Its no secret that outside of Griffith Park, Los Angeles is a city starving for open space. There is nowhere this is more true than Hollywood, where even a weekly farmer’s market is under attack because it blocks access to a parking lot. Thus, while Hollywood waits for projects such as the Hollywood Freeway Central Park, it’s important to try and create pockets of places where people can be outside in a safe and welcoming environment.
To that end, yesterday the embattled Community Redevelopment Agency, City Council President Eric Garcetti and Hollywood-area business leaders gathered to break ground on the “Cahuenga Alley” project which will turn the currently hideous alley into a clean, protected, pedestrian walkway. The first-of-its-kind project is a sort of public-private partnership where the city will create the pedestrian plaza and local businesses will will install landscaping and decorative lighting, set up outdoor dining and patio space. Maintenance and security will be maintained by the businesses.
...Into this. Image one: Office of Eric Garcetti. Image two: CRA
“Today we begin the Cahuenga alley’s transformation into a thriving pedestrian environment where locals and tourists alike can come to relax and enjoy our beautiful weather. It’s going to be great for business and great for Hollywood,” said Council President Garcetti through a press release.
This project is reminiscent of outdoor mall projects such as The Grove or The Promenade in Santa Monica, but the here the alley itself will remain a publicly owned street. Businesses will create the atmosphere, but the street will be open for public use and as a thoroughfare regardless of people’s dinner plans. Read more…
The uncertain future of the Hollywood Farmers Market has inspired much energy and advocacy that food and street advocates in Los Angeles can be proud of. Market operator See-LA rallied allies and supporters. Farmers’ market patrons flooded City Councilperson Eric Garcetti with messages of support for the market. Garcetti in turn helped extend the permit and is trying to negotiate a solution that preserves most of the markets’ existing footprint and access. But the controversy also raises a question that in turn suggests a way to save the market and others like it.
Who owns the streets?
Or, in this situation, why in the @#*^ can a single adjacent business veto the continuation of a farmers market that is one of the cornerstones of social life, healthy food access, and community supported agriculture in Los Angeles?
To be even more specific, why is the Board of Public Works giving residents and business owners adjacent to proposed farmers markets, street fairs and other special events a quasi-property right in the streets that lets them veto temporary closures of public streets? Read more…
If Downtowners want to see a Regional Connector Station at 5th and Flower, they're going to have to find the money themselves. Photo:Clovis Bouhier/PBase
Here’s a quick rundown of the major votes by today’s Metro Board. Each of these five motions were discussed at Streetsblog over the last couple of weeks, and links to those stories can be found at the end of each summary. Streetsblog will have links to all news reports on today’s meeting tomorrow.
Westside Subway Locally Preferred Alternative/Environmental Studies
As expected, the Metro Board of Directors unanimously voted to approve the Westside Subway “Locally Preferred Alternative” as the 9 1/2-mile route to the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Brentwood from the current end of the Purple Line at Wilshire/Western in Koreatown. Despite over an hour of public comment from the Beverly Hills’ NUMBY’s, there was no decision made on whether the subway should have a stop on Santa Monica Boulevard in Century City or Constellation Avenue.
Yaroslavsky’s motion, which seemed to place the concerns of Beverly Hills regarding the Constellation Avenue/Santa Monica Boulevard debate ahead of those of other communities, was amended by the author to urge the staff to provide a detailed account of the impacts of both alternatives through the Westside. This would have happened regardless under the Final Environmental Impact Statement that the Board approved funding for today. For background on this motion, read yesterday’s Streetsblog story or an update on today’s vote from LA_Now.
Regional Connector Locally Preferred Alternative/Environmental Studies
The Metro Board also approved the “Locally Preferred Alternative” and funding for the environmental studies needed for the Regional Connector. The debate was dominated by Little Tokyo business groups concerned that “cut and cover” subway construction would disrupt the community and cost them business. Downtown interests and LA City Councilwoman Jan Perry also expressed concerns about the exclusion of the 5th and Flower stop from the LPA. The Board narrowly voted to exclude the 5th and Flower for now, but left the door open to include it in the environmental studies, if local businesses raise the roughly $2 million needed for that part of the study. For more background, read this story at Streetsblog or an update on today’s vote from Blog Downtown.
