Los Angeles Is Quietly Losing Bike Lanes

While adding new bike lanes can be a long and contentious process, removing them in favor of parking requires no public process.

1 minute read

November 7, 2023, 12:00 PM PST

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


"Bike Lane Closed" A-frame sign on street with yellow and black barricade behind it.

jdoms / Adobe Stock

In an article in Streetsblog LA, Joe Linton reveals six streets where Los Angeles Department of Transportation officials recently removed bike lanes to install curbside car parking. According to Linton, removing bike lanes to add parking, unlike the onerous process of approving new bike lanes, “can be done with no public process whatsoever.”

Linton notes that the city also frequently removes or blocks bike lanes temporarily for construction projects, and that “There are also LADOT parking expansion projects that effectively blocked future planned or proposed bike lanes (including bikeway upgrades).”

Linton lists several specific examples, explaining that “These are just the examples that Streetsblog has come across. But these are difficult to find. Cities rarely announce when they remove bike infrastructure.”

Monday, October 30, 2023 in Streetsblog LA

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Google street view image of strip mall in suburban Duncanville, Texas.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall

A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

July 6 - Parking Reform Network

Blue tarps covering tents set up by unhoused people along chain link fence on concrete sidewalk.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work

Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

July 6 - Next City

Aerial tram moving along cable in hilly area in Medellin, Colombia.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle

Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.

July 6 - InTransition Magazine