Readers React: Don’t weaken CEQA’s congestion rules to install more bike lanes

To the editor: Overhauling the burdensome California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is indeed, to quote Gov. Jerry Brown, “the Lord’s work.” But eliminating increases in traffic congestion as a standard metric for evaluating the impact of new bike lanes does not qualify as a reform. (“Want a bike lane in your neighborhood? It’s not so simple in California,” April 7)

The pervasive problem with shifting general purpose lanes to use as protected bike lanes is that they increase traffic congestion. Declining to account for congestion impacts would not change this; it would instead make it possible to install bike lanes where they should not be located.

James E. Moore, Los Angeles

The writer is a USC transportation engineering professor.

..

To the editor: Great to hear laws are being identified that would result in more bike lanes, but let’s just step back a second.

In recent years, the city of Los Angeles has marked streets with bike logos or carved out narrow lanes between parked cars and traffic, insinuating these streets are meant for bikes. As we’re identifying new laws to establish bike lanes, let’s be clear: A safe bike lane is a lane specifically allocated for bikes only.

There should be no sharing of bike lanes with parked cars, trash truck or buses, and placing a logo in the middle of an already packed single-lane street doesn’t constitute a bike lane.

Conrad Corral, Cathedral City

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook