Streetsblog Los Angeles

Paul Krekorian poses with cyclists and the Bicyclists Bill of Rights after a press event for AB 766 IN 2009. Photo:Alex Thompson/Flickr

Bisani, center-right, poses with his three sons. Photo: AugustoBisani.org

It seems as though it were just yesterday, but in fact was almost a year and a half ago, that we were first discussing which candidate would replace Wendy Greuel as the City Council Member for the 2nd Councilmanic District, located mostly in the Valley.  Streetsblog sent surveys to each of the 10 candidates in 2009, eight of whom responded.  Paul Krekorian, who won that election and is running for re-election this year, answered our survey.  His only opponent this time, Augusto Bisani, finished 10th in that election and did not.

Bisani’s name is not a familiar one to Streetsblog readers, and perhaps to most of the people in the Second District.  He tells the Daily News that he doesn’t expect to raise a lot of funds for this election and slams Neighborhood Councils as not representing people’s views.  A complete reading of his campaign website doesn’t reveal even a mention of the city’s transportation issues, but of course it hasn’t been updated since 2009.

We know quite a bit more about incumbent Krekorian, and not just because he answered our survey last time around. Read more…

Photo: -db-/Flickr

The move to speed up Los Angeles’ streets continues unabated.  Less than a week after hundreds of people gathered at the L.A. StreetSummit to discuss how to tame traffic and make Los Angeles’ streets more livable, the City Council Transportation Committee is expected to hear, debate, and pass three speed limit increases in the San Fernando Valley at 2:00 p.M. this Wednesday in City Hall.  In a way, its kind of a sobering crash back to reality.  After a week of being reminded of what could be, activists are back to where we are…fighting speed limit increases that represent the exact opposite kind of thinking to what we talked about all weekend.

So what streets are up for a change? 

First up is Arleta
Avenue, in the Arleta community.  In the stretch
between Devonshire Street and Roscoe Boulevard, a cool
three and a quarter miles, the speed limit will be increased from
thirty-five to forty miles per hour so that radar enforcement of the
limit can be maintained. LADOT documented their efforts to
contact the local Neighborhood Council without getting much in return. 
It would have been nice if they had made the effort with other groups
that operate in that area, but this is where we are.  The Arleta Community is represented by Paul Krekorian in City Hall, who in the past has insisted that the neighborhood be involved in this process.  Whether the Neighborhood Council being asleep at the switch changes his view remains to be seen.   You can read all about the Arleta Avenue increase, here.

Next are two streets in Sun Valley, which is in the sixth Councilmanic District represented by Tony Cardenas.  The first is the world
famous "Hollywood Way" between Burbank city limits and Glen Oaks
Boulevard; which would also see an increase from thirty five to forty
miles per hour.  The local LAPD first signed off on the increase in
March of 2007, three years ago.  There’s some irony with this
particular increase, because just last week, Burbank implemented a road
diet on some of its local streets…which is the exact opposite of
increasing the speed limits as Los Angeles plans to do right up to Burbank’s doorstep.  You can read more about this proposal, here.

Last up is another increase from thirty five to forty miles per hour on Sheldon Street between Glen Oaks Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard.  This time, residents expressed concern that the area included a school zone, but LADOT assured them that the zone could and would remain at twenty-five miles per hour and signs would warn drivers as they approached.  How having drivers drop their speed limit fifteen miles per hour in a short period of time is safer than the way the street is now is beyond me, but that has never been taken into account in the state law.  You can read more about this proposal, here.

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Photo: Magic Man/Flickr

When we last checked in with the City Council Transportation Committee, they decided to table a motion to increase the speed limit on Chandler Boulevard, where the limit would increase from 35 MPH to 45 MPH along the Orange Line, and Riverside Drive which would change the limit from 35 MPH to 40 MPH for its entire length between the Burbank border and Van Nuys Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. The Councilman for the area, Paul Krekorian, wanted a chance for the community to give input on the increases before the proposal went through, and now the increases are back on the agenda for tomorrow's meeting.

So what was the community's feedback? Unsurprisingly, they are concerned that faster speeds for cars will lead to roads that are less safe for pedestrians and cyclists, especially those observing a religious holiday, senior citizens, and school students. Last year, we saw the Woodland Hills-Warner Center Neighborhood Council voice similar concerns but that didn't stop speed limits from being increased near schools, places of worship and shopping malls.

Those fighting the limit increases are in for a long haul. As we've seen before, the scapegoat for speed limit increases used by the LADOT and Council is a state law that mandates that a speed survey be completed every five to seven years and that the new limit be set within five miles per hour of the 85th percentile of drivers. Last year, Assemblyman Paul Krekorian sponsored legislation that would have changed the way limits are calculated across the state; but with Krekorian moving his offices from Sacramento to 200 Spring Street, a new leader on this issue has yet to emerge.