A 3D Rendering of a Future Bike Room in the Hollywood and Vine Development
When Legacy Partners’ Metro-Certified “Transit-Oriented Development” opened on Hollywood and Vine earlier this year, advocates weren’t able to contain their disappointment with several aspects of the project. Among the complaints was that the development was too focused on providing space for cars and not access for cyclists and pedestrians. However, that disappointment has led to opportunity. As the months passed, activists were frustrated as developers, elected officials and even staff at the Metro Bicycle Roundtable Meetings were explaining why the Bike Room wouldn’t happen, not how to make it happen.
Not willing to take “no” for an answer, a coalition of bicycle, transit and community activists kept working and lobbying on behalf of a true Bike Hub at Hollywood and Vine. Now their work has paid off, and a proposal to create such a space is on its way to the Metro Board of Directors. At a meeting of the Metro Planning and Programming Sub Committee, Board Member Richard Katz added language to the proposal that would require the Metro staff to create formal T.O.D. standards which could have gigantic ramifications around the county as Transit Oriented Development is viewed as the key for Los Angeles real estate to rebound and for the county to grow.
The Hollywood Bike Hub proposed for Hollywood and Vine would offer secure parking, maintenance facilities similar to what exists at the co-ops, showers for commuters, information for tourists and new Metro users and perhaps even a bike-share and rental program. Perhaps best of all, Legacy Partners has given space to the HUB for a street-level, high visibility storefront property. There won’t be a rental fee for Metro to maintain and staff the facilities. Read more…
At the Huffington Post, Joel Epstein, who has done a heck of a job pushing 30/10, wrote a piece pondering the absolute lack of Hollywood star power in promoting transit as opposed to promoting things like electric-powered cars. Of course, that Hollywood movies present heroes driving muscle cars, saving the universe with cars that turn into robots, and motorcycles as the key to freedom doesn't help. And when a comet is about to crash into the earth, who is going to save us? Oil drillers. Jeesh.
Now if I'm going to assign weekend homework, I would prefer to tell you to find a Hollywood Star who wants to lend their name (and wallet) to promoting transportation options; but I thought I would go easy on you since L.A. Streetsblog is in transition mode itself. But if you are a Hollywood Star and are interested in being the spokesperson for transit, drop me an email at damien@streetsblog.org.
So your homework is to outline the plot and cast your L.A. Transit Movie. Leave your work in the comments section. I'll post mine a little later this weekend, and the best movie will get a "Best of Streetfilms" DVD.
On Monday, at Vine and Selma, a woman attempting to cross Vine on foot was killed
after being hit by a delivery truck. The streets were immediately
filled with LAPD vehicles and an investigation ensued. Although it was
evident that statements were taken and that measurements and photos
were taken, missing from the investigation was any evidence that the
traffic signals were tested or surveyed. This is unfortunate because
the signal at Vine and Selma is malfunctioning.
On the SW corner of Vine and Selma is the large Vine Village" id="xpwj" href="http://www.ansoniaproperties.com/sunsetandvine.htm">Sunset & Vine Village,
a 300 unit residential/retail complex, filled with people who walk
across the street to shop at Trader Joe's. At the NE corner of Selma
and Ivar is Triangle Square,
a 108 unit housing facility for elders. The people who cross the Vine
at Selma use traffic control devices that are out of order.
Malfunctioning equipment communicates to pedestrians that they are on
their own and trains them to engage as opportunity presents itself.
It's been three months since Julia Siegler
was killed as she attempted to cross Sunset Boulevard on foot. That
incident prompted community challenges to the LADOT's signalization
logic and to the LADOT's varied traffic signal strategies. At Vine and
Selma, the demand actuated buttons work independently so that a ped
call for a crossing on the north side will not yield a walk phase on
the south side. Again, does it take a degree from MIT to cross the
street? The LADOT has not responded.
