Quick Hits: Bicyclists get some room on the road
Bike riders in La Cañada Flintridge soon will be able to enjoy approximately 3.5 miles of bikeway that the city has planned for roadways south of Foothill Boulevard.
Complete with road signs and markers and featuring lane striping on busier portions, the bikeway will stretch from where Valihi Way meets Verdugo Boulevard to Foothill Boulevard and Oak Grove Drive, following a route that includes Descanso Drive, Chevy Chase Drive, Berkshire Avenue, Berkshire Place and a significant portion of Oak Grove Drive.
An apparent low bid of $39,999 was received Nov. 23. The four-week project could begin as early as January if City Council members award the contract at their Dec. 20 meeting, said City Engineer Ying Kwan.
Wheeled bins show up next week
Starting Monday, Dec. 6, city waste haulers will be dropping off new curbside trash and yard waste collection containers that resemble the blue bins already in use for recyclables.
The changes come as Allied Waste and Athens Services transition to a more automated collection service. Fees and pickup times remain the same. The new bins are designed to be picked up by a waste-hauler’s robotic arm, as the blue recycle containers already are, said Mary Goytia Strauss, city senior management analyst.
Residents wishing to discard their current waste containers should leave them empty at the curbside on the week of Dec. 13, when haulers will retrieve them for recycling. Leave a note that reads “Take Me.”
Additional blue recycling containers are available on request, and Athens Services customers will receive new ones that bear the company’s logo. Each company also offers a second 96-gallon green-waste container for no charge and a third for just $3 per month.
A survey found that 93% of residents support the new wheeled bins as being more convenient. The automated system has the added benefit of reducing the number of trash trucks deployed on the streets of the city from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Questions about the new bins should be addressed to your hauler. Reach Allied Waste at (888) 428-1386 or Athens Services at (323) 271-0394.
Assemblyman opens door to book donors
State Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) is hosting his annual holiday open-house mixer from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 7, at the Armory Center for the Arts, 145 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena.
The event doubles as a book drive for local public-school libraries and nonprofit organizations, so guests are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped book appropriate for students in kindergarten through sixth grade (a list of titles is posted at assembly.ca.gov/portantino).
RSVP by calling (626) 577-9944.
Toy, food drive for area families underway
The toy and food drive for needy foothill families that is sponsored by each year by the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station is underway with donation barrels at the following locations: Ralphs Markets La Cañada and La Crescenta, Caltech Employees Federal Credit Union, Vons Markets La Cañada and La Crescenta, La Cañada Books and Toys, La Cañada Library, Wells Fargo Bank, Citizens Business Bank, Sport Chalet Corporate Center, Crescenta-Cañada YMCA, Bob Smith Toyota, Foothill Athletic Club, CV Mini Storage, Tom’s Toys Montrose, Montrose Travel, La Cañada Flintridge City Hall and the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station.
This year the station has received requests for help from 182 families with 457 children. Donations of food or toys are greatly appreciated. Monetary donations are also welcome and can be mailed to Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station, 4545 N. Briggs Ave., La Crescenta, 91214.
For more information call Deputy George Valdivia at (818) 236-4021.