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About two years ago the City of Long Beach set out to become the most bike-friendly city in America. Among the many bicycle improvements implemented to encourage citizens to travel by two wheels instead of four were miles of painted bike lanes, sharrows, bike boulevards and funky bike racks and corrals. As part of this effort to make Long Beach’s streets more bike-accessible the city began designating Long Beach Bikeway routes with good-looking signs and directions. They caught the attention of many, myself included. When they first appeared along city streets, there was little or no information on these bikeways so I took it upon myself to review the routes. What I discovered was a well-designed system modeled along the lines of the U.S. Interstate system, with numbers indicating routes and directions that spanned the entire city. I also found that I was a bit ahead of the curve, often riding routes that weren’t complete. With Long Beach’s master bike plan in place, join me as I set out to identify, ride and review LBC’s Bikeways.
Each Bikeway is designated by a number and allows riders to travel across the city by linking up routes, at least in theory. For example, to kickoff these articles off I naturally began with Route 1, Pacific Coast Highway. To get there I rode Bikeway 56 to 45 to 33 to and finally Bikeway 65, which intersected with Route 1’s start. These reviews will include connecting routes, start/finish, and mention points of interest. Also included will be an official distance as well as an official distance in such cases where it may not be clear where a route ends or where it makes more sense for a ride to end.
Read the rest of Long Beach Bikeway Route 1
