Beach Cities Health District Board of Directors

Dear Board Members:

I have had communications with Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MTA or Metro). Metro has advised me that Beach Cities Health District (BCHD) may currently be renegotiating the terms of its grant from MTA since the original funding agreement may require modifications to focus on the Redondo Beach “phase” and the lack of participation by the City of Torrance.
Frankly, some of us see the path, absent completion of the Torrance portion, as likely to result in a useless project, one that won’t correspond to the scope of the original grant. Indeed, without full participation including Torrance, I don’t see how the bike path will provide buffered bike lanes north and south on each side of Flagler Lane as specified in the existing Scope agreement.
This should cause a re-evaluation of the safety of bike travel in this particular area. Has BCHD undertaken any such re-evaluation? Moreover, rather recently there has been an obvious shift from pedal-operated bikes to electric bikes. There are studies that indicate that the increased use of e-bikes results in a substantial increase in accidents and injuries to bike riders and to pedestrians. This makes me wonder if BCHD, in moving forward with the path, has any concerns about public safety. Does BCHD expect to insure itself fully against liability from accidents or injuries along the path. Is there any duty of Board members to ensure that the path does not create a public risk?
I ask that this Board publicly disclose any additional risks it has evaluated associated with the bike path in general and e-bike use of the path. Otherwise, why should the public expect that the path will reduce injury? If the path will not result in less predicted risk, will Board members be liable?

Tim Ozenne, Ph.D.
Torrance