The Valley
Streetsblog LA
Against All Odds, the Wilbur Road Diet Is Staying (for Now)
For eight months now, the LADOT has been taking shots in the Valley over the a two mile road diet on Wilbur Avenue. Between Nordhoff and Chatsworth, Wilbur went from two lanes in both directions to one lane in each direction, a left turn lane, and bike lanes on both sides. Last night, representatives of the Northridge and Porter Ranch Neighborhood Councils, in an official and deciding vote, voted to leave the current road configuration as it was instead of repainting the road to a compromise plan created by the LADOT and a Wilbur Working Group. There's a lot of potential headlines from this meeting, so I'll do my best to give each of them their due.
March 16, 2011
City Breaks Ground on West Valley River Bike Path
City Councilman Dennis Zine served as master of ceremonies at the groundbreaking for the West Valley Los Angeles River Bike Path yesterday. Construction has begun on this first phase of the path, a 2.2 mile stretch that extends from Vanalden Avenue to Corbin Avenue. The path won't just be a stretch of concrete, but will also have some landscaping, access some mini-parks and have overhead lighting.
March 11, 2011
Two Camps Have Formed on Wilbur Ave. Road Diet, LADOT Compromise Plan Kept Under Wraps
Late last year, Councilman Greig Smith and the LADOT convened a four-part Wilbur Working Group to address the concerns created when the LADOT re-striped Wilbur Avenue last August. The "new" Wilbur features two mixed-use traffic lanes, two bike lanes, and a turning lane. The "old" Wilbur had four mixed-use traffic lanes.
February 22, 2011
LADOT Following Up on 2009 Promise, More Bike Lanes on Reseda, Rinaldi in the Valley
Yesterday, the LADOT Bike Blog announced two new bike lane projects that were completed in the Valley this weekend.
January 26, 2011
Reseda Boulevard Bike Lanes Extended, Wilbur Avenue Lanes Questioned
This past weekend, the city of Los Angeles striped two additional miles of bike lanes on Reseda Boulevard. The new 2-mile stretch of lane, reported in-progress here last week, extends from Devonshire Street to Parthenia Street. This stretch is nearly complete with lines fully striped, bike symbols added, but directional arrows missing and hopefully coming soon. It's great to see relatively rapid progress on this formerly-controversial project.
August 23, 2010
New Bike Lanes Underway in West Valley on Eve of Mayor’s Bike Summit
This past weekend, city of Los Angeles work crews were out scraping and putting down preliminary bike lane striping on Reseda Boulevard. The final thermoplastic striping isn't there yet, but the preliminary lines are down. The lanes extend from Devonshire Street to Parthenia Street - a total of 2 miles. Streetsblog readers will recall that these lanes were
approved in 1996, but remained unimplemented until bicyclists caught city staff lying about planned peak-hour parking lanes, which would have precluded the approved bike lanes.
August 15, 2010
Measure R Rail Projects Underway: Ground Is Broken for Foothill Extension
This weekend wasn't just a good one for cyclists. On Saturday, while I was still sleeping off Critical Mass, groundbreaking occurred for the Gold Line Foothill Extension in the San Gabriel Valley. The rail line was always a popular project with Valley residents, but until Measure R was passed, a measure opposed by several prominent politicians in the area, funding for the project was not approved. Now, with cash in hand and shovels in the ground, officials are predicting the extension will open in 2014, before the Expo Line will be completed all the way in to Santa Monica.
June 28, 2010
Vroom? Old Limit Increases, and One New Limit Hold Are on Agenda
On March 24, the City Council Transportation Committee, partially at the urging of Councilman Paul Krekorian, tabled three proposals to increase speed limits for three streets in the San Ferndando Valley. The increases for Arleta Avenue, Sheldon Street and Hollywood Way were previously discussed in this Streetsblog article. There's nothing new to report on these proposals, they're the same as they were three months ago, another limit proposal has found its way onto the Council agenda for this Wednesday's meeting. This proposal would set the speed limit for Hatteras Street., between Hazeltine and Sepulveda, at thirty miles per hour.
June 4, 2010
Reseda Boulevard Bike Lanes: One Mile Done, Four to Go
Yesterday, the city of L.A. Department of Transportation (LADOT) made
good on their pledge to stripe the first new mile of Reseda Boulevard
bike lanes. The lanes were approved in 1996, but languished for various reasons detailed earlier, until bicyclists and community members rallied. It's one mile of a five mile gap closure.
October 5, 2009
LADOT Stripes Half-Mile of Reseda Bike Lanes
New bike lanes are in use on Reseda Boulevard. L.A. StreetsBlog readers will remember that these lanes were
approved in the city of Los Angeles' 1996 bike plan,
but weren't implemented due to conflicting Department of Transportation
(LADOT) plans for additional peak-hour car lanes. When the peak-hour lanes plan faced opposition, LADOT pledged to implement a mile of bike lanes on Reseda Blvd from Devonshire Street to San Fernando Mission Road.
September 28, 2009