Photos: Fountain Ave. at Normandie Ave.in Hollywood
About six weeks ago or so I was driving my car down Fountain Ave. on the way to work when I spotted two people by the side of the road with a cardboard sign directed towards cyclists. I stopped and asked what was up and was told that they were from the LA County Bicycle Coalition and were surveying bike riders on the street to see about putting signage for some type of bike lane. Several weeks later while riding my bike I noticed that there were spray painted markings on both sides of the street indicating locations for the signs. Shortly therafter (June 11) came the sharrows which run on Fountain Ave from Vermont Ave. west to Wilton Ave.
The markings are commonly added to streets where lanes are to narrow for cars and bikes to ride side by side and let drivers know they may encounter cyclists in the lane, show cyclists what direction they shoud be traveling in and keep them a safe distance from doors being opened into the street. (if there are no parked cars the sharrows are 4ft. from the curb if there are parked cars they are 11 feet from the curb.) If you stay in line with the sharrow you won't get doored. This thing about the sharrows is all new to me. Sometimes new road markings can be confusing.
One of my greatest mysteries when I was a little kid was seeing the word PED XING or XING PED depending how you looked at it painted on roads. I forgot about it but years later one day out of the blue a lightbulb went off in my head, ah ha Pedestrian Crossing! Bizarre cause I wasn't even thinking about roads at the time.
Sharrows are perfect for Fountain Ave. as I find it be a tough street to ride on and I switch from the sidewalk to the street depending on what feels safer. Theres only two narrow lanes and next to no room for a bike off to the side or for a driver to go around you.
According to their website they have been working on this for years and finally with the help of LA City Councilman Eric Garcetti were able to make it actually happen. There are five more areas around LA scheduled to get sharows in the near future
Thank you LA County Bicycle Coalition!!!!
http://la-bike.org/index.html
Los Feliz European Style Moment
Spotted this stylish Linus parked across from the new Artisan Gelato shop on Hillhurst Ave. the other day.
The Linus website states in part: " Inspired by the French bicycle designs of the
50's and 60's we have created a bicycle that preserves the simple elegance and benefits of modern comfort and reliability
So we have a french styled bicycle from a city called Venice parked across from an Italian ice cream shop - very Euro I'd say.
The main store is located in Venice, Ca
http://www.linusbike.com/
hey, that's my linus!
ReplyDeleteYep, and it's a real beauty too!
ReplyDelete