According to the California Office of Transportation Safety, out of 61 similarly sized cities in California, Torrance is ranked as the 15th worst city for bicycle safety. In 2022 alone, 50 people were either injured or killed from a biking accident in our city.

But this doesn’t need to be the case: By building safer streets for all road users, Torrance can prevent traffic injuries and fatalities, reduce road congestion, improve our quality of life, and support a thriving local economy.

We live in one of the most beautiful and temperate areas in California, and our proximity to the Pacific Ocean offers us an opportunity to invest in a world-class bicycle network throughout the city that would serve residents, visitors, businesses, and improve our local economy and community connectedness.

As Torrance residents, we are calling for local leadership to advance better bicycle infrastructure throughout the City of Torrance: We ask that the City of Torrance commit to building a network of connected, safe, protected bike lanes for safety and mobility throughout the city.

Existing Conditions

Torrance takes pride in its mission of being “A Balanced City.”

However, the balance of Torrance’s capital infrastructure projects is in question: The city regularly spends millions of taxpayer dollars on road widening, turn lanes, and freeway-onramp widening projects (Capital Improvement Projects). Torrance recently spent at least $62 million to widen a portion of I-405 freeway and add new on-ramps near Crenshaw Blvd. They also spent at least $20 million on a project that widened the PCH and Hawthorne Blvd intersection.

What do these projects have in common? They serve mostly cars and drivers. Meanwhile, Torrance has focused very little attention and resources on mobility and traffic safety for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Wider streets induce faster, more dangerous car speeds and make it unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists to use the roads. This makes our streets hostile to people on foot, bike, or transit. While these projects claim to address congestion and traffic, as is widely proven in the law of induced demand, they fail to meet these goals. But mobility solutions such as protected bike lanes and better transit deliver on these goals.

However, when presented with opportunities to build protected bike lane infrastructure or implement traffic calming for its residents, Torrance has failed to deliver such projects:

• Rejected a Class I Bike Path: In 2022, due to opposition from neighbors, Torrance rejected a fully-funded project to build a Class I bicycle lane on Flagler Ln, at the city’s border with Redondo Beach. What stands now is a half-completed bicycle path starkly divided along the Torrance and Redondo Beach border.

• Failed to Improve Class II Bike Lanes: In 2024, Torrance completed repaving of Anza Ave ($4 million) and Del Amo without improving existing Class II bike lanes. They were painted exactly as they were before, when they could have been improved with widening and green paint.

• Banned Speed Bumps: The city’s official traffic engineering policy is that it “does not allow or approve of the installation of speed bumps, speed humps or speed cushions on local streets.” But these measures can calm traffic and are widely used in neighboring cities including the City of Los Angeles and Redondo Beach.

• Lack of Dedicated Infrastructure: There are zero miles of protected bike lanes (Class I and IV) or green painted bike lanes (Buffered Class II) in Torrance.

Torrance is the heart of the South Bay, but our city is lagging behind. A safe and interconnected bike lane network would allow people to travel into and around the heart of the South Bay. With cities like Redondo Beach making significant recent progress on building high-quality bike lanes, it's time for Torrance to make similar investments.

Join us in urging the Torrance City Council to direct the Public Works Department to build a network of connected, safe, protected bike lanes for better mobility throughout the city.

Opportunities

In Torrance, it should be possible for a family of four to safely ride their bicycles from their home to the beach. It should be feasible for residents to get to the Torrance Transit Center via bicycle to catch their bus or the Hollywood Bowl Shuttle. And it should be safe for an older adult to travel by bike to an appointment at Torrance Memorial Medical Center, and for kids to cycle to school.

These routes are all included in the 2024 Updated South Bay Bicycle Master Plan as opportunities for protected bike lanes in Torrance. Major routes the city can prioritize include:

• EAST/WEST ROUTES:

  • Torrance Blvd: >90% of Torrance Blvd within the city’s boundaries does not include street parking. The road is sufficiently wide to support Complete Streets with protected bike lanes and bus lanes.

  • Lomita Blvd: The right-most lanes on this street in Torrance are extra wide, with few driveways, and no parking. These lanes are sufficiently wide to add protected bike lanes without impacting car lanes and throughput.

  • Del Amo Blvd Upgrade: Another corridor without street parking. Was recently repaved and could be upgraded easily to Class IV protected bike lanes.

  • Redondo Beach Blvd Bicycle Corridor: This is an active project in design phase to connect Redondo Beach, Lawndale, Torrance, and County Unincorporated Areas with a continuous bicycle corridor from Redondo to El Camino College. Torrance should commit to protected bike lanes on its portion of the project, aligning with configurations in neighboring cities.

• NORTH/SOUTH ROUTES:

• Anza Av Upgrade: Upgrade to Class IV bike lanes. See Del Amo Blvd above.

  • Madrona Ave: This route connects Del Amo Mall and several schools.

  • Crenshaw Blvd: This route connects key locations such as Wilson Park Farmer's Market and the Torrance Transit Center.

Torrance is highly experienced at applying for regional and state funding. In addition to Torrance’s annual Capital Improvements Project budget, outside sources of funding exist for active transportation projects such as: LA Metro Active Transportation Grants, Measure M Metro Funding, South Bay Cities COG Local Travel Network, and CTC Active Transportation Program Funding.

Our Requests

We request the City Council of the City of Torrance:

1. Allocate funding in the next budget cycle for Capital Improvement Projects that build a network of protected bike lanes in the city so Torrance residents of all ages can safely travel by bike in the community.

2. Update the bicycle infrastructure plans outlined in the Torrance General Plan to reflect the 2024 Updated South Bay Bicycle Master Plan.

3. Create a bicycle infrastructure implementation plan and commit to implementing during regular street repaving.

4. Hire, train, and dedicate Public Works engineering staff who are knowledgeable and focused on bike plan buildout and multi-modal mobility.

5. Direct staff to identify opportunities to build low-cost, quick-build protected bike lanes on Torrance roads with wide shoulders and no parking.

6. Direct staff to investigate and implement traffic safety engineering measures similar to those in neighboring cities such as: speed humps, roundabouts, raised crosswalks, leading pedestrian intervals, and pedestrian bulbouts.

7. Report on progress of bicycle lane production and track specific progress goals annually starting in 2025. For example: Construct 15 miles of protected bike lanes in the city by 2030.

With better bicycle infrastructure, Torrance has the opportunity to truly improve quality of life for residents, visitors, and businesses in the South Bay while simultaneously meeting our community and economic development goals. We respectfully urge you to take action on better bicycle infrastructure in Torrance.

What You Can Do

After signing this petition, you can:

1. Share the petition with your friends and neighbors and ask for their support.

2. Email your city councilmember sharing your support for better bicycle infrastructure in Torrance (include key asks from this petition).

3. Encourage your organization, faith community, school group, sports team, or other community group to sign onto our Coalition for Safer Torrance Bicycle Infrastructure.