The first thing drivers and cyclists see when they cross over the San Gabriel River into Long Beach on Willow St. is a sign that reads, “Bike Friendly City.”
In fact, the city claims to be “the most bike friendly city in America.” While the streets are by no means perfect for cyclists, the city has done a lot to improve safety and access for cyclists.
“They’ve made a lot of progress,” cyclist and bike mechanic Logan Espereti said. “There’s more bike lanes than there used to be.”
Espereti, who works for the Long Beach-based company Pedal Movement, said he is impressed with the changes that the city has made since he started riding eight years ago.
Travis Keeley, a senior environmental geography major at California State University, Long Beach is another avid cyclist. Although he said that he’s been involved in a number of accidents with cars, he agrees that Long Beach is a “bike friendly city.”
He said that increasing the number of bike lanes and awareness of traffic laws will make the streets safer for cyclists. Under a law passed last year, drivers must give cyclists three feet space when passing.
“Every time I bring [the law] up, the [drivers] don’t even know it existed,” Keeley said.
Mark Bixby, the late community organizer, laid the groundwork for turning Long Beach into ‘the most bike friendly city in America,” according to Graham Baben, the president of Pedal Movement.
Baben, a CSULB graduate, said that Bixby’s vision came to reality because of the efforts of cycling activists and actions by the city.
“The people that are out there riding their bikes are taking that charge,” Baben said.
Long Beach is home to a number of groups that aim to make the city more ‘bike friendly’ by offering services to cyclists, such as valet parking and tune-ups, as well as advocating for safer streets. These groups range from “for-profit corporations,” such as Pedal Movement, to amateur bicycle cliques such as Polar Rollers and the Cycling Coasters, whom have grown in membership over the last few years.
Over the last five to seven years, Long Beach has seen a dramatic increase in the number of bike lanes in the city, including dedicated lanes on Second St. and Fourth St.
Currently the city is constructing new bike paths along the shoreline that are expected to be completed by May of this year, according the city’s website.
Not all streets in Long Beach are equally safe. Keeley said Anaheim St. is one of the more risky routes to take, while Espereti said that Ocean St. in downtown is challenging to ride on.
Keeley said that crossing under the freeways could be nerve-wracking.
“There is no safe way to get through 405 [Freeway],” Keeley said. “You have to be the one looking out.”
Baben said that despite the improvements, most people still commute by car. He said that, “we can’t have bike lanes on every street,” yet cyclists can learn which streets are safest.
“As far as being the, ‘most bike friendly city in America goes,’ that remains to be seen,” Baben said. “We are going to live up to this statement.”
Even if Long Beach is not the most bike-friendly city, the city is certainly rolling in the right direction.