One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
$30 Million for 2 Miles of Bike Beach Path or 1,000 Miles of City Bike Lanes? [Updated]
Photo by highervision via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr
That's the question Alex Thompson at Westside Bikeside is asking. A proposal by two Los Angeles councilmembers seeks $30 million in federal money to extend the Marvin Braude Bike Path--the 19 mile beach bicycle path between the South Bay and near the Santa Monica-L.A. border--by two more miles to the north. For Thompson, this is a questionable priority.
"Bike lanes cost $28,000 per mile, according to the City’s draft Bike Plan, so for $30 million dollars we would get just over 1000 miles of bike lane for the same price tag," says Thompson. "So, would you rather have 1000 miles of bike lane in the city, connecting people to destinations they want to go to, or $30 million spent on a bike path into the hills of Malibu?"
If the project gets funded, it will extend the path from its current terminus at Temescal Canyon Beach Parking Lot to Coastline Drive. Thompson says that $30 million is nearly half of what the city has spent on bicycles in the last 15 years.
Update: As commenters below have pointed out, the grant appears to be specifically for bike paths, now lanes. Thompson, however, contends it's not a good project. "The County rejected the project in 1995, and I’m sure that CalTrans and the Feds also like to get something significant for their money," he writes. "Secondly, is it responsible to be spending federal money on bike projects at a cost of $15 million per mile when the federal government has a gigantic deficit?"
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
