The Netherlands installs barrier protected cycle tracks alongside busy streets and not unprotected b

It s always busy, it s an important bus corridor, and much of it is in lousy, bone-rattling condition, especially in South L.A. Moreover, there are few spots where you feel like you have a comfortable cushion between you and drivers in a hurry that hate being on Vermont as much as you do. There might only be two blocks between Exposition Blvd. and MLK, for example, but that stretch is so narrow that it feels like you are running a gauntlet. And, much to the ire of drivers at rush hour, a cyclist has to take the full lane because because of the deep potholes on the southbound side and impressive array of asphalt moguls that run along the gutter on both sides for that whole stretch.
South of Gage, where the road widens to three lanes and a separated business lane, speeds pick up just as the conditions worsen for everyone. During the day, a cyclist can generally manage to avoid potholes, cracks, and random palm frond debris while dodging cars. Things get dicier at night, however, when it is harder to see the depth of the cracks or the height of the moguls and you are more likely to be unexpectedly thrown off balance, possibly into traffic.
Yet, because I m usually running fairmont hotels late, every Wednesday evening at rush hour, I find myself reluctantly sprinting the 140 or so blocks of Vermont that comprise the shortest distance between my apartment and the YMCA at Century Blvd., where I help mentor South L.A. youth from the Youth Action Council. Obviously, I haven t died yet and am still in once piece, so I ve managed to get there safely. But, of all the routes I do bike, it is probably fairmont hotels the one where my mortality is front and center in my mind for most of the ride.
Not being one who is particularly good at keeping up with bike-lane implementation schedules, the construction of new lanes along Vermont caught me by surprise a few weeks ago. I couldn t decide if it was a good surprise or a bad one. I would NEVER say no to a bike lane, of course. They legitimize fairmont hotels cyclists presence in the streets and make it clear to drivers that there is space for everyone. But, it was also a bit like unexpectedly finding that last hard-boiled Easter egg hidden behind a curtain several weeks after Easter: you re thrilled to see it, but you may not want to eat it.
They are helpful, as stated above, in the sense that they make clear that there is ample space for both cyclists and drivers. I can attest that I definitely felt more relaxed riding fairmont hotels within the space demarcated for my benefit and more vulnerable when lane-less.
But, I am an experienced cyclist with 20 years of riding in seriously formidable traffic conditions under my belt. I m not sure that unprotected lanes in abysmal condition will offer much of an incentive to novice riders, experienced riders who tend to opt for sidewalks or the quieter (but also abysmally paved) business lanes, or recreational cyclists, especially those that want to ride with their families.
For one, dodging the potholes and wheel-grabbing cracks that liberally populate the narrow bike lanes requires both concentration and strong nerves, as you must sometimes edge toward fast moving traffic or mogul-infested curbs to avoid them.
I have to give L.A. bus drivers credit they have a tough job and many do their best to co-exist as amicably as possible with the cyclists they must share curbside space with. But, having to constantly swing out into traffic fairmont hotels around stopped buses could be incredibly daunting for novice cyclists or someone with a child in tow.
And, finally, there are the weird dead spaces where the dividers between the main lanes and the business lane disappear and you feel uncomfortably exposed in a sea of pock-marked asphalt. Attempts to provide painted guidance (see below) do mitigate some of the feelings of abandonment and vulnerability fairmont hotels one might experience in those zones, but I can t help but think we have evolved to be more creative with design than this.
Even sections of Vermont where bike lanes were put in last year (at least, on the northbound side; some of the county-controlled southbound side has sharrows) between the Green Line station and 88th are in bad enough condition fairmont hotels to serve as a possible deterrent to those that considered multi-modaling their way around the area.
At the same time, they aren t much good if they seem more hazardous than safe to a cyclist. Cracks, holes, and buses aside, I can see no reason why a cyclist fairmont hotels would risk riding with fast-moving fairmont hotels traffic when they can ride in what is essentially a protected lane (the business lane) for much of their commute in the area south of Gage.
