For your weekend reading, here are four short transportation/livability updates:
Sunset Bus Lanes
Metro is partnering with L.A. City to install new peak-hour bus lanes on Sunset Boulevard. The facility would extend 4.3 miles through East Hollywood and Hollywood to the edge of West Hollywood - from Vermont Avenue to Havenhurst Drive (four blocks west of Fairfax Avenue). The bus lanes would serve riders on Metro Line 2 and LADOT DASH Hollywood and Beachwood Canyon buses.
The plans have already received some criticism during a round of Neighborhood Council input. Next Wednesday, the bus-riding public will have a chance to weigh in when Metro hosts a virtual public input meeting Wednesday (11/12) from 6-7 p.m.
L.A. Smart Curb Cameras
Also next Wednesday, the L.A. City Council Transportation Committee [agenda] will consider a Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez motion [council file 25-1232] that could step up the city's use of smart camera technology to improve traffic safety.
The city Transportation Department (LADOT) is finishing up work on a federal grant for a "code the curb" initiative digitally mapping street features like parking spaces, meters, and loading zones. Partnering with the company Automotus, the city installed 60 cameras around downtown L.A. to capture data for needed to implement Smart Loading Zones and/or Smart Curbs. The city of Hoboken, New Jersey, is using these Automotus cameras to ticket drivers who block bike lanes, bus lanes, and loading zones.
In a written statement, Hernandez noted that Smart Loading Zones in L.A. could “generate significant revenue while also improving safety and traffic flow in high traffic corridors.”
Ohio Avenue Bikeway Upgrade
LADOT is also finalizing plans for a 0.9-mile two-way protected bikeway on Ohio Avenue from Westwood Boulevard to Westgate Avenue. The facility would border the Westwood VA Hospital, University High School, and the Bad News Bears Field (part of Westwood Park) - all a short bike ride from (under construction) Metro D Line subway stations.
The project includes modest traffic calming on another 0.8-mile of residential streets (Westgate Avenue, Rochester Avenue, Saltair Avenue, and Texas Avenue) extending to Centinela Avenue.
LADOT is requesting public input via its Ohio Avenue project online survey. Additional information at the DOT's project webpage.
South Whittier Bike Lanes
Supervisor Janice Hahn and the L.A. County Department of Public Works recently announced the approval of the $27 million South Whittier Community Bikeway Access Improvements project, which will install 3 miles (6 lane-miles) of new bike lanes on Leffingwell Road and Valley View Avenue.
The project includes 1.8 miles (3.6 lane-miles) of bike routes (generally consisting of just signs and/or sharrows, "bike route" is often a near meaningless designation), all "without loss of travel lanes or parking."
This will improve conditions for cyclists but, for a $27 million project that has the word "bike" in the title, just three miles of new unprotected bike lanes is underwhelming. (If the bike components were a standalone project, installation would likely cost less than $1 million.)
This is more of a streetscape project, with revamped landscaped median islands, street resurfacing, bulb-outs, trees, and more. Construction is anticipated to get underway by July 2026 and be completed by January 2028.
