Eyes on the Street: New Gap Closure Bike Lanes in Century City

By Joe Linton
Sep 23, 2019

New bike lanes on Santa Monica Boulevard in Century City. Photos by Harrison Hopkins

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The city of Los Angeles recently striped new bike lanes on Santa Monica Boulevard in Century City. Updated 9/25: This week the city added green paint to these – photos added below.

In July, the L.A. City Department of Transportation (LADOT) announced the upcoming lanes via a blog post and map. The new bikeway closes a short gap between the city’s existing Santa Monica Boulevard bike lanes and recently added ones in Beverly Hills.

Thanks to tipster Harrison Hopkins for the news and the photos.

xxx — New bike lane on Santa Monica Blvd

xxx — New bike lane on Santa Monica Blvd in Century City

Shortly after this article was first posted, L.A. added green pavement. Additional photos by Harrison Hopkins below.

xxx — “Fresh Kermit” green painted bike lanes on Santa Monica Boulevard in Century City

xxx — Additional green paint on Century City’s new Santa Monica Boulevard bike lanes

Tonight, the West Hollywood City Council will be considering a similar gap closure project at the other end of Beverly Hills. From the West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition’s alert:

Mark your calendars: City Council to consider bike lanes on Santa Monica Blvd. between Almont and Doheny

At next Monday’s WeHo City Council meeting, consideration will be given to extending the bicycle lanes on Santa Monica Blvd. from their current western terminus at Almont Dr. to the city limit at Doheny Drive (Item 5A). This will connect to the new “high visibility” (green) bike lanes in Beverly Hills. WeHoBC strongly supports this item, specifically either options ‘2’ (remove parking on both sides of the street) or ‘3’ (remove parking on one side and narrow the median) to make room for the new lanes.

However, two aspects of the proposal are of concern: (1) no action will be taken until the very large “Melrose Triangle” property development is complete, the date of which is highly uncertain, and (2) there is no provision for making the lanes more visible by painting them green, despite that having been part of the proposal when presented to commissioners for their approval.

It is important for the bicycle community to be heard from on this issue, so please try to attend the meeting to provide public comment on this item.

When: West Hollywood Park, Council Chambers, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd.
Where: Monday, Sept. 23rd, 6:30 PM

West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition, Local Chapter of LACBC

Also updated 9/25: On Monday, WeHo approved the bike lanes; see full story at WeHoVille. Story states that the city will remove parking, paint lanes green, and WeHo councilmembers said “they would prefer to see the bike lanes created as soon as possible.”