Month: February 2018

A summary from the three “Visioning” workshops conducted in the fall has been published on the General Plan Update Project website.  

The need and importance of better Active Transportation integration and options is featured prominently in the workshop outcomes.    In fact, Active Transportation is rated as the second priority, behind “Maintain safe and quiet small town atmosphere.   These two can be viewed as compatible and logical. 

It’s important to remember, the process is still in the very early stages.  The purpose of the workshops was to gather input, and many of the ideas and concepts in the document were only small group exercises from individual tables.  These ideas and many more that will follow will undergo significant refinement/change as the project moves into more detailed work.   You can read the entire report, including many pictures of the workshops and products here: La Verne General Plan Update

Federal Highway Administration just released a new search tool, that makes it easier volumes of publications to find information.   Here is how the site is described:  “you can search for information from more than 100 reports, guidebooks, and training documents, each of which meets FHWA’s standards of quality. Every page of each resource has been cross-referenced to the search and filter options”

This link has been added to the “Resource” section of the LVBC website.  You can also go directly by following this link: FHWA Pedestrian and Bicyclists Safety Information Search Tool

 

The Daily Bulletin just published an article about the upcoming CicLaVia.  But really the focus of the article is how one can rediscover their own town when traveling through it by bicycle or foot.  We dehumanize our towns when the streets are only designed only with cars in mind, and we all feel a little less connected to our town than we could.

CicLAvia means rediscovering your town, close up

It’s always encouraging to see bikes becoming part of the identity of the city.

For the second time in the last two years, the “Bicycle Revolution” class from Harvey Mudd visited La Verne.  The class travels to multiple cities across the region, experience them each by bicycle.  The class uses adoption of bicycling as a case study to better learn the dynamics of municipal governments and how change occurs, including how they can make a difference.  Students in the class were required to apply in order to be selected for the class.

The class arrived at City Hall by traveling the Citrus Regional Bikeway along Bonita to D street.  The group gathered in the Council Chambers and participated in a discussion session with Muir Davis (City Council Member), Tracy Castello (Public Works Manager), Candice Bowcock (Senior Planner) and Doug Strange (member of La Verne Bicycle Coalition).  The students also presented the results of student projects covering a wide range of topics, including a study of La Verne bicycle crash data, best practice for community collaboration, and benefits of bicycling and infrastructure.

La Verne has made good progress since the last visit by the class.  While there has been no physical change, and infrastructure remains of poor quality or non-existent, awareness and support for Active Transportation has increased significantly.  La Verne remains far behind many of the cities the class will be visiting.  However, the growth in awareness, trust and dialog lay the groundwork to begin to close the gaps.

You can find more about Bicycle Revolution, including information on a documentary produced during the last visit, and where to find them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  You can find more info at this link:  Bicycle Revolution

Representatives from CICLAVIA held the first of multiple community meetings in preparation for the upcoming “Heart of the Foothills”.  They provided a presentation outlining the CICLAVIA concept / benefits, and answered specific questions about the upcoming event. 

Here are some highlights from the meeting:

• A large turnout is expected.  The previous event  (626 - Azusa to South Pasadena) was well attended despite rainy weather.  Survey’s at events in LA show a large percentage of the participants travel from the San Gabriel Valley to participate demonstrating a high interest.
• Local business grows 60% and continues to be higher after an event due to increased exposure (this is a great opportunity for La Verne’s downtown businesses)
• CICLAVIA staff will begin going door to door along the route in February talking to residents and businesses.  They will also do this several more times prior to the event.
• There is a need for volunteers for a wide variety of activities.  Volunteering can be credited as community hours, so this is a good opportunity for those in high schoole as well.
• The obvious question is why doesn’t the route follow Bonita the entire length (it follows Arrow in Pomona and Claremont).  The answer provided was the high number of driveways with no alternative access, as well as several fire stations.  In the past, it has also been pointed out that Pomona did not have a park for a “Hub”  on Bonita, and will now be able to use Palomeres Park.
• There will be multiple additional community meetings in the future.  However, the date for the La Verne meeting has not yet been finalized.

You can find the official more information here:  CICLAVIA Heart of the Foothills