IMPORTANT: Come To Glendale City Hall This Tuesday to Support Safer Walking and Bicycling in Glendale

Please come to the City Council meeting this Tuesday, April 19th at 6pm to encourage the adoption of the Glendale Safe and Healthy Streets Plan. It is very important. The Glendale Safe and Healthy Streets Plan, which LA County Bicycle Coalition liason Colin Bogart has been assembling from public meetings with Glendale residents, is a policy document that is intended to provide a blueprint for making the city a safer place for bicyclists and pedestrians. In the short amount of time that Colin has been working with the city, his presence and energy have already resulted in numerous positive changes for bicyclists and pedestrians in the city of Glendale. Some examples of these changes are improved bicycle parking throughout the city, sharrows on numerous Glendale streets, landscaping, bicycle and pedestrian improvements in the Riverdale-Maple corridor, and safe bicycling education classes being conducted in Glendale schools. I fully endorse the plan and the efforts of Colin, the LA County Bicycle Coalition and the LA County Department of Public Health, whose grant made this project possible. Please come to the City Council meeting on Tuesday to support it.

In addition to the hopeful adoption of the Glendale Safe and Healthy Streets Plan, you will also get to see the re-seating of Rafi Manoukian and the election by the city council of Glendale's new mayor, so it should be an unusually interesting council meeting no matter what. Please come.

I have reproduced Colin's blog post on the meeting in it's entirety here:

Don’t forget, we will be presenting the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan to Glendale City Council on Tuesday, April 19, 6:00 pm in Council Chambers at Glendale City Hall. Please attend the meeting if you can to show your support of the Plan. We need your support! Invite your friends!

The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition has been working in partnership with The City of Glendale to conduct extensive outreach, build support, and develop the Plan since 2008. The Draft Safe & Healthy Streets Plan has already received unanimous votes from three City Commissions recommending Council approval.

Adoption of the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan would establish programs and policies that will support and encourage biking and walking. The Plan is organized into five main categories (plus a few more):

1. Education
2. Encouragement
3. Enforcement
4. Engineering
5. Evaluation

Examples of what you can expect if the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan is approved include:

• A Pedestrian and Bicyclist Advisory Committee that will meet regularly to address ongoing concerns for Glendale pedestrians and bicyclists
• City-sponsored rides and walks
• Safety education classes (and materials online)
• Helmet and light distribution programs in lieu of citations
• City-sponsored promotions such as Car Free Fridays or Walking Wednesdays
• Incentive programs for those who commute on foot or by bike
• Walking and biking maps for Glendale

If you can’t attend the Council meeting, please send an e-mail expressing your support of the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan to the City Council no later than 12 noon on April 19. You can e-mail the entire Council at citycouncil@ci.glendale.ca.us . If you send an e-mail, please cc colin@la-bike.org . Once again, here are the details for the Council presentation.

Safe & Healthy Streets Presentation to Glendale City Council
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
6:00 pm at Glendale City Hall, Council Chambers
613 E. Broadway
Glendale, CA 91206

See you on Tuesday!