BEVERLY HILLS—The Beverly Hills City Council has voted against putting bike lanes along North Santa Monica Boulevard.

The 3-2 decision, which included Beverly Hills Mayor Julian Gold’s against vote, came contrary to the recommendations of the Santa Monica Boulevard Blue Ribbon Committee, which is tasked to gather the opinions of city residents, to add the bike lanes, and make the street more biker-friendly. Councilmembers Lili Bosse and John Mirisch voted for the bike lanes to be created.

Community members have argued for such an implementation that they hoped that a bike lane addition would be a part of the $25 million development project along the street.

The Beverly Hills Homeowners Association claims that the addition of bike lanes along North Santa Monica Blvd would take up valuable park space.
The Beverly Hills Homeowners Association claims that the addition of bike lanes along North Santa Monica Blvd would take up valuable park space.

A number of prominent and heavily-populated cities throughout Southern California already see their streets shared by drivers and bikers alike, including Santa Monica and Pasadena.

According to researchers at the University of British Columbia, results have shown that the use of these bike lanes are beneficial in reducing the risk of biker injuries by a factor of 90 percent.

Councilwoman Nance Krasne, who voted with the majority, argues that lanes along Santa Monica Boulavard would not produce such results and recommended that bikers use South Santa Monica Boulavard as an alternate route.

Siding with Councilwoman Krasne and Mayor Gold, the Beverly Hills Homeowners Association printed a newsletter earlier this year calling on residents to oppose the “misguided, unnecessary, and cost excessive” proposal of adding bike lanes as they would be “encroaching into” and “diminishing Beverly Gardens Park.”

Curbed LA reports that the bike lanes would not diminish park space since they would only be narrow strips along the road that would cut a few feet into the sidewalk space at best.