Advocating for La Verne to reach its potential as a bicycle friendly community
3r Street through the colleges was modified and repaved this week. The updated design includes “bulb-outs” providing better-protected crossing for pedestrians. However, no improvements were made for those riding bicycles on the street.
La Verne does not lack the potential to be an excellent bicycle-friendly city, rather it lacks the mindset, culture, and processes to enable it to reach its’ potential.
Study after study has shown that the health benefit from bicycling is huge, and likely dwarfs the cost to implement the quality infrastructure that would unlock the benefits. Why then don’t we make the investments that unlock the benefits? Fundamentally, the problem is that those who provide/control the funding do not directly receive the benefits, and thus quality infrastructure is viewed primarily as an additional cost.
But we as individuals DO receive the health benefits, both financially and personally. These are motivators to become involved and insist our streets be safe/comfortable and are not a barrier to healthier choices.