I've been corresponding on this issue with staff from Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Mike Eng, who have been nothing but polite and helpful despite the pounding Eng took on this blog after Krekorian's legislation was bottled in his committee last year. When I asked them if any new legislation had been submitted on this issue, they pointed me to committee staff who basically said, "not that we know of." Last week, over 400 pieces of legislation were filed before a 2/16 deadline, but to the best knowledge of both the Chairman's staff and Committee staff, none of them dealt with reforming the way the state looks at speed limit increases.

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Photo: Magic Man/Flickr

As mentioned in a post yesterday, the Los Angeles City Council Transportation Committee will vote tomorrow at 2:00 P.M. in City Hall on whether or not to raise speed limits on three local streets Chandler Boulevard, Riverside Drive and Beverly Glen Boulevard. In the past day, three outraged pieces have attacked the limit increases and challenged the Council to defy state rules that require the increases for the LAPD to use radar to enforce the law.

There is some debate over whether or not the speed limit changes at Beverly Glenn Boulevard are necessarily a bad thing.  Instead of just raising limits, the proposal seeks to normalize the speed along the road so that the limit is consistent and predictable.  In some areas, the speed limit could actually be decreased.  You'll note as you read some of the coverage of the increases, that some of the articles, notably the one by Stephen Box in City Watch, only refer to two of the changes as "increases" worth fighting.

For anyone that doesn't remember last year's fight over speed limit increases, allow me to summarize what's going on and where we stand.  Last year, a series of increases were proposed by the LADOT throughout the San Fernando Valley.  The shocked reaction of the local neighborhood councils and a coalition of bicycle and pedestrian advocates managed to stall some of the increases, but an arcane state law meant to stop small towns from creating speed traps requires regular engineering surveys that set the speed limit at the upper fifteenth percentile of drivers.  An attempt to change that law by Assemblyman, and now L.A. City Councilman, Paul Krekorian was stopped in committee.

And now here we are a year later, with new speed limit increases moving through the city's Transportation Commission and now City Council Transportation Committee with no fix at the state level in site.

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Asm. Krekorian gives an interview after a press conference supporting his "Safe Streets" Legislation, A.B. 766. Photo: Dr. Alex Thompson/Flickr

Regular readers of Streetsblog are familiar with Assemblyman Paul Krekorian because of his efforts to change a state law which pressures the LADOT and LAPD to raise speed limits on local roads. While his legislation was stalled in the Assembly Transportation Committee, he has vowed to push forward with his efforts this fall starting with a public meeting on the legislation on September 15 in Burbank.

As you might expect, his questionnaire answer for the one on speed limits is pretty detailed. Other highlights include another Stephen Box reference and an aggressive stance towards improving streets for cyclists and pedestrians. His full answers are below, and you can see the other candidates' responses here:

1) When you commute to work, how do you do it? What percentage of the trips that you take don't involve an automobile?

While in the district, I drive a Toyota Prius. In Sacramento, I drive one of the Assembly's hybrid Camry pool cars when necessary, but I frequently walk home from the Capitol to my apartment (depending on how late I'm working).

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Auto Club spokesman, Asm. Mike Eng

Despite the support of just about everyone in Los Angeles, A.B. 766 didn't muster the support to even come to a vote at the Assembly Transportation Committee Hearing yesterday.  How could such a slam dunk piece of legislation, a bill that would protect cyclists and pedestrians from the increased speeding of drivers, be such a non-starter with the State Legislature?

Unfortunately, the largest slice of the blame can be served to L.A. County Assemblyman and Transportation Committee Chair Mike "the 710 Tunnel Project Is Going to Happen Whether You Like It or Not" Eng and the Los Angeles City Government.  Eng allowed and encouraged the California Highway Patrol to act as an "expert witness" despite their clear disdain for the legislation and accepted their criticisms of "Safer Streets" as fact.  This luxury was not granted to the local police that testified concerning how current law is making their roads inhospitable to everyone, especially those of us that don't use a motor to get around, but including automobile drivers.

As for why the city is to blame, they managed to produce someone from LADOT to advocate concerning legislation that really only effects contractors and the summoned the city's official state lobbyist to stump for Assemblyman Blumenfield's parking legislation; but left the table empty for A.B. 766.  Where was Wendy Greuel, who announced at last week's press conference her intent to travel to Sacrameno and why weren't city lobbyists who were in the room ordered by Villaraigosa to the table?  That left the Enci and Stephen Box and Lieutenant Carl Povilaitis of the Glendale P.D. to do the bulk of the rhetorical lifting against the better recognized "expert" lobbyists from AAA and the Teamsters.  The lack of lobbying power demonstrated by the city has many of us wondering again, does the City really want to see this law changed?

However, none of this would have mattered if it weren't for the clear urban v rural v suburban divide that exists in Sacramento.

