank.
Personally, I've found Flower St. a good alternative to Victory... starts in Glendale (near the Dreamworks/ABC) which ends at the Burbank Metrolink statiion. It's Industrial... no need to add additional lights... blah.. blah... but that's the thing....why push it away from neigborhoods? I mean the BB's up in Berkeley look like it's working out. We all remember riding our bikes as kids... all I see on Chandler and locals out with their kids biking, walking, etc. This benefits everyone. I need to stop.
To invade or not to invade...
digablesoul07.24.07 - 10:22 am
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Listen up, hippy.
Get a job.
Get a car.
And learn to be like the rest of us.
I don't need you 'blocking my way' while I'm on my way to work. Even though you're moving faster than me 75% of the time, your presence is still an eyesore.
And man do I hate patchouli.
kyber07.24.07 - 10:28 am
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This looks like a job for - Captain Sharrow!
Joe Borfo07.24.07 - 11:07 am
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better yet. why don't we just have an afternoon Sunday drive through the area. We can just loop our cars through the area that they don't want a bike lane. We could put signs on our cars that say, "I would rather be riding, but the community doesn't want me here on my bike" Then we can come back the following week and ride our bikes and see which one they perfer. If I can't get a car, I'll want a helmet so I can be Richie's biker bitch.
sexy07.24.07 - 12:23 pm
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oh and lets do it at bicycle speed. We don't want to zoom through their neighborhood. 9 to 15 mph.
sexy07.24.07 - 12:25 pm
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That's actually a really good idea.
We would also need someone to document it so the 'higher ups' can see it. We all know they rarely leave their quaint castles in the hills.
kyber07.24.07 - 1:02 pm
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Maybe we can get the band
Beachwood Sparks to reunite and do a benefit show for their thwarted namesake bike lane.
While rolling through is a great idea, only those who're home at that moment will notice. Captain Sharrow, however, will stick around for a long time to say "howdy" to the whole freakin' 'hood. Plus they'd hate it if we congregated at Sparks St. and Chandler Blvd. bikeway (see below).
The City of Burbank's website was kind enough to specify the address blocks of the residents who rejected the plan. Here's a few choice highlights from the site:
In July 2006, staff received a petition from residents of the 600 and 700 block of Sparks Street objecting to the proposed project routing along their street.
...Residents cited concerns over increased bicycle and vehicular travel in their neighborhood...as well as a fear that the introduction of non-residents to the street on bicycle would increase crime.
Residents of Sparks Street near Chandler believed that installation of the proposed pedestrian ramp at Chandler would result in parking impacts to neighboring residences because people could use the pedestrian ramp as a waypoint to congregate for the purpose of beginning a bicycle or walking trip on Chandler.
Some residents...felt that more “aggressive” cyclists might pose a conflict to other users of the street. The proposed...in-roadway shared lane stencils will encourage proper riding position in the roadway, rather than between parked cars or on the sidewalk.
And here's my favorite part. Burbank has historical data showing that bike lanes REDUCE crime!
At the request of the City Council, the Police Department conducted a review of crime statistics along Chandler Boulevard before and after installation of the Chandler bikeway. Review of this data showed a significant decrease in crime after the bikeway opening, including a 68% reduction in index crimes, 67% reduction in violent crimes, and a 28% reduction in all other crimes.
Let's hope the residents of Keystone Street are a little more civic-minded:
If the City Council were to reject the Beachwood-Sparks Bikeway project, staff would recommend designating Keystone Street as the preferred route between Chandler Boulevard and Riverside Drive...
two wheels good07.24.07 - 3:29 pm
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*snif*
I loved Beachwood Sparks, man.
PC07.24.07 - 3:37 pm
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Interesting info Two Wheels... especially the statistics on Chandler.. I'm going to have start rolling on Keystone from now on. Let the residents start getting used to the this thing called... the bicycle on their streets.
digablesoul07.24.07 - 9:08 pm
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The newspaper article didn't get it quite right. I was at the Burbank meeting. While there were definitely some lame ass, NIMBY excuses for not allowing a Class III bike route in their neighborhood (think 4th street as it is now, NOT an actual bike lane, THAT was the plan), the main concern was over a new traffic light to be installed at a major cross street. This made residents concerned that more auto drivers would cut through their neighborhood as a short-cut to the freeway. Made sense at the time. I wouldn't want more cars in my neighborhood either. Of course, these same people did come up with some really stupid reasons why the city should not proceed with the project, but ultimately it was the traffic light and potential increase in auto traffic that killed the whole deal. Many of the council members went to great lengths to express their support of bike projects and to clarify that it was the dreaded traffic light that led them to their "no" vote. Afterward, they agreed to spend the city money (about $20K) on some other bike project. It seemed to me that the original plan was a poor one to begin with. There are other residential streets in that area with traffic lights already in place at major cross streets (I rode the area myself a month or two later). I never understood why the City of Burbank didn't just place the route on one of those streets instead. Apparently, no changes could be made once Caltrans had approved the funding. The biggest expense in the project was the installation of new traffic lights at one intersection and moving traffic lights from another intersection to a location about 1 block away. Go figure. As a side note, about two months later, these same residents opposed the construction of a new Whole Foods Market in their neighborhood. It seems they don't like anything to change.
Troisvelos07.27.07 - 4:34 pm
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