Also, as a result of the
tragedy on Sunset Boulevard, a request was made to the LAPD to include
a survey of signal equipment as a routine element of a traffic
collision investigation. Especially one resulting in a death.
Apparently that request fell on deaf ears. The LAPD has not responded.
If Hollywood were to make a movie entitled "Hollywood & Vine -
Transit Oriented Development" they'd have to hire professionals to
manage the streets, control the traffic, move the trucks and make sure
the entire environment was safe. There would be a 1st Assistant
Director on set, legally responsible for the safety of all cast and
crew, a commitment that would include a safety meeting each day. It's
been this way for a long time, ever since the tragic incident on the
set of "Twilight Zone" that took the lives of Vic Morrow and two child actors, Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen.
;
But
"Hollywood & Vine - Transit Oriented Development" isn't a movie,
it's simply real life. That means that there were no Teamsters on set,
there were no SAG or DGA rules in place, there was no 1st AD on the
streets watching out for the safety of the pedestrians crossing Vine on
Monday afternoon when a truck driver traveling west on Selma passed an
18 Wheeler being unloaded and then turned north onto Vine Ave.,
striking and killing a woman as she attempted to cross the street.
City Council President Eric Garcetti and the B.S.S. Crew that painted the Sharrows. Photo via LADOT Bike Blog
(An early version of this post listed the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition as in partnership with the government groups. That relationship has been clarified below. - DN)
It was just after-noon on Friday when the first tweet came in. After literally years of discussion, planning and studying, the city was finally painting Sharrows, officially known as Shared-Lane Markings, on the streets of L.A. The Sharrows appear on a half-mile of Fountain Street in East Hollywood. Eventually, the Sharrows will extend for a full mile between Western Boulevard and Vermont. This marked a major victory for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, who has pushed for Sharrows to be on the street for at least half a decade. While the Coalition celebrated last week, they've made clear that last week's paintings were the start, not the end result, of the Shared Markings on L.A.'s streets.
Billed as the city's first Sharrows, even though some appear on private streets in Westwood and D.I.Y. Sharrows appear in Northeast L.A. by the Gold Line, this "pilot program" is finally coming to fruition after years of advocacy by the LACBC with an assist from Council President Garcetti's office. While it might be a simple task to get Sharrows on the streets in some cities, in L.A. it took five years and the work of three government bodies, the LADOT, Bureau of Street Services and Southern California Association of Governments. In addition, a chunk of funding for the project came from the Bohnet Foundation, with additional funds provided by the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council. It's a good thing Metro wasn't involved too, or it might have taken another couple of months before we saw any paint. Just a reminder, it took four weeks for Long Beach to move their award-winning green Sharrowed lanes from Charles Gandy's head to the street.
You can see above what a Sharrow looks like. If you're new to the discussion and wondering how that is supposed to make a street safer; a Sharrow serves two purposes. First, it tells cyclists where to ride to avoid the door zone. Second, it alerts and reminds drivers where cyclists can and should be riding with the support of the law. I would add that third, it reminds the police that cyclists aren't supposed to ride in the gutter, but that's just the cynic in me after too many "ride to the right" commercials. As we'll see later, the placement of the Sharrows is creating a real concern that "L.A.'s first official Sharrows" aren't going to accomplish any of these goals.
The first to report on the new paint was the LADOT Bike Blog who made sure not to undersell the event. The blog opened by declaring, "Friday June 11th marks a new beginning: LADOT is proud to unveil the first official Sharrows within the City of Los Angeles." Jeesh, don't you guys read The Source? A touch of objectivity in style goes a long way in selling your message. The Bike Blog was pretty breathless in its reporting of the installation, and goes into great detail on the process of actually painting the Sharrows, as shown above. While the Bike Blog talks about the markings appearing between Vermont and Western on Fountain, so far the Sharrows only appear in one direction (Eastbound) and only go for half the strip.