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I'll have a full story tomorrow morning, I have to run to Pasadena to introduce "Contested Streets" as part of Bike Week Pasadena, but I wanted to pass on the news that the Assembly Transportation Committee failed to even vote on A.B. 766, Paul Krekorian's Safe Streets Bill and moved Bob Blumenfield's bill that would reveal the cost of "free" employee parking.

There's plenty of credit to go around for the stalling of A.B. 766.  For example, Committee Chair Mike Eng and Assistant Chair Kevin Jeffries made clear their bias in favor of the status quo.  After treating the California Highway Patrol as an "expert witness" despite their clear opposition to the legislation, Eng joined with the Auto Club of Southern California, Teamsters and AAA of Northern California to claim the "science" of the legislation was flawed.  Somehow, setting a speed limit based mostly on the desired speed of the most dangerous users of the road is more scientific.

To his credit, Eng vowed to keep this issue in the forefront of the committee's conciousness and will hold future hearings bringing in more "experts" to help craft legislation to fix the problem of speeders setting the speed limits.

I'll also briefly note that while Stephen and Enci Box, on behalf of the Bike Writer's Collective and the Woodland Hills-Warner Center Neighborhood Council, were joined by the City of Oakland and Lieutenant Carl Povilaitis of the Glendale P.D.; neither Wendy Greuel nor Richard Alarcon nor any representative of City of Los Angeles were present to speak on behalf of the City of Los Angeles.  Both L.A. City Council Members were present at last week's press conference, and Greuel's presence was expected today.

To give you an idea of how far we really have to go to bring about the transportation reform we need to see, Asm. Blumenfield's legislation that would require building owners to spell out the cost of parking when a cash-out program could apply drew heavy fire before passing 9-4.

Flanked by members of the City Council Transportation Committee, police from the Cities of Glendale and Burbank, an L.A. County Sheriff, leaders from community boards and a group of cyclists from around the city; Assemblyman Paul Krekorian strongly made his case for the passage of A.B. 766, the legislation that would empower the community to resist speed limit raises even if called for in an engineering survey.

Before turning the podium over to the Council Members and Police Officers, Krekorian praised the community for the tremendous support they've shown for this legislation.  Noting that powerful interests are aligned against A.B. 766, including the Auto Club of Southern California, the Teamsters and the California Highway Patrol, the support of the elected leaders and the grassroots is particularly important if we want to retake our streets from speeding motorists.

And let's face it, it doesn't get more grassroots than the support of neighborhood activists who live along the streets already effected by the city's increased speed limits or nearly a dozen cyclists pedaling to the press conference.  The cyclists present weren't a part of a coordinated effort by one of the city's "official" bike groups but was organized by the efforts of the Bike Writers Collective, especially Stephen Box.  The battle against speed limit increases has always been an effort from the bottom up, so it was good to see so many cyclists providing a backdrop for the event.  In the picture on the left, you can see Box and Eric Knutzen, two members of the BWC and two people very familiar to any regular reader of Streetsblog.

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We've been waiting for weeks for Paul Krekorian's "Safe Streets" legislation, A.B. 766, to make it to committee, but in the meantime the support for the legislation has grown.  While the city was raising speed limits on roads throughout the Valley, it complained that it was unable to resist the changes because of a state law that limits be set at the eighty-fifth percentile of drivers.  This legislation provides a greater role for the community in setting the limits and greater flexibility for LADOT to resist raising the limits.

Now, as the Krekorian legislation cruises to its hearing in front of the Assembly Transportation Committee next Monday, a chorus of voices has risen in support of the legislation that would give the LADOT greater flexibility when it comes to raising speed limits.  The City Council has backed the legislation.  So has the Mayor.  And yesterday, a coalition of activists and writers added their voices to the push to get this legislation passed.

Some of the writers referenced regularly on Streetsblog, Biking in LA, Brayj Against the Machine and SoapBox were all part of yesterday's series of blog articles written in support of Krekorian.  All of the writers provided an email address, SafeStreets@BikeWritersCollective.com, so that readers can write their own letters to be presented to the Assembly by Stephen Box during the hearing.  Ron Kaye even provides a sample letter.

While next week is an important step in protecting our streets, it's far from the last stop.  After clearing committee the legislation needs to be passed by the full Assembly before going through a similar process in the State Senate.  Even once this legislation becomes law, we'll still have to contend with the LADOT, which in the words of Assistant General Manager John Fisher would have wanted to raise limits on many of these roads anyway.

Regardless, it's important to back Krekorian now to show our support for communities and safe streets.  A.B. 766 allows an entry for Neighborhood Councils in setting speed limits.  With the deck now stacked against safe streets, and more speed limit raises being moved by the city's transportation commission and city council, a speed limit increase on Zelzah Avenue is on today's City Council Agenda, the time is now to stand up for safe streets.  Thanks to Ron Kaye and the Bike Writer's Collective, taking that stand is as easy as a couple of clicks.