L.A. Looks to Upgrade Forest Lawn Bike Lanes to Protected
LADOT and Councilmember Raman plan to add a mile and a half of plastic bollard protection to existing Forest Lawn Drive bike lanes; the project would reduce the number of car lanes from four to two.
The L.A. City Transportation Department (LADOT) and L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman are seeking community input on proposed upgrades to existing bike lanes on Forest Lawn Drive. The project would add plastic bollard protection to about a mile and a half of existing buffered bike lanes. The project would reduce the number of car lanes from four to two for much of the protected bike lane stretch. Give the city your input on Forest Lawn today via LADOT's online survey.
Forest Lawn Drive is located along the north side of Griffith Park, at the L.A./Burbank border, which follows the historic course of the L.A. River. The street is located just south of the present day river channel and parallels the nearby 134 Freeway.
The newly protected bike lanes would extend from Zoo Drive (near Travel Town) to the Warner Brothers Studios South Gate (Burbank's Avon Street).
Forest Lawn sees quite a lot of bicycling as it is a relatively flat route connecting the San Fernando Valley to Griffith Park.
Many drivers also speed on Forest Lawn, apparently in a big hurry to get to the 134 Freeway onramps. Though the street has 35 mph speed limit signs, drivers go upwards of 50 miles per hour - similar to dangerous speeding inside nearby Griffith Park.
The current LADOT Forest Lawn proposal is a good inexpensive step in the right direction, although a more ideal facility would probably be a two-way protected bikeway on one side of the street, with actual substantial (more expensive) protection (such as concrete barriers, curbs, or metal bollards) between cyclists and cars.
LADOT added basic unprotected bike lanes on Forest Lawn circa 2009. In 2020 when a portion of the street was resurfaced, the department did a minor upgrade, adding a painted buffer stripe.
Per LADOT's Forest Lawn Drive project fact sheet, the city is currently doing outreach and data collection, intending to finalize the design this fall. Implementation is anticipated next Winter/Spring in coordination with planned street repaving.
The recently installed 1.25-mile long bikeway spans Lincoln Park Avenue, Flora Avenue, and Sierra Street - it's arguably the first new bike facility of the Measure HLA era