Most San Gabriel Valley communities are geographically small, suburban in nature, and offer little in the way of bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure. Few have dedicated bicycle lanes, and many do not have bicycle, pedestrian, and/or Safe Routes to School plans. Residents that wish to walk or bike as a means of healthy, active transportation must, therefore navigate streets that have not been designed to accommodate them.
Driven by these conditions and growing support to build upon the successes of the ongoing 5-City SGV Bike Master Plan, BikeSGV partnered with the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG) and the Cities of Duarte, Irwindale, Glendora, La Puente, Monrovia, and Montebello in May 2014 to develop and submit a multi-jurisdictional active transportation planning initiative to the CA Active Transportation Program for funding.
After a long wait, we are very excited to report that the San Gabriel Valley Regional Active Transportation Planning Initiative has been recommended by SCAG for funding!
Project Components
The San Gabriel Valley Regional Active Transportation Planning Initiative is composed of 5 major components:
1) Active Transportation Plans to provide the communities of Irwindale, Glendora, La Puente, Monrovia, and Montebello with their first bicycle and pedestrian master plans.
2) Regional Greenway Network Plan to formally study Class I path feasibility along the over 80 miles of undeveloped storm channels and washes that crisscross the San Gabriel Valley.
3) Regional Wayfinding Signage to design signage for and a plan to link together existing-, in development-, and proposed- city level bicycle routes in the San Gabriel Valley.
4) Evaluation to collect the first robust bicycle and pedestrian data in the 6 project communities and along existing regional County-controlled bikeways (i.e., Rio Hondo and San Gabriel River paths).
5) Education and Encouragement programming to provide residents of the project area free bicycle safety and maintenance education.
Education Programming
Bicycle Safety and Skills Workshops
BikeSGV’s pool of over a dozen SGV-based and nationally-certified bicycle safety educators (aka “League Certified Instructors”) will teach two types of safety courses for residents of the 6 project cities aged 12 and up:
- 3-hour “Need to Know” classes
- 8-hour “Traffic Skills 101” courses
Focus will be placed on educating youth and young adults (12-20), as there has been little dedicated bicycle safety education programming to minors in the project area. In 2013, BikeSGV provided League of American Bicyclists’ nationally-recognized curriculum over a dozen SGV communities as part of a Metro pilot project. However, the classes were limited to those aged 18 and over. All participants will be eligible to receive a free bicycle helmet, reflective tape, and lights.
Safety Outreach/Encouragement: Community Intercepts
In tandem with bicycle education/encouragement classes for community members, BikeSGV will also conduct promote state law and safe riding techniques by conducting at least 12 nighttime intercepts (2 per partner City) along routes frequented by local bicyclists. Cyclists riding without lights will be informed of the CA Vehicle Code as it pertains to bicycle lights, and offered a set of free lights, reflective tape, safety education materials and English/Spanish/Chinese language flyers about upcoming classes, workshops, and active transportation plan development.
Mobile Bicycle Repair Workshops
BikeSGV will provide one-hour Basic Bike Maintenance workshops in the project area, in an effort to lower the barriers to cycling for the most price sensitive segment of the population – youth and low-income community members – for whom the cost of maintaining a bicycle can be a significant obstacle.
Next Steps
SCAG's Transportation Committee will formally vote on the recommended projects, among which the SGVCOG proposals ranks #1 in the planning category, Thursday 10/2. Project work should begin in earnest in January 2015.
Stay tuned for updates!
