Local volunteers adopt Venice Blvd bike lanes, mobilize for cleaning event
Group calling itself the Venice Boulevardiers pilots “adopt a bikeway” concept
Volunteers with brooms, dustpans and an electric leaf-blower took to the streets Tuesday, clearing debris from bike lanes on Venice Boulevard and the Expo Bike Path.
Trash, broken glass, leaves and other assorted debris was swept, scooped, loaded into garbage bags, and disposed of. The group marked hazards with orange spray paint.
The volunteers also reported more serious issues, such as potholes and cracked cement, to the authorities, using the 311 app and L.A. County’s The Works app.
“I came out to volunteer because someone needed to step up and start cleaning and marking hazardous potholes in the bike lane, especially if the city wasn’t going to do it,” said Nathan Fan, a local resident and cyclist. Fan also works with the group Streets For All, lobbying at the state and local levels.
The volunteer effort sought to pilot a model of maintenance where regular riders on a certain route join together to monitor it, maintain it, and report issues.
This “adopt a bikeway” concept was inspired by the “adopt a highway” idea, and an “adopt a bike path” program run by L.A. County. It is unclear if the County program is active. (We have emailed Mateusz Suska, listed as the County’s Bikeways Coordinator.)
The local group out this week working on the Venice and Expo Bike lanes called themselves the Venice Boulevardiers. On a promotional flier for the event, the group’s logo is depicted as the Johnny Walker logo, holding a broom.
Some say an iteration of the Venice Boulevardiers were first formed in the 1890s to oversee penny farthing races that took place on Venice Boulevard, attracting thousands of spectators and copious amounts of boozing and betting. Others say the group’s origins are more recent.
In any case, the model of local cyclists (and also walkers, bus riders and businesses) adopting a street, could be a powerful model, according to Sam-Omar Hall, whose People Powered Media is championing the idea.
“The people who most often ride or walk on a certain stretch know that area best, and know best what it needs,” Hall said. “For simple maintenance, we think volunteers can be effective. For bigger jobs, those volunteers can report issues to the authorities and then continue to follow up.”
Issues with 311 and The Works apps
Reporting issues using the 311 and The Works app came with some unanticipated issues.
L.A. County’s The Works app is meant to be a clearinghouse for infrastructure issues in the county, according to L.A. County Public Works spokesperson Kerjon Lee. The county, being a regional body, has the staffing to triage issues and get them sorted, Lee told People Powered Media.
But when reporting street issues on Venice Blvd in The Works app, users are stopped and told, “Based on your information, it appears that we do not service the specified location. Please contact Los Angeles to request service.”
And when reporting debris on the Expo Bike Path to The Works app, we received a response saying “The Expo Line Bike Path falls under the operation and maintenance jurisdiction of the City of L.A. Department of Transportation, please submit a myLADOT Service Request.”
The tangle of jurisdictions in Los Angeles is one factor that makes advocacy so difficult.
In any case, where government cannot or will not provide services, People Power can step in.
Adopt a bikeway model
In a post on the r/BikeLA subreddit, Sam-Omar Hall, People Powered Media founder, suggested forming volunteer groups to adopt local bikeways.
Teams were proposed for the following bike paths, to start with:
Ballona Creek Bike Path
Marvin Braude beach path
LA River bike path
Compton Creek bike path
The new Venice blvd lanes
“It’s like that quote about a small, committed group of people changing the world,” Hall said. “These hyperlocal volunteer cohorts can build community, do hands-on work on bike paths, and pressure the authorities to make important fixes and improvements.”
To get the word out, Hall said he hopes that groups such as Streets For All, BikeLA, and Streets Are For Everyone can be engaged in the effort.
Local group rides and bike kitchens could also be hubs and catalysts. For example, the Bikerowave bike kitchen and Mixed Race group ride both reside on Venice Boulevard.
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