Following the Bike Blog, an excited celebratory post appeared on the LACBC Blog, and LAist followed with some pictures and mild praise. While reading the post at the LACBC Blog, I flashed back to an interview I conducted with Smolarski and LACBC Planning Director Dorothy Le. The interview, conducted in May of 2009 touched on the topic of Sharrows and why it was taking so long for the paint to get on the ground. Smolarski basically said she would be thrilled if Sharrows were painted before the New Year. After all that work, it must have been double exciting to see the city finally making good on their years-old promise, after untold hours of advocacy, to paint these road markings.
On the Eco-Village Blog, Joe Linton wrote a piece as detailed as the LADOT Bike Blog's except his outlined the tortured history of the project. If I had to describe his post in one sentence it would be, "It's nice to see Sharrows on the street but it's taken forever." Linton paid special attention to the infamous comment made at a City Council Transportation Committee hearing by Senior Bike Coordinator Michelle Mowery that the department was concerned about cyclists slipping on paint and suing the city. I would have focused on Mike Uyeno's concern that the Sharrows would lead to slower car traffic, but to each their own. I guess it's a good thing he chose the "slippery when wet" comment, as Ted Rogers snarked on it several times at Biking in L.A.'s announcement of the Sharrws.
But of course the most important issue is how the Sharrows actually effect how people ride on Fountain and the other five streets that will see them installed in the coming weeks. The early reports are mixed. Some people seem happy that the LADOT and city are doing something. I've even seen some tweets referring to a ride along Fountain as "empowering." However, reports from Stephen Box, who measured the Sharrow placement and found it wanting, should raise some eyebrows.
Senator Barbara Boxer, in her ULI TOD Summit appearance, invoked the “Rule of 60″ when she made the claim that 60% of our economy is made up of small businesses and that 60% of the small businesses in our community are struggling with credit and regulatory issues. Bearing witness to the validity of her claim is Bechir Blagui of Hollywood Rent A Car, a local merchant on Hollywood Boulevard, who has a dream, a vision, a commitment to offering local, sustainable transportation solutions to the locals who live here and the to tourists who visit. But…
When Bechir attempted to bring electric community car share to Hollywood Boulevard, he hit a roadblock, an obstacle that could not be moved, the City of LA’s bureaucracy. From City Council President Eric Garcetti to Councilman Tom LaBonge to Assemblyman Mike Feuer to the Department of Water and Power to the Department of Transportation to Street Services to Building and Safety, Bechir took LA’s famous “Small Business Pachinko” ride that typically results in migration to Burbank, Glendale, Santa Clarita, Santa Monica, Culver City, West Hollywood or anywhere else but here. Bechir did not leave.
The Urban Land Institute's (ULI) Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Summit, held last Friday at the Hollywood & Highland's Renaissance Hotel,
was as notable for what didn't happen as it was for what actually took
place. As could be expected, hundreds of people representing local
governmental authorities, agencies, and departments mixed it up with
consultants of many flavors along with politicos of all stripes. This
was, after all, a celebration of the future of TOD.
The ULI-TOD
Summit also, inadvertantly, served as a metaphor for what's wrong with
the TOD landscape in our community, in our city, and in this country; a
focus on the big picture at the expense of the individual or personal
experience. In other words, high-altitude, big-picture solutions that
lack attention to details.
This Summit came complete with Senator Barbara Boxer's lunchtime announcement of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's endorsement of LA's 30/10
plan to leverage anticipated transit revenue in order to fast-track a
dozen significant regional transit projects. Definitely huge! Along the
way, the feds were represented, the state was represented, the county
was represented and the City of LA's City Council President Eric
Garcetti joined the feeding frenzy to add his blessings to the TOD
lovefest. Attendees rubbed elbows with financiers, developers,
consultants, innovators, real estate brokers, contractors and all of
the many partners who work together to bring the magic of TOD to life,
or at least to the ribbon cutting ceremony.
