 In a 3-1 vote, the Monterey Park City Council accepted grant funding for a safer, more sustainable Monterey Pass Road on Wednesday January 17th. The 1.6 mile project will replace aging water pipes, add new sidewalks, and install the City’s first protected bikeway to create a safer, more comfortable connection for local residents to get to East LA College (ELAC) and the Metro Gold Line. In December 2017 the Monterey Park City Council voted 2-1 in favor of the project, one vote shy of the required 3 votes for passage (one council member abstained citing lack of staff outreach to businesses along the project route, another was absent). Public support is essential to make Monterey Park’s first bikeway a reality.  Click for Nacto Guide on protected bike lanes. Bike lanes for Monterey Pass Road were included in the City's unanimously adopted 2014 Bicycle Master Plan, which recognized the need to improve non-automobile connections to East Los Angeles College and the Metro Gold Line for local students and residents interested in making short-trips by bike. The other major street connecting these important destinations - Atlantic Blvd. - is not slated for a dedicated bikeway in, in part because of the higher automobile volumes on Atlantic and narrower width than the roughly parallel Monterey Pass Road. The proposed bikeway would provide direct connectivity to Class II bike lanes planned for unincorporated East Los Angeles. One of 5 SGV cities to adopt a local bicycle plan in 2014 as part of the San Gabriel Valley Regional Bicycle Master Plan project, Monterey Park remains the only community that has yet to implement any of its plan; over the past 3 years the neighboring cities of San Gabriel, El Monte, South El Monte, and Baldwin Park have all constructed Class I, II, or IV bikeways. If realized, the project would also be the City's first on-street bikeway of any type; at present the City only has a few sign-posted bicycle routes stemming from the 1980s. The project will support the City's adopted Climate Action Plan (2012). The transportation sector currently accounts for almost 40% of Greenhouse Gas emissions in the state of California, trend increasing. Vehicle emissions are the largest source locally, as well as the primary driver of region’s poor air quality, which unfortunately has failed to improve in recent years. The City’s Climate Action Plan acknowledges these pressing issues, and the need for a more multi-modal Monterey Park. The implementation of this project and the City’s adopted Bicycle Master Plan will be a step towards supporting zero-emission transportation modes in the City, making short bike trips a viable alternative for residents, and ultimately achieving the City’s climate goals.
More Info, Questions For more info on the project, please see page 357 of the City Council packet here. Questions? Please contact BikeSGV Program Coordinator Andrew Yip.
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 Thank you for joining us to celebrate a more sustainable SGV! We would not be where we are today without the help of our members, colleagues, friends, family and community champions! As Brian once shared, 'Dream is not enough, also do.' A special shout out to all our amazing volunteers, who helped take our party-hosting skills to the next level by handling everything from the wheely nice wreath booth to the event photography and MC duties. Also, many thanks to event sponsors Foothill Transit, the Bicycle Attorney Thomas Forsyth, Aztlan Athletics, Day One and Alta Planning and Design, whose support allowed us to make this year's event more family-friendly than ever! Missed the fun? You can still support our work by making a year-end donation or signing up for a membership! Event photos courtesy of Eric Jung, Lifetime Memories Photography The field of 2017 honorees was the strongest to date, each with a lengthy resume of accomplishments. Over the past several years each of the winners has worked diligently to advance the development of a more bicycle-, pedestrian-, and transit-friendly San Gabriel Valley. By supporting the creation of people-friendly streets and places in the suburban SGV, these Luminarias are thinking globally and acting locally on major issues, including climate change, air pollution, and the obesity/diabetes epidemic.  Photos courtesy of Eric Jung, Lifetime Memories Photography
On Saturday December 2, 2017, BikeSGV will host its annual party - 'Noche de las Luminarias' - to celebrate the progress towards a more pedestrian-, bicycle-, and transit-friendly SGV. This profile is one of a series of posts highlighting some of the people at the forefront of this movement. Event information can be found here.  Margaret Lin’s work over the past several years has helped advance discussion around sustainable mobility options in the City of South Pasadena and beyond, ranging from studying transportation alternatives for the proposed 710-North freeway tunnel to facilitating one of the most complex open streets events ever staged in the United States. The 8-city, 626 Golden Streets ciclovía would not have been possible without her government experience and can-do attitude; the historic event overcame everything from shifting local politics to a massive wildfire that forced its originally scheduled date of June 26, 2016. At the same time Margaret has worked with diverse partners including Metro and the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments to launch a Bike-Friendly Business District project, set the stage for the implementation of bike share in South Pasadena, and supported implementation of the City’s 2011 Bicycle Master Plan.  A graduate of South Pasadena public schools with deep roots in the SGV - Margaret received her Bachelor’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning with a minor in Geographical Information Systems from Cal Poly Pomona before obtaining her Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the University of Southern California - Margaret has worked in both the private and public sector, previously for the Southern California Association of Governments where she played an active role in developing the Active Transportation sections of the 2012 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), and currently as Principal Management Analyst for the City of South Pasadena.
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ActiveSGV is a project of Community Partners, a non-profit public charity exempt from federal income tax under Section 501 (c) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code.
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