On Monday December 19th, 2011 the Long Beach Harbor Commission approved a revised Environmental Impact Report that gave final authorization to proceed with the replacement for the Gerald Desmond bridge…including a separated bike path.

But this would not have happened without the voice of one person…Mark Bixby.

“It took one person with a legion of many behind him.” (Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal)

The story

Less than two years ago the City of Long Beach approved an EIR for the replacement of the Gerald Desmond Bridge that did not include a separated bike facility.  Mark Bixby looked at this and asked….”How can Long Beach hope to be The most bike friendly city in the nation if we don’t include facilities for bicyclists on this new world class bridge, which will be a vital part of Long Beach’s infrastructure and a showcase for the world.”

Mark took his message to everyone he knew.  He reached out to the politicians, he reached out to port commissioners, he reached out to advocates and he reached out to the regulators.  As a result of his work the bike path went from something that was a best a remote possibility to something that today is an approved part of one of the largest government funded bridge projects in the US.

What did Mark do?

Mark started by asking…what is the right thing to do?  He didn’t ask…is this likely?  What will it cost?  He asked…is it the right thing to do?

He then started enlisting support and gathering facts.

He went to a number of very knowledgeable advocates and asked…are there any laws that say “you have to include a bike path on this type of federally funded facility.”  It turns out that the advocates came back and said…yes…there are laws that mandate a bike path be included.

He went to the coastal commission…and asked…can the port sever an existing bike facility (there was a bike and ped facility on the existing bridge…all be it not a great one)..and got the answer…”we don’t think that would be appropriate.  The port needs to include a separated bike facility on the new bridge.”

He went to the local and regional politicians and asked….do you support access for everyone to the facility…including bicyclists?  And he got a resounding yes.

He went to the Sierra Club and asked…do you support access — and if access is denied…will you support filing a law suite and or protest with Coastal Commission?  And the answer was yes.

Mark and colleagues then took this to the Long Beach Harbor Commissioners one at a time. It is the Harbor Commissioners who ultimately made the decision on whether or not to include the bike facility.  At this point Mark could say….it is both the right thing to do…and oh…by the way… legally you have to do it.  And..not to threaten…but someone will appeal this to the Coastal Commission if you don’t do it…and the Coastal Commission is quite likely to deny the permit if it isn’t included. And baring that…someone will file a law suite.

The result

As a consequence of Mark’s efforts the Long Beach Harbor Commission voted to include the bike facility in the RFP and has now unanimously approved the revised EIR, which includes the facility.

Equally importantly Mark established a good working relationship with people in the port.  This allowed him and his colleagues to continue to have influence on effective ways of designing and implementing the bike facility as well as continuing to work with them on future projects that will benefit the port as well as the bicycling community.

What Can We Learn from Mark

AS Long Beach’s Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal said in her remarks to the Harbor Commission ”It took one person with a legion of many behind him.”

Mark was that one person.  But what what we learned from Mark was the value of enlisting the legion.

Share your vision: Mark took his vision and shared it with others.  In doing so…he made it not just his vision…but a shared vision.  He gave others the ability to see what possible..and then help to make it  possible.  Mark was never hesitant to pick up the phone and call people who could help shape the future.

Reach out to the advocates with knowledge: He reached out to those who knew the facts.  He enlisted advocates who knew the law and who could articulate it.

Enlist regional and national advocacy organizations: He enlisted organizations such as the Sierra Club that had clout and standing in the community.

Enlist the local and regional political leaders:  Mark reached out to the mayor, to the council members and to our state and local legislators.  He got letters of support and a commitment to champion the project.

Enlist the regulatory agencies: Mark reached out to agencies who’s approval was needed for the project.  Most importantly he reached out to the coastal commission. As you can see from the video below this was extremely effective with the Coastal Commissioners in effect saying to the port…”we strongly advise you to include the bike facility in order to ensure that the bridge permit is not challenged and potentially rejected.”

Enlist the decision makers: Finally Mark and his colleagues reached out to each and everyone of the Port Commissioners, who were the ultimate decision makers in whether or not to include the facility in the RFP and ultimately the bridge.  Again..the message Mark and his colleagues presented was…this is the right thing to do…and it is the legally mandated thing to do.

What is next?

As many readers of this blog know Mark was tragically killed in a plane accident in March of 2011.  He would have been very proud of what has been accomplished to date.  But..if he were here he would say..” He would have thanked the port and the commissioners. And he would have said

“This is great…BUT…what about that bike friendly port policy?  And what about the connection into downtown Long Beach?  And…Port of LA…it’s time for you to step up and help figure out how bicyclists are going to get across the Vincent Thomas Bridge to complete the connection between the Palos Verde Peninsula and Long Beach.”

As advocates…we need to carry out with what Mark started.  And as he would have admonished:

Go Big…or Go Home