Road Diet

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.

A standing room only audience descended on the Fashion Institute of Design on South Grand Street to listen to a presentation from the embattled Community Redevelopment Agency for a ground breaking and popular proposal to transform the South Figueroa Corridor.  When people discuss Los Angeles' streets, they usually use terms such as "car-oriented" or "ugly."  The new South Figueroa, aka My Figueroa, would be a truly beautiful street designed for people to walk, bike wait for transit or just enjoy life outside as well as a way to shuffle cars from one area to another.

After experiencing a community backlash over the Wilbur Avenue road diet