Vista Street Bike Boulevard in Long Beach was put in just over 2.5 years ago.  When it was put in most residents were enthused.  Even if they didn’t bike they saw it as an opportunity for traffic calming and reducing cut through traffic.  But of course – as in any neighborhood there were a few residents who said…”why in the world would we want to have more bicyclists on our street?”  ”I like it the way it is…why change?”

What have we seen in 2.5 years

The first bike count after the bike boulevard was installed showed that the number of kids walking to school along the street doubled and the number of kids riding bikes along the street tripled.

The number of traffic accidents along the street dropped by 50%.

The speed through major intersections with roundabouts dropped from over 30 mph to under 20 mph.

Not a bad track record.

What are the residents along Vista saying

Charlie Gandy, the former Long Beach mobility coordinator and nationally known bike advocate talked to one of residents who lives on Vista about her experience with the bike boulevard.

Christine Votava lives on the Vista Street Bike boulevard and is President of Horse Mann Elementary PTA, one of three schools located along the bike boulevard.

• reduced cut through traffic.
• reduced speeds
• promoted group events…flower planting … tree decorating

What is coming next in terms of Bike Boulevards in Long Beach

There are currently three bike boulevards that are funded in Long Beach, three of which are in the planning phase.

The first of these is a north-south bike boulevard that will extend from downtown all the way to the northern limit of the city. At the south end the boulevard will use Daisy Avenue into the Wilmore area of the city.  From there it will stair step to the east along Pacific, Linden, Atlantic and Myrtle.  This will provide safe-routes for kids to get to school, for bicyclists to get to parks and local shopping and for commuters to get from the northern reaches of Long Beach to the downtown area.

The second bike boulevard will run east-west along 15th street.  This boulevard will connect the Cal State Long Beach area to West Central Long Beach.  It parallels PCH giving bicyclists riding east-west through the city an opportunity to ride on a quite scenic bike boulevard instead of battling motor vehicles along one of the busiest streets in Long Beach.

The third bike boulevard will also run east-west on 6th Street.  Like the 15th street bike boulevard, this will parallel on the busiest streets in Long Beach, 7th Street. The boulevard will connect the neighborhoods just south and west of Cal State Long Beach with very popular RetoRow area and with the Sharrows on 4th street, creating an easy connection to the downtown area.

Later this month the City will apply for funding two additional bike boulevards, one on the west side of the City along Delta Avenue and one in North Long Beach along 52nd street and Walnut Avenue.

If you have questions about any of these projects or the success of bike boulevards, don’t hesitate to contact Allan Crawford at BIKEable Communities ().