Glendale is a city that has been prospering at a rapid pace for the last 20 years and there is no sign of that stopping anytime soon. It is a city full of people, cars, roads and everything that there is in a populated Southern Californian City. We are all familiar with bike lanes, when was the last time we ever used them? I always recall using the sidewalk even in the presence of bike lanes and never daring to use bike lanes. Glendale residents are aware and familiar with the controversial construction of separated bike lanes (Class 4 bike lanes) that took over a big portion of North Brand Boulevard around early 2024 (myglendale.com). There were controversies surrounding the elimination of additional traffic lanes which would cause more congestion and the lack of cyclists, of which the bike lanes would never be properly used to their full potential. On San Fernando road, there was a different project conducted named the “Beautification Project” which lasted about 5 months. This project consisted of building additional infrastructure on San Fernando Road to improve pedestrian safety and to add some aesthetic to San Fernando road. During the entire course of the project a lane was completely blocked off for several roads. This caused a 10 minute delay and detours were the only way to beat this delay. Currently, the Glendale City Council is planning to implement bicycle lanes all over Glendale, where some are class 4 and some are not.  

The problem with this is not only the temporary delays created from constructing the barriers for the bike lanes, but also the permanent delays that come from taking away 2 or more traffic lanes to build bike lanes. Glendale already has a lot of traffic and a lot of cars of which the last thing it needs is to choke off the traffic and to cause more delays. According to the National Library of Medicine, there is a delay of 10 seconds for every kilometer traveled. This study was conducted in Australia in a lower density neighborhood so it is probably worse for a higher density place like Glendale. Many streets have to be retrofitted with bike lanes that no one will use but will be advocated by people who do not live in Glendale but ride bikes. The money spent implementing bike lanes could be implemented in speeding cameras or in public transport in order to bring a more secure approach to transportation rather than senselessly implementing bike lanes. 

Another reason that bike lanes should not be implemented is because the consultant from the consulting firm that was consulting Glendale City with the urban planning does not live in Glendale and does not even live in California. There is a sentiment that comes with living in Glendale and it is more hurting and insulting to the residents that someone from abroad who has  no experience living with them tries to implement something that they do not know that they are doing. During the July 30 Glendale City Council, councilmember Ara Najarian asks the consultant where he lives and the consultant replies that he lives in New York and states further that he has only been in Glendale for “several” days. Councilmember Najarian emphasizes the importance of being familiar with the city afterwards, and not being biased towards bikes while working in a “bike consulting firm” (Glendale City Council). The people planning the things in our city are not even from our city and do not care about our city, they share common interests in drawing up maps and plans with no accounting of speeds, familiarity, and so on. The city of Glendale is wasting time and money over this project which has questionable planning and questionable economic and infrastructural consequences. There is a time and place for everything and the time for Glendale to have additional bike lanes is long gone, since there is no proper place for them anywhere. Dear Glendale residents, this is a plea to keep our city from getting more crowded than it already is. Our city is growing from the influx of Armenians migrating from various different areas of the world. This city is prospering quickly and there is no stop to it. We cannot play games with our infrastructure but we must go out and make our voices heard. There is a reason why our rent is so excruciatingly high, it is because we took care of our city. We have ourselves to hold accountable and no other person for a project that will later cause problems when Glendale becomes the only largest city in Los Angeles county after Los Angeles itself. This petition will put an end to the implementation of new bike lanes will divert the funds to public transportation or speeding cameras in order to cut down on traffic fatalities in Glendale. We only have ourselves to hold accountable.

References:
“City Council - 7/30/24.” YouTube, YouTube, 31 July 2024, www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlLo4_Hk_gI 

Nanayakkara, Pivithuru Kalpana et al. “Do Safe Bike Lanes Really Slow Down Cars? A Simulation-Based Approach to Investigate the Effect of Retrofitting Safe Cycling Lanes on Vehicular Traffic.” International journal of environmental research and public health vol. 19,7 3818. 23 Mar. 2022, doi:10.3390/ijerph19073818

Wilson, Maya. "Glendale Unveils New Bike Lanes on Brand Boulevard." MyGlendale, 13 June 2024, https://myglendale.com/2024/06/glendale-unveils-new-bike-lanes-on-brand-boulevard/ Accessed 31 July 2024.