December 25, 2011
Yeah, take a look at that nice wheelcatcher rut in the picture! Not to mention the “normal” cracks and debris. This is the Imperial Highway bike lane, which I rode along this morning on an otherwise beautiful ride, up over the Baldwin Hills on La Brea and thence past the airport on Aviation to Imperial which took me down to the blue Pacific Ocean, which I can’t complain about.
I can complain about this bike lane, though. It has been suffering a bit of neglect, I should say, and I’d hate to see what happened some night if a faster rider tried to pass a slower one and let his wheel wander into that chasm. (Some parts of it are worse than this, too.) Motor traffic moves pretty fast along there; the road’s configured as a mini-freeway, with a 45mph speed limit that scofflaw drivers (ie, all of them) typically bust by 20 if not more.
It’s not as though cyclists never use this route either. Today–on Christmas Day!–I passed three or four other riders in the short time I was on Imperial. And two of them were men in suits and ties riding to work together, probably at a nearby Japanese hotel. Roadies use it to access the beach bike path, as do recreational riders, and with loads of employment in the area–the airport, numerous hotels, aerospace, shipping, and warehousing, as well as diners and various local businesses–plus lots of housing south of the airport, I’d say this bike path sees plenty of traffic.
Yes, Los Angeles, bicycle riders actually use these things!
It needs attention before sombody gets hurt. Hell, the car lanes themselves need attention! This being the westbound side of the highway, bewteen Sepulveda and Pershing, it is (just) within the City of Los Angeles, so I figure it’s up to LADOT and the Bureau of Street services.
There is a project to add the presently-missing last 2,000 feet of bike lane just east of Pershing, but I’d rather see the several miles of substandard lane improved first, myself.
Or both, of course!
Wouldn’t that be a sweet (if much-belated, should it happen at all) Christmas gift for LAX-area cyclists?
These bike lanes are mest up already have you seen the bike lane on silverlake?? that lane is really cracked with bumps and parts of branches! I like that the bike lanes are their for fellow riders but the condition is outrageous!
Comment by Charlie — December 27, 2011 @ 10:55 pm
[...] guys, as a bike rider shoots and kills a man in South L.A. Richard Risemberg criticizes the same crumbling Imperial Highway bike lanes I wrote about last March. A Santa Monica columnist criticizes “arrogant creeps” and [...]
Pingback by Dahab arraigned, CA cops under no obligation to investigate or report, and Santa left a bunch of links « BikingInLA — December 28, 2011 @ 1:36 am