Eyes on the Street: Parthenia Place Walk/Bike Project Nearly Completed

Parthenia Place's bike/walk improvements are open now, though landscaping is anticipated to be completed by this Fall. Additional connected projects coming soon.

By Joe Linton

4:32 PM PDT on April 2, 2024

Two-way parking-protected bikeway along Parthenia Place. Photos by Joe Linton/Streetsblog

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Los Angeles City has nearly completed work on bike and walk improvements along Parthenia Place in the central San Fernando Valley community of North Hills. The project is being constructed by the city's Bureau of Street Services (StreetsLA) which is part of the Public Works Department (DPW).

Streetsblog reported on the project last November when it was very much a construction site. In late February, the city Transportation Department (LADOT) announced that the project's two-way protected bike lanes are open. Streetsblog visited Parthenia Place last month; see Twitter thread for photos and commentary.

Parthenia Place last month. Curb work is complete. Landscaping, including in the large traffic circle (center) is anticipated to be completed this Fall.

This week, DPW spokesperson Paul Gomez provided SBLA a project update:

The Parthenia Street and Sepulveda Boulevard Streetscape and Safety Improvement Project continues to progress. The 60-foot roundabout and median improvement on Columbus Ave and median improvements on Sepulveda Blvd have been completed along with street resurfacing, signage and striping, including those for the bike lanes. The landscaping and irrigation are the remaining elements of the project to complete. There will be colorful drought tolerant landscape planting in the roundabout and drought tolerant street trees planted near Columbus Ave and Sepulveda Blvd.

This project will provide traffic safety enhancements for pedestrians, bicyclists and vehicles, landscaping to beautify the area and street trees to provide more shade. The project has been a collaborative effort of Council District 6, North Hills East Neighborhood Council and city departments, led by StreetsLA. Completion of the project is expected to be in Fall 2024.

The working-class Latino area sees fairly high levels of foot and bike travel, especially to and from North Hills Community Park. Cyclists were using the bike lanes, as well as the sidewalks.

Parthenia Place bike lanes near Sepulveda Boulevard

Some cyclists choose to ride on the Parthenia Place sidewalk, perhaps due to some tree-trimming debris in the bike lanes that day

The path cyclists are expected to take is disappointingly indirect: at Columbus Avenue, northwest-bound cyclists are expected to turn left-right-right-left to continue straight though the intersection.

Current Parthenia Place bike circulation - two-way segments in green, one-way in yellow. Base map via Google

The current bikeway features about 0.2 mile of two-way parking-protected bike lanes (on Parthenia Place from Sepulveda Boulevard to Columbus Avenue), and, at each end, stretches of one-way bike lane totaling another 0.15 mile (mainly on Parthenia Place from Burnet Avenue to Columbus).

An LADOT staffperson tweeted that "One-way portions will be converted to two-way" when the city completes future projects on each end: Mission Mile: Sepulveda Boulevard to the north, and a Safe Routes to School project at Parthenia/Burnet to the east.