Streetsblog Los Angeles

Today marks the third and last part of our three-part interview with City Council Transportation Committee Chair Bill Rosendahl.  Today we're discussing some high profile local transportation issues that directly effect his West L.A. City Council District. 

I ran into Rosendahl twice in my first couple of weeks reporting on transportation issues for Street Heat.  The first time was at a public meeting on the Expo Line.  The second was a contentious public meeting on the plan to change traffic patterns and eliminate peak-hour street parking along Pico and Olympic Boulevards.

But before we get to those issues I asked the Councilman about the status of some of his favorite, and least favorite, projects within his district.  His answers somewhat surprised me because I oftentimes expect in these interviews to just be spoon-fed the answers that "I want to hear," but the Councilman had no problem discussing some road widenings that would not make the Streetsblog list of favorite projects.  He also has no problem taking a couple of jabs at the "Great City of Santa Monica" as he phrases it.

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Next, Rosendahl gives us an overview of the status of the proposed Pico-Olympic Plan.  Since the last time we checked in, the politics of the plan have changed.  Former Fifth District Councilman Jack Weiss was a major proponent of the plan, but new Councilman Paul Koretz has joined Rosendahl in opposing the plan.  With no local political support, the Mayor is now alone in pushing the project forward.  According to Rosendahl, not even the LADOT likes the plan.

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And of course, there's also the Expo Line.  While the Fineal Environmental Impart Report for Phase II, the part that would run through his district, is available there are still some issues that need to be resolved.   For example, the Councilman wants grade-separated light rail and doesn't mind that it will cost extra funds to get "the project done right."

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Yesterday we introduced the first in our three-part interview with Los Angeles City Council Transportation Committee Chair Bill Rosendahl.  Today, Rosendahl discusses his goals and agenda for the committee he now chairs from buses, to bikes to taxi drivers.

In the first segment, Rosendahl  discuses what needs to be done to empower and protect four transportation groups that are often ignored: cyclists, pedestrians, bus riders and taxi drivers. 

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While he hasn't ridden a bicycle in years, Rosendahl has become a go-to Council Member for cyclist issues, even more so than avid cyclists such as Tom LaBonge and Ed Reyes.  In this segment, Rosendahl discusses his goal of having what he terms "safe paths" that would connect all parts of the city with safe bike routes, trails and lanes. 

He also reveals how some high-profile bicycle crashes, such as the Mandeville Canyon incident in July of 2008 and the Downtown "Bicycle v Hummer" crash last April should open everyone's eyes to what's happening on the road.

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As for buses, Rosendahl acknowledges both the importance of the Wilshire Bus-Only Lanes and improving bus service in general.  In this segment Rosendahl seems very concerned with the state of the bus system and outlines some ideas on how to improve on-time bus service and crowded conditions.  Of particular interest, Rosendahl discusses the politics of the bus-only lanes and how he hopes to eventually earn the above-board support of Fifth District Councilman, and Transportation Committee Chair, Paul Koretz for the project.

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He also has a few words for pedestrian safety and the rights of cab drivers.  There's nothing too specific here, but a concern for the safety of those who walk is expressed.

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Last, Rosendahl gives a brief, positive, description of his "team" on the committee and discuses the relationship they all need to have with the Metro Board and our federal delegation.

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Tomorrow we'll be back with the third, and last, part of the series, a discussion of local issues in the Eleventh Councilmanic District.

Over Los Angeles Streetsblog's first six months I had the opportunity to interview City Council Transportation Committee Chair Wendy Greul for a Streetfilm and Councilman Tom LaBonge after a trip to Europe.  With the changing of the leadership of the committee, I wanted to get a chance to sit down with the new Committee Chair, and one of my favorite Councilmen, Bill Rosendahl before my upcoming paternity leave.

Due to some quorum issues, we were unable to sit down until after Friday's Council meeting, but the Councilman made up for lost time with a nearly hour-long interview where I said probably about three sentences.  It was a pretty amazing stream of concious conversation.  His staff that handles transportation issues and public relations were in the room and I think they added about three more sentences.  It was the former television host's show last Friday and he kept his hands on the handlebars.

To give you a chance to hear everything he had to say, I've broken the interview down into three parts: an introduction, Rosendahl's agenda for the Transportation Committee and a discussion of some of the issues in his district.  Today is the introduction, tomorrow we'll post the information related to his committee and Friday will be the day to discuss issues in the Eleventh Councilmanic District.  I think I'm going to time the posting so it goes up at the same time we head out of Media Park and begin the Park(ing) Day ride.  Most of the morning ride will be in the 11th, so it seems somehow appropriate.

Before anything else, Rosendahl wanted to introduce us to Paul Backstrom, his new staff person dealing with Transportation issues.  During the wait for the interview I had a chance to talk to Backstrom, and as Rosendahl will tell you in a minute, he's an avid cyclist and transit rider who understands many of the issues we discuss at Streetsblog because he lives them just as we do.

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After that Rosendahl went into a lengthy overview of some of his feelings, viewpoints and opinions about the state of transportation and where we, as a city and county, need to go from here.  In brief, he feels Measure R gives us a unique opportunity to fix a lot of the transportation problems that have been created in past decades but it's not going to be fast or easy.  There are two different parts of this introduction that made me laugh out loud, see if you can catch them.

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In 2006, the City of Los Angeles opened the Urban Design Studio in the Planning Department to create what the LA Downtown News referred to as "Special Places" but what Streetsbloggers would call Livable Streets.  Basically the studio, which currently consists of two full-time staff members and many volunteer interns, was responsible for turning Los Angeles into a beautiful city.

The Studio has produced three visionary documents, the Walkability Checklist, the Downtown Design Guide, and the draft Urban Design Principles for 21st Century Los Angeles, (an earlier version can be found here. 

I recently had a chance to sit down with the Studio's director, Emily Gabel-Luddy about the Downtown Design Guide which, when implemented, will change the character of Downtown Los Angeles.  The plan widens sidewalks from 12-15 feet, caps road widenings and doubles the bicycle amenities in the Downtown.

There are plenty of highlights in this interview, which is available in its entirety via mpg files below, but my favorite fact is this.  Before this plan, there were only two street design standards that existed for every street in Downtown Los Angeles.  The new plan maps out a new design for every street  in the Downtown that will, when its realized, create a downtown that more closely resemble the great streets that we see in Europe than the ones we see in the Downtown today.

The Downtown Design Guide and the new Street Standards are available on-line through Planning and the City Engineer's websites.   Click here and query the address "426 S. Spring St." for a sample. Put your cursor over the centerline. The link will lead you to the Design Guide and new Standards.

Also, we're trying something new here in Los Angeles.  Instead of having you read through a wall of text for our interviews, I downloaded mp3's of the interview, broken into three parts, below.

In the first part of our interview, we discussed the new street standards, what that means for the Downtown, and how they are different than what we see on the ground right now.

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Then we talked about the transportation mode split for the Downtown.  While it's more diverse than I thought, we still have a ways to go.

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In the third piece, we talk about the process of creating these sorts of standards.  If nothing else, listen for the story about her favorite moment of the process.  We are starting to get through!

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Last, we discuss how to take the new plans for the Downtown and spread them through the rest of the city.  It sounds like the city has exciting plans for Chatsworth Boulevard.

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