Downtown LA

Commuters into Downtown Los Angeles were surprised this morning to note that 7th Street had gone on a crash diet overnight. For .6 miles, between Figueroa and Main Streets, bicycle lanes were installed and a mixed-use travel lane was removed.

In response to yesterday's story on the Spring Street Bike Lane, LADOT reached out to assure me that the repainting of the Spring Street Green Buffered Bike Lane will be completed by Saturday.

By the time I hit Spring Street, I was in a bad mood.

As we reported last week, the dangerousification of Spring Street is in full swing these days. With the City Council mandated water blasting of the Green Buffered Bike Lane completed, advocates wait for the city to install its completely untested, but less expensive, new paint design.

“Over the past few years, the  community along Spring Street has  become much more tightly woven.  The ‘bump’ factor happens all the  time now. If not daily, then at least  several times a week, I will happen across not only people that I know but  that occasional person that I forgot I even once knew! … As a place that brings people together, Spring Street has become a thriving neighborhood spot and an attractive regional destination for other Angelenos seeking a brief reprieve in our little small-town urban oasis we like to call DTLA.” – Will Wright, AIA-LA Government  and Public Affairs Director and Spring Street Resident

A funny thing happened on the way to a downtown Los Angeles streetcar. According to the Los Angeles Times, the initial cost estimate of $125M excluded the costs of utility relocation, which could total $166M in additional costs, and $295M in operating costs over 30 years. That’s quite a bit compared to the $62.5M voters authorized when approving a community facilities district last November.

Last week, the California Traffic Control Devices Committee approved the "compromise" design for the Spring Street Green Buffered Bike Lane. The CTCD was the last body that needed to approve the design.

When Antonio Villaraigosa discussed his plans to revitalize Downtown Los Angeles in his 2005 campaign for mayor, he often used the term "Manhattanization" as short hand for his density and community building plans. Both Manhattan and Downtown Los Angeles underwent their share of positive changes in the past eight years, but it took until the mayor's last hours in office for the city to truly embrace Manhattanizing one of its main corridors.