It's a Street Party as 'Bike Boulevard' Officially Opens

Santa held the ribbon for the official ribbon-cutting Sunday as the first Long Beach "bike boulevard" was celebrated with a block party between Park Avenue and Roycroft Avenue on East Vista Street.

Neighbors, friends and the people who were instrumental in bringing the pilot project to fruition enjoyed a summer-like day with rock climbing, an obstacle course, live band and refreshments.

"I always love a party in the street," said Lisa Briskey, a Vista Street resident and mother of a Rogers middle-schooler, and two Lowell Elementary school-age children.

"Now that there is a safe place to cross, I'll let my fourth-grader ride his bike to school on the bike boulevard," Briskey said.

The bike boulevard grew from an idea to make Long Beach a cycling-friendly city.

Bike boulevards give people on bikes priority while safely sharing the road with cars. Several techniques have been used to create the Vista Bike Boulevard such as roundabouts, street signage and pavement markings.

"People avoided crossing at Vista and Park," Allan Crawford, an avid cyclist and Vista Street resident said.

Three years ago the Bike Long Beach program was kicked-off to address the need to get people to walk and cycle more.

"We have had incredible support from the Long Beach City Council," Crawford said. "Every councilman has backed the program." Crawford is a project member of Bike Long Beach.

"We were looking for places for pilot projects," Crawford said. "We looked for amenable neighborhoods and ways to make cycling to school safer."

More bike boulevards are planned throughout the city.

The bike boulevard connects Horace Mann Elementary School on Coronado Avenue and East Vista Street and Lowell Elementary and Rogers Middle School at Nieto Avenue and East Vista Street.

"The city has been wonderful in raising money through state and federal grants for the past four years," Crawford said. "The effort has brought $20 million to the city for mobility projects."

"It has been so rewarding to see our effort from the past two years come to fruition," he said.