Before I get into today’s topic, please be sure you take our bike survey and check out our schedule of upcoming community open houses. Both the survey and the open houses will largely inform our master plan proposals and survey participants will have a chance to win a $100 gift certificate to Hermosa Cyclery!
Back to business…in September, the City of Redondo Beach adopted Measure G; a controversial land use measure that will affect future development of the RB harbor area. The specifics of this ballot measure proved to be imminently controversial. Members on both sides of issue fervently expressed their opinions. As such, I have no plans to discuss my own opinion here. What I will say about Measure G is that it is actually a victory for the South Bay’s bike planning world. The Measure calls for a minimum of a 10-foot wide “promenade” along the waterfront. This promenade is reserved for pedestrian and…wait for it….BIKE TRAFFIC! As it happens, 10-feet also happen to be the recommended width of a two-way bike path.
Measure G is one of several oddly serendipitous examples of bike planning advancements in our region. Among other examples are Leadership Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach’s 2010 class projects which aim to install “artisanal” bike racks throughout the two cities, Baiku and Bike Connects newest bike-sharing and bike parking proposals (also controversial), Voltage Net’s proposal for electric bike charging stations, and of course, Healthway’s Blue Zone Vitality City Initiative which is focus upon livability, walkability and bikeability in the three beach communities. Is it just me, or is there a lot of bike talk in the South Bay?
Perhaps the bike planning and advocacy that has taken place throughout the County in the past few years has finally reached its tipping point. Or maybe people are just really sick of being stuck in traffic or not having any other viable options.
Either way, I am increasingly excited and optimistic that there is this much momentum behind the cause. Of course, I have to ask – will the collective outcome of these projects be enough to sustain the cultural shift towards which we are all striving? Come to one of our open houses and tell us what you think will make our initiative successful.