LADOT Plans for Bike Lanes, Improved Crossings and Road Diet on Virgil Avenue

Tonight, the LADOT will present a proposal for a half mile of bike lanes and road diet on Virgil Avenue between Melrose Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard. Currently, Virgil Avenue has four mixed-use travel lanes, two parking lanes, and sidewalks. After the diet, there will be two mixed-use lanes, a turn lane, two 5 foot bike lanes and the sidewalk area.

The proposal will be formally unveiled at a community meeting tonight. To see the advertisement for the community meeting, click here.

The proposal comes after a unique community outreach program led by Long Beach’s Studio 111 where community workshops were held outside in temporary parklets and right on the street. The American Planning Association awarded Studio 111 and the rest of the project team for the outstanding community outreach plan. To read more about the outreach plan, head over to the Studio 111 Blog.

The proposal appears to have community support, with most attendees at outreach process expressing interest in bike lanes, road diets, and even bike boxes. Council Member Mitch O’Farrell signals support for bike lanes in this area of the city from both a transportation stand point and economic development standpoint.

O’Farrell promises to attend all of tonight’s meeting personally to hear feedback from cyclists, community residents and businesses.

The project is part of the 2010 Los Angeles Bike Plan, and was slated for implementation in the first five years. While LADOT provided the above sketch off Streetmix, this Streetmix sketch doesn’t count as final design. There is no timeline set for final design and implementation, and this could be the first of several community outreach meetings.