LADOT
Streetsblog LA
Op-Ed: Invest in multipurpose streets to support housing values
Municipal bond rates are at historic lows. A memo by two respected faculty members at the UCLA Anderson Forecast (available at Streetsblog, for some reason link to city website is broken) suggests the city take advantage of these low rates to fund a $3 billion program to resurface, rehabilitate, and reconstruct city streets. This same logic extends to any local investment activity - because rates are low, it’s a good time to build or repair anything the city will need in the future. Street repair is an especially good choice for a city experiencing an historically high unemployment rate because a higher proportion of street investment goes into labor and wages than for other investments, a subway tunnel for instance.
January 15, 2013
City Officially Unveils “Continental Crosswalk,” Promises 50 More in Next Three Months
No pedestrian left behind?
December 17, 2012
Zebra Spotting at Fifth and Spring
If you live, work, shop or play Downtown, you may have already seen it. Brand new "zebra crosswalks," known in the planning world as "continental crosswalks," have been installed at the intersection of 5th and Spring, creating a safer and more visible crossing at one of L.A.'s busiest intersections. This is the first zebra installed since December of 2009, when LADOT initiated a "pilot program" at the intersection of Manchester and Sepulveda on the Westside.
December 13, 2012
Eyes on the Street: Sepulveda Blvd. Bike Lane Turning Into “Express Lane” for Scofflaws
In May, Streetsblog reported that new bike lanes were painted on Sepulveda Boulevard between Venice Boulevard and National Boulevard. The new lanes could connect all the way to the Expo Line Station scheduled for Sepulveda and Exposition, about a half mile north of where the lanes now end.
December 11, 2012
Westside’s Motor Avenue Gets Road Diet and Bike Lanes
The buzz started on Monday: an alert reader (and Wilshire bike commute champion) notified Streetsblog that the sharrows on Motor Avenue disappeared between Venice Boulevard and National Boulevard, a three quarter mile stretch of mixed residential and commercial development, during a recent repaving.
October 25, 2012
The Changing Face of Downtown for Cyclists
In 2011, the City of Los Angeles passed a new Bike Plan which included a “5 year bike network implementation plan.” The implementation plan focued on a handful of “core” areas to focus the bulk of the new bike facilities. One of those areas is Downtown Los Angeles. A year and a half later, checks in on how Downtown Los Angeles has changed in the past year and a half and what is in store in the coming years.
August 30, 2012
LADOT Adds Bike Parking to Online Map
LADOT Bikeways is celebrating the addition of 5,000 official bicycle parking spaces to their online bikeways map. While this is hardly earth-shattering news, it is a nice step for the agency as it moves towards creating a bicycle friendly city. In the real world, it's nice to be able to plan a trip and know how much bicycle parking is at or near your destination.
August 20, 2012
LADOT’s FY11-12: A Banner Year for Bikeways
Back in a January 2012 L.A. Streetsblog article, Joe Linton stated that LADOT was "not quite on track" to complete Mayor Villaraigosa's pledge for 40 new miles of bikeway each year. In that article, Linton projected only 31 new miles to be completed during Fiscal Year 2011-2012. The fiscal year ended two weeks ago, and LADOT not only met, but greatly exceeded the 40 new miles pledged.
July 12, 2012
Welcome to the Bike Wars. City Announces Meetings for Bike Plan EIR.
Bicycle advocacy in the city entered a new phase last week, when the Department of City Planning released a five page Notice of Preparation (NOP) for an environmental review of forty three miles of bike lanes. These projects represent some of the more controversial bicycling projects as they often times require removing curbside parking, mixed-use travel lanes, and/or turning lanes. The public process, which begins with scoping meetings next week, could prove to be contentious as this is the first time the City of Los Angeles has publicly proposed a city-wide program of creating bicycle facilities at the cost of mixed-use facilities or automobile parking.
July 2, 2012