Last Friday afternoon saw dueling rallies over the city of West Hollywood's planned Fountain Avenue safety improvements. The city's ambitious Fountain Avenue Streetscape Project plans to add protected bike lanes, widen sidewalks, and reduce car capacity - including removing many on-street parking spaces. Bike lanes have become a political flash point in this year's city council elections.
After WeHo for the People (a non-profit group supporting "the sacred freedoms and protections that residents and job creators have long enjoyed in the City") announced its "Stop the Fountain-Jam" rally, the West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition announced a counter protest.
On Friday afternoon, on the northwest corner of Fountain Avenue and Crescent Heights Boulevard, bike advocates chanted "What do we want? Safe Streets! When do we want them? Now." Pro-bike attendees numbered about thirty.
On the south corners, Fountain-Jam rally participants shouted "no more bike lanes!," "Save our parking spaces on Fountain!," and "No more gridlock!" The anti-bike contingent numbered roughly seventy. For the better part of an hour, the bike-lane opposition distributed fliers to drivers, held up signs, and chanted.
Four city council candidates were among the anti-bike voices: Larry Block, Jordan Cockeram, George Nickle, and Zekiah Wright.
Two council candidates joined the pro-bike contingent: John Erickson (incumbent and current Mayor) and Danny Hang (an Erickson ally who serves on the city's Business License Commission).
First the pro-bike contingent, then later the anti-bike one, marched a half-dozen blocks down Fountain's narrow sidewalks, then along Sweetzer Avenue to West Hollywood City Hall.
Like too many Southern California street safety projects, the fate of the Fountain Avenue Streetscape hangs on the results of city council elections. The current city council has approved moving forward with funding and design stages of the project. A new less bike-friendly council could undo those approvals.
