Long Beach Celebrates New Protected Bike Lanes On Artesia Boulevard

[caption id="attachment_120377" align="aligncenter" width="572"] Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia (center) and Vice Mayor Rex Richardson (left, white shirt) tour the new Artesia Blvd protected bike lanes. Photos: Joe Linton/Streetsblog L.A.[/caption]

Long Beach celebrated its newest protected bike lane facility this morning. The Artesia Boulevard bike lanes extend half a mile from Atlantic Boulevard to Orange Avenue. The lanes are parking-protected, and feature green plastic reflective bollards, rubber curbs, and intermittent green pavement markings.

The majority of the new lanes are parking-protected, meaning that cyclists ride between parked cars and the sidewalk. The parked cars act as a buffer, protecting cyclists from car traffic. At approaches to intersections and at bus stops, the protection drops and there is a merge zone marked with dashed green pavement. (Not dropping the protection would require relatively expensive bikeway signals, similar to Long Beach's Broadway/Third couplet.)

[caption id="attachment_120381" align="aligncenter" width="572"] Example of unprotected merge zone at bus stops on Artesia Blvd protected bike lanes[/caption]

This morning's festivities were attended by a crowd of about 50, including city officials, city staff, locals, and bicyclists. Vice Mayor Rex Richardson and Mayor Robert Garcia were on hand to praise the new facility, cut the ribbon, and take an introductory spin.

[caption id="attachment_120373" align="aligncenter" width="572"] Long Beach Mayor Garcia and Vice Mayor Richardson cut the ribbon on the Artesia protected bike lanes[/caption]

Long Beach aspires to be the most bicycle-friendly city in the United States. In 2011, Long Beach installed the first protected bike lanes in Southern California. The Artesia lanes mark an important expansion of Long Beach's bicycling facilities. Though the city has bike facilities in various parts of the city, for the most part, Long Beach has concentrated facilities (and bike-share) in denser neighborhoods along the coast, especially downtown. The Artesia lanes are in North Long Beach or Uptown, a relatively population-dense neighborhood about as far from the coast as one can get in Long Beach. They will serve students bicycling to the nearby Jordan High School.

Long Beach is planning to extend protected bike lanes for the entire length of Artesia Blvd, from the city limit with Compton to the city limit with Bellflower. This first stretch was accelerated in conjunction with a Long Beach Gas and Oil utility pipeline project that meant the street was already being resurfaced.

More photos of the Artesia lanes and their celebration after the jump.

[caption id="attachment_120379" align="aligncenter" width="572"] Long Beach Vice Mayor Rex Richardson pedals the Artesia Blvd protected lanes[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_120378" align="aligncenter" width="572"] Vice Mayor Richardson praised the new lanes as part of Long Beach's Uptown Renaissance[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_120375" align="aligncenter" width="572"] The Artesia Blvd protected bike lanes include temporary signage directing drivers where to park[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_120374" align="aligncenter" width="572"] The portion of Artesia Blvd east of Atlantic Blvd has "candlestick" bollard protection installed earlier this year[/caption]