Pasadena

City of Pasadena Announces Bike Month 2024

From CityofPasadena.net

PASADENA, Calif.— Rediscover the glee and excitement of riding a bike! Leave the car at home and see the city on two wheels during Pasadena Bike Month, May 5 through May 26, 2024. Pasadena Bike Month is organized by the City of Pasadena with community partners Day One and Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition. This fun annual event returns to celebrate bicycling as a safe, healthy, and sustainable way to get around town.

Organizers have planned free activities all month long for riders of all ages and abilities. Helmets (required for youth under 18), bikes in good working order, and bike lights (for night events) are strongly encouraged.

“The City is pleased to once again support Bike Month and we encourage Pasadena residents and visitors to enjoy all that Pasadena has to offer while pedaling a bicycle,” says Pasadena Department of Transportation Director Joaquin Siques. He adds, “Bike to Work Day occurring May 16th is a great way to try commuting to work by bicycle and we hope to see people at our rest-stop at City Hall that morning.”

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LA Once Had A Bicycle Freeway. What Happened To 1900’s Cyclist Dream?

From LAist.com

By Caitlin Hernández

It’s hard to imagine, but before Los Angeles went completely car-centric there was another travel obsession: Bicycles.

The craze took off in the 1890s, and the boom was so big that cities around the nation formed bicycle clubs, including ones in L.A. County. There were about 30,000 cyclists between L.A. and Pasadena, and the latter boasted its own track for riders to race on.

Bikes were great for short treks, but long-distance travel remained challenging. Traversing around the hills from Pasadena to L.A. was a bit of a time-consuming feat and the roads weren’t that safe for bikes. So one man had a big idea: A 9-mile elevated path for riders and other horse-less vehicles to get from Pasadena to downtown L.A.

The California Cycleway, as it was called, was hailed as a marvel of transportation design and believed to be the first in America. So with so much excitement, what happened? And why aren’t we cycling on it today?

Photo by Pedro Marroquin on Unsplash

 

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Eyes on the Street: Pasadena’s New Cordova Street Bike Lanes

From LA.Streetsblog.org

By Joe Linton

The city of Pasadena recently installed new bike lanes on Cordova Street. Pasadena’s 1.5-mile long Cordova Street Complete Streets Project includes about 0.9 mile of new bike lanes from Lake Avenue to Arroyo Parkway where Cordova ends – about a block from Metro’s Del Mar A (former Gold) Line Station. Space for the new bike lanes was freed up by reducing the number of car lanes, called a road diet.

The $2.7 million Cordova project also features road resurfacing, curb extensions at eight intersections, five new traffic signals, zebra crosswalks, sidewalk and ramp repair/replacement, and more.

The unprotected Cordova bike lanes are not quite as high quality a facility as Pasadena’s recently completed two-way protected Union Street bikeway; the Cordova lanes are unprotected, with a buffer throughout and green pavement at conflict zones, including through intersections. With green paint, buffers, smooth pavement, and fewer car lanes to contend with, the Cordova lanes are about as nice as unprotected bike lanes get.

Pasadena City’s map of its Cordova Street Complete Streets Project

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‘The First of Its Kind’ : Pasadena to unveil protected bikeway on Union Street

From PasadenaWeekly.com

By Luke Netzley

To help increase safety and connectivity for community members on the road, the city of Pasadena has neared completion on its Union Street Protected Bikeway project, a 1.5-mile-long, two-way protected bike lane that runs along Union Street between Arroyo Parkway and Hill Avenue. On Saturday, Sept. 9, there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony held in front of city hall to unveil the new construction.

“The project really started as part of the bicycle transportation action plan that was developed in 2015 … to determine how we could really enhance the bicycle network in Pasadena,” said Joaquin Siques, deputy director of transportation for the city of Pasadena. “Union Street was identified as a corridor where we could provide a bike facility that has additional protection and really provide that two-way connection between Pasadena City College, a connection to Caltech and bring people, residents and students from those campuses into the central business district on a corridor that had a lot of extra space.”

Along with routes meant for PCC and Caltech students, the project will also help connect residents and visitors to destinations like Old Pasadena and Playhouse Village on bike.

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E-Bike Rebate Pilot Program: Sustainable energy initiative to launch July 1

From PasadenaWeekly.com

Pasadena Water and Power (PWP), which provides electricity to more than 65,000 customers within the city of Pasadena, has unveiled a new e-bike rebate pilot program that will launch on July 1.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles defines e-bikes as “a bicycle fully equipped with fully operable pedals and an electric motor of less than 750 watts.”

The new pilot rebates will apply to new Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3 e-bikes with a limit of two per PWP residential electric service account. Scooters, mopeds, segways and e-bike conversion kits will not qualify.

The rebate amounts will range from:

• $500 to $1,000 for e-bikes purchased at retailers within Pasadena.

Photo by Gotrax on Unsplash

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Cordova Street Enhancements

From CityOfPasadena.net

The City of Pasadena seeks to provide mobility choices for all residents. The Cordova Street Enhancement project creates a complete street environment, improving safety and accessibility along Cordova Street with buffered Class II bike lanes, bicycle detection, pedestrian ADA accessibility upgrades, curb extensions, and incorporating sustainable water quality improvements.

The project advances the City of Pasadena’s Mobility Element objectives that “Streets should reflect neighborhood character and accommodate all users; streets should accommodate all users such as pedestrians, bicyclists, public transit, skateboarders and scooters; Streets should reflect individual neighborhood character and needs, and support healthy activities such as walking and bicycling; and design streets to achieve safe interaction for all modes of travel particularly for pedestrians and bicycle users.”

Project provides for 1.5 miles of complete street elements including Class II bicycle lane and bike detection on Cordova Street from Hill Avenue to Arroyo Parkway

  • Installation of curb extensions at eight intersections
  • Replacement of over 50 non-compliant curb ramps
  • Replacement of sidewalk, curb and gutter, and driveway approach
  • Pavement resurfacing
  • Parkway landscaping and irrigation
  • Enhanced striping and signing at crosswalk and travel lanes
  • New traffic signals at five intersections
  • Signal modifications at nine intersections
  • Video detection system upgrades for a bicycle detection feature

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Local Group Spearheads Plan To Turn Arroyo Seco Parkway Into Cyclists’ and Walkers’ Haven For Takeover Event

From PasadenaNow.com

BY KEITH CALAYAG

Picture the Arroyo Seco Parkway devoid of zooming cars, and instead filled with hordes of cyclists and pedestrians for a few hours.

It might sound like a radical concept, but it’s one that’s been realized before, and a local organization is planning to bring it back later this year.

Back in 2003, Professor Robert Gottlieb of Occidental College took the initiative to organize the inaugural ArroyoFest.

For the event, the Pasadena freeway was temporarily closed to cars, allowing pedestrians and cyclists to take over the major thoroughfare that links Pasadena and Downtown L.A, The Eastsider reported.

Fast forward to the present day, and the non-profit organization ActiveSGV is working to organize the second iteration of ArroyoFest, which will take place this October – provided they obtain the necessary permits.

“This would be the first since the original event in 2003,” said Special Programs Director with ActiveSGV, Wesley Reutimann said.

 

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