LongBeachReport.com | LBReport.com | Bicycle Advocates Plan Presence/Speakers At Friday Coastal Comm'n Meeting in LB To Urge Including Bicycle/Pedestrian Access In Desmond Bridge Rebuild

(Jan. 13, 2011) -- LBReport.com has learned that a number of LB bicycle advocates plan to attend and speak at Friday's (Jan. 14) Coastal Commission meeting -- being held in the LB City Council Chambers -- in support of including a bicycle/pedestrian pathway as part of the billion dollar Gerald Desmond Bridge rebuild.

Mindful that the Port will request coastal permit for the project in the coming months, advocates plan to use the period for public comment on non-agendized items (scheduled near the start of the meeting, which begins at 9 a.m.) to reiterate their stance, which they have previously advocated to the City Council (appealing the bridge EIR) and to the Coastal Commission (public comment period).

Following two days of serial appearances at the November, 2010 Coastal Commission meeting (in Santa Monica), bicycle advocates received supportive words from Coastal Commission Exec. Dir. Peter Douglas.

Mr. Douglas: We have told the Port and the City and Caltrans that they need to build in a bike pedestrian path into this bridge. That from our perspective, it is not enough to just design it into the bridge; they have to actually construct it. The problem is that the connectors raise some real significant issues for them, and we think that there are ways to deal with that. So we’re not saying it has to be opened immediately, but at least it has to be built-in at the beginning, so that we don’t face the prospect of a bridge that’s completed, and then we have to come back to say, ‘now you’ve got to add the bike path and the pedestrian path.’ So we’re with you on this; and we also feel that the Port and the City and Caltrans recognize this and are going to do the right thing here and if they don’ t, this commission is going to see this bridge (project again).

The advocates of Desmond Bridge bicycle/pedestrian access include Mark Bixby, a cycling advocate who has set up an advocacy website on the issue at www.asthewheelturns.wordpress.com.

Others, including LB Cyclists, are using email to urge supporters to attend Friday's meeting. In a release, LB Cyclists calls the project without bicycle access a "bridge to nowhere" and states:

...Will the Port of Long Beach get away with disregarding the needs of cyclists and pedestrians?
...The Coastal Commission can require the Port to include bicycle and pedestrian access in this project. In very short order, the Port will have to apply to the Coastal Commission for the final public approval. While the Commission is supportive of inclusion of bicycle and pedestrian access, they need to see and hear from bicyclists and pedestrians who will use this bridge and who support the project...
We need to show the commission that our community is large, diverse and wants equal accommodation in the bridge design construction. It is our right under Federal and California Law, and it is our tax payer dollars funding the construction - nearly a BILLION dollars! Don’t let this opportunity slip away like water under the bridge...

The release advises those unable to attend in person to communicate letters of support to Mr. Bixby.

On September 28, 2010, bicycle advocates urged the City Council to support inclusion of a bicycle/pedestrian walkway in an appeal of the Desmond bridge Environmental Impact Report. However a number of business and industry interests urged the Council to approve the Port-backed EIR as is, and some truckers raised security issues in opposing bicycle access.

Port of LB staff told the Council that it was amenable to including a bicycle pathway as part of a request for design proposals, but without a commitment to actually build it...but offered to build a substitute: a ground level bicycle pathway connecting Anaheim Street with downtown Long Beach and its tourist attractions.

Councilman Garcia commended the Port for its substitute; the Council declined to support including bicycle access in its EIR; and the next day Garcia sent a mass emailing supporting the Port's alternative as bicycle friendly (and not mentioning that position of bicycle advocates seeking on-bridge access).

In response, bicycle advocates have continued to press their case.

The Asthewheelturns website states in part:

The replacement bridge EIR was approved and certified by the Long Beach City Council on September 28th, 2010. The EIR process did not properly address consideration for Class 1 bicycle and pedestrian facilities. However, the Council strongly suggested that the Port include such facilities providing a connection to Terminal Island, and there is a consensus among City of Long Beach staff, City of Long Beach Council Members and the Harbor Commissioners that adding the separated bicycle and pedestrian facilities is appropriate. Announced the week of November 1, 2010, the final 200 million of funding needed to close the funding gap has been approved.
But there is still no mandate that the Port of Long Beach include separated facilities. The Port is providing approximately $120 million of the funding. But it is you and me, California tax paying citizens, providing nearly $500 million of the funding to build the bridge. Both the Federal Government and the State of California have clear policies stating their responsibility to provide multi-modal transport options on all new public infrastructure projects (meaning bikes/ped/ADA).
The California Coastal Commission is the final approving government body that can mandate the Port include these facilities. This bridge is designed for a 100 year life. It needs a Class 1 separated bicycle and pedestrian facility. Bolting on a bike/ped facility at a later date would be more expensive and less integrated.
The Coastal Commission’s mission and charter call for them to create and preserve coastal access. We hope they provide the Port of Long Beach a clear mandate to do the right thing. The Port can engineer a bike/ped lane into the bridge. They are starting from scratch with a clean slate and more than enough funding to accomodate what should already be mandated. There are many examples of Cities that have successfully installed bikeways on bridges...

Developing.

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