LADOT

Tomorrow night, the Venice Neighborhood Council will debate, and possibly approve or reject a proposal by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation to remove travel lanes on Main Street in Venice in an effort to calm traffic and create space for bike lanes.

Yesterday, we featured a headline by our Joe Linton that pretty harshly criticized an LADOT Bike Blog posting from Monday about the LADOT's committment to increasing the number of Sharrows on L.A.'s streets.  We summarized Linton's post into a couple of questions and sent them on to the LADOT to get some clarification.  After all, the city is promising 20 miles of Sharrowed streets to be completed in the next year...what could be wrong with that?

Earlier this year, when the designs for South Figueroa's My Figueroa project were released, Josef Bray-Ali wasn't happy.  While many advocates celebrated designs that would, if implemented, result in segregated bike paths, transit-only lanes, pedestrian plazas (at a minimum), Bray-Ali saw another major investment in the Downtown and area around L.A. Live. Meanwhile, the portion of Figueroa where he worked and that he loved remained a traffic sewer, with five lanes of concrete and curbside parking blighting the area.

Yesterday, the LADOT and City Planning made their quarterly update to the City Council on the progress of the implementation of the Bike Plan.  The Council's Transportation Committee also moved a motion that would transfer $475,000 to LADOT's overtime account.  Between the somewhat confounding report offered by the agencies and the revelation that bike projects have to be built on overtime, it's no surprise that some advocates are anxious.

Alert reader Joe Dunavan alerts that new bike lanes have appeared on Woodley Avenue heading south.  The pictured section is just south of the Van Nuys Flyaway.  These lanes-in-waiting will run for a half mile from Saticoy Street to Sherman Way, roughly a half mile.  They connect to existing bike lanes to the north on Woodley Avenue.

Crumbling sidewalks and intersections without curb cuts are a common problem in L.A., but they're a lot more noticeable when you're moving with wheels.  Whether it's pushing a baby stroller, or doing some sidewalk bicycle riding, the lack of curb cuts is suddenly a major issue.  While its a minor inconvenience to someone who is healthy and pushing wheels by choice, people who suffer from some physical ailment can find the lack of a curb cut to be as daunting a barrier as a moat filled with crocodiles.

Our question and answer session with LAPD Sgt. David Krumer went so well, that we decided to do it again.  This time, incoming LADOT General Manager Jaime De La Vega has agreed to answer ten questions (the same number Krumer answered) submitted by Streetsblog readers.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa just announced (although Streetsblog had it first earlier today) the appointment of long-time transportation aide Jaime De La Vega as his nominee for General Manager of the Department of Transportation.  De La Vega first appeared at City Hall as a member of then-Mayor Richard Riordan's transportation team over a decade ago.  He has been the head of Villaraigosa's transportation team since the beginning and is credited for advancing Measure R, the 30/10 and America Fast Forward initiatives, and saving the bike/ped set aside from the city's Measure R funds when some City Councilmen wanted to remove it.

Last Friday, the LADOT responded to criticism of the city's plan to commit to environmental review many of the projects outlined in the Bike Plan.  However, their response, and release of the first batch of projects that will be stalled while a review is completed, have created more anger and confusion than anything else.  Despite the assertions from City Planner Jane Choi on the Bike Blog and Claire Bowen on Streetsblog, most cyclists see this review as a waste of time.