Alhambra bike plan proposal moves forward

Councilman Gary Yamauchi, the only elected official to speak on the proposed plan at the meeting, said, “I’m not pro or con on bike paths in the city of Alhambra, I’m just concerned about how much this will cost.”

Director of Public Works Mary Chavez responded that the entire plan would cost around or less than $20,000. City Manager Julio Fuentes added that he believed it would be closer to $10,000. The item on the agenda does not ensure the creation of the plan, only that a consultant would be brought in to study the city’s streets and infrastructure. “You could have a path, you could have a route, it all depends on what types of streets we’re looking at,” said Chavez. “The width of streets, traffic, there’s many factors that come into play when you’re going to determine whether to put in a bike route.”

Efren Moreno, a former City Councilman and an organizer of Bike SGV, encouraged city officials to follow through with the master plan. “You’ll see many of the benefits,” he said to the council. “It’ll show that having bike routes into your downtown commerce areas will help local business and it helps more residents feel safer riding their bike. Right now, there are a lot of health concerns - if people feel safer riding their bikes, they’ll be healthier.”

The Council members authoritzed the city to begin the process of requesting proposals. Various other local cities have recently developed bike plans, including Los Angeles, Temple City, and South Pasadena.