GLENDALE, BURBANK : 5-City Coalition Seeks Bikeways Master Plan

In a few years, Glendale residents may be able to ride to Pasadena unencumbered by traffic, noise or diesel fumes. Not in a car, though.

Arroyo Verdugo Transportation Coalition members are hoping to connect the coalition’s five member cities--Burbank, Glendale, South Pasadena, Pasadena and La Canada Flintridge--with a series of bicycle paths.

To expand its vision of commuting on two wheels instead of four, the coalition formed a bikeways task force, which is charged with combining the bikeways master plans of each city into a regionwide system, said Steve Adams, Glendale assistant city manager. The coalition contracts with Glendale to use Adams as its staff planner.

The bikeways task force submitted a letter of intent to the Southern California Assn. of Governments last week to be considered for a $100,000 grant to draft a regional bikeways plan, Adams said.

The bikeways master plan would study how to connect bike paths slated in cities throughout the region--most of which have yet to be built, he said.

It would also propose means to combine bicycle facilities, and determine methods to convince drivers that biking isn’t only for recreation, but is a convenient, and maybe quicker, way to get to work, he said.

Glendale does not have a bikeways master plan, but plans to hire a consultant later this year to create one.

The Arroyo Verdugo Transportation Coalition, formerly the Tri-Cities Transportation Coalition, works to promote regional mobility, and coordinate and plan transportation systems on a regional basis.