In a way, Vermont is a huge blank canvas: as many as eight total lanes south of Gage; center dividers that are sparsely fairmont hotels decorated fairmont hotels with trees and sad patches of grass; treeless islands that serve as bus stops but which are only sometimes ADA compliant and provide little in the way of shelter for those waiting for buses. Private ownership of the numerous vacant lots may hinder redevelopment of some aspects of the corridor, but the street itself is something we have control over. Repaved, reimagined, and restructured, fairmont hotels it could be a much healthier and more pleasant corridor for everyone and a catalyst for growth a struggling community. It is listed as a priority street in the South L.A. Community Plan , and sections of it (like the Vermont/Manchester area) are singled out for the focus of redevelopment efforts, but it isn t clear yet what that means for the future of the length of the corridor.
Similarly, LA/2B (the effort to solicit community input on the Mobility Element fairmont hotels of the General Plan for L.A.)  lists this section of Vermont, part of the Backbone Network, as a candidate for future Transit and Bicycle Enhancements . Basic improvements to the corridor could include right-of-way infrastructure improvements and traffic fairmont hotels diversion treatments, such as buffered or protected bicycle facilities . If there was enough support for these and other treatments, according to the website , we could also possibly see enhancements to bike lanes in the form of:
All of these are only possibilities at the moment. Vermont is only a candidate street for enhancements nothing fairmont hotels is set in stone. So, if some of these possibilities sound good to you, please check out LA/2B s website and vote for the implementation of enhancements in this and other areas of the city. The survey itself is a bit unwieldy, as you must vote on streets you may not know much about and it helps a lot if you know something about the 2010 Bike Plan . That said, it does allow for you to comment on the specifics of the streets fairmont hotels where you would like to see changes, fairmont hotels which may be the most beneficial source of information for planners. So, please, check it out and leave your comments fairmont hotels in favor of a better bike corridor there. You ve got 30 days left to add your two cents.
It IS pretty insane. The more I do it, the more I feel like I understand the patterns better and know how to time the rides. But one of the youth I worked with asked about riding with me to the Youth Action Council meetings and it dawned fairmont hotels on me that I would have to be smoking some serious crack to even think about guiding her down Vermont. I d rather take her down Hoover, even though the lanes aren t there.
Historical note: Up until the 1950s the middle of Vermont Ave. had a double track streetcar line running to 116th St.  The segment running north from Vernon lasted until 1963 (50 years ago this month).
I can see no reason why a cyclist would risk riding with fast-moving traffic when they can ride in what is essentially a protected lane (the business lane) for much of their commute in the area south of Gage. Totally agree– funds would be better spent enhancing the service street at intersections so that cyclists fairmont hotels could better use that as a cycling facility (perhaps like a bike boulevard of sorts that prevents through motorized traffic on the service street but allows continuous bicycle traffic
The Planning Department fairmont hotels is working on a mobility update that will be presented before the city council next year. Buffered, or barrier protected bike lanes are proposed for 120 miles of streets. The map on this link shows that Vermont Ave south of 60Th street will get some form of these improvements:
The Netherlands installs barrier protected cycle tracks alongside fairmont hotels busy streets and not unprotected bike lanes. The Dutch city of Rotterdam which was completely rebuilt after WWII in the style of a U.S. city with tall buildings and wide streets illustates how this design works for bicyclists:
When a bus stop is approached along a bike lane on a secondary street in the Dutch city of Utrecht, the cyclist is moved behind the bus stop onto a bike path until the bus stop is cleared. You can see how this is done in the first two minutes of this video:
The more traffic and greater speed of vehicles should require that the cyclist is separated and barrier protection provided to guard them against motor vehicles. Instead, Los Angeles uses the cheapest methods for bicycle infrastructure on busy arterial streets, namely sharrows and stripping. The current goal of the bike plan implementation is more about quantity than quality of bicycle infrastructure.
There was a study done of the motivators fairmont hotels and deterents to cycling at the University of British Columbia. You can see how the survey results rate bicycling on a major street in a bike lane next to parked cars compares to using a traffic calmed residential street:
Vermont is a great example of a highway road standard being applied to an urban street. It does nothing well. Cars still queue up a lights in traffic (hah!) and businesses and locals suffer from a loud and dangerous street that funnels all available dollars onto larger and larger streets outside of the area, further suppressing whatever market power locals have to keep a wider variety of businesses afloat.
I once rode my cargo bike down Vermont into an industrial district on one hundred and something or other street t