The City of Long Beach declared itself the most bike-friendly city in the nation and, to their credit, have made great strides in that effort. Still, pedestrians and retailers in the Downtown area have voiced serious concerns about a lack of both education and enforcement, which has resulted in cyclists riding illegally on sidewalks in areas zoned for retail. Worse, though, is that much of this illegal sidewalk cycling is taking place on Third Street, and Broadway, where the City installed bike lanes.
Matthew Robinson, a long time East Village resident and professional photographer, recently documented this.
“I have had to dodge bicycles riding on sidewalks on a daily basis when just walking to Vons or the coffee shop,” Robinson said. “After the bike lane was put in on 3rd I thought things would change a little. On a Saturday a few months ago, I stood outside my building directly across from the bike lane on 3rd and Linden and counted how many bikes rode in the bike lane and how many on the sidewalk. In a little less than an hour, I counted 34 riding on the sidewalk and only 4 had used the bike lane.”
MaDonna Morrissey, a long time Long Beach resident who has lived in the area for five years, experienced a near-miss at the bus stop near Fingerprints, on 4th Street.
“As I passed by the crowded bus shelter, a sidewalk biker zoomed past me,” Morrissey recounted. “I had to press myself against the shelter since the biker controlled the narrow sidewalk. Without reducing his speed much, the rider maneuvered his way through startled pedestrians.”
Lisa A. Hernandez, founder of the Long Beach Depot for Creative Reuse on Elm Ave., hasn’t been as lucky.
“Within the last eight months,” she said, “I have been hit four times when stepping outside of our business doorway. Because of bicyclists riding their bikes on the sidewalks, I’ve witnessed one child hit, and numerous near-misses.”
Jeremy West, co-owner of Primal Flower on 3rd and Elm, has had similar experiences.
“I’ve been hit three times,” said West, “and witnessed many other close-calls involving children, the elderly and people with disabilities. Our store-front displays have been hit numerous times by either bikes swerving to miss unsuspecting pedestrians or people scrambling to avoid being hit by cyclists.”
Many cyclists seem completely ignorant of the municipal law that bans bikes on sidewalks in areas zoned for retail. In fact, the DLBA’s own Clean & Safe team mistakenly believed that being ‘on patrol’ allowed them to ride on the sidewalk, a misunderstanding that DLBA staff quickly corrected when they learned about it. Still, cyclists generally don’t seem open to learning the law while in motion.
According to Anne Proffit, “when I gently ask bicyclists to use the bike lane they give me the finger. These people flagrantly abuse roadway/sidewalk laws. There is no enforcement.”
“Most of these cyclists demand that pedestrians get out of their way,” West agreed, “and react violently if asked to slow down or walk their bikes.”
Hernandez and others have reached out to local law enforcement, to council representatives and even to BikeLongBeach.org, the city’s official outreach effort.
“We have tried working with our councilman, Bike Long Beach, the East Village Association and the Police Department regarding enforcement, however, we have not been successful,” Hernandez, somewhat exasperated, said. “Our neighborhood feels like a war zone, with law-breaking bicyclists purposely riding their bikes and cursing at us when we ask them to please walk their bikes.”
“City Hall gives no help,” Sam said. “I have never seen a errant cyclist being cited for breaking the law. If the city wants to be a truly bike friendly city, they are going to have to go beyond their own hype and make it so by enforcing their own rules.”
Award winning artist-in-residence at the Depot, Yoshino Rosalia Jasso, thinks that education is the answer.
“It’s time to educate not only the cyclists,” Jasso said, “but the police as well, on bike safety, bike law, and etiquette.”
City Traffic Engineer David Roseman has been directly involved in dealing with these issues, and agrees that education and enforcement are “vital components to a comprehensive bicycle program. In the past few years we in Public Works have been rolling out a number of bike and pedestrian improvements throughout the City and we have grant funds to bring forward additional improvements in the future.”
According to Roseman, “the Public Works Department and the Police Department are working collaboratively to create a strategy to address not only the problem of cycling on sidewalks in business districts but other safety issues such as wrong-way cycling and motorists’ passing too closely to cyclists.”
Roseman explained that “the City has received a $370,000 grant for safety education and awareness programs for signs, banners, flyers, public service announcements and training videos, all with the focus on bicycle and pedestrian safety. One of the key messages in this safety campaign is ‘Walk Your Bike on the Sidewalk.'”
Roseman said that the city is spending an additional $500,000 in grant funds for a two-year program to provide local students with information about how to “safely navigate our streets as a pedestrian and a cyclist.
“Our hope,” Roseman said, “is that through our safety and education campaigns we will reach everyone with the message about the importance of bicycle safety which ultimately will result in a change in the behavior of the type you have reported.”
Jasso is eager to see these changes.
“If cyclists have free range of the sidewalks,” she mused, “then where do I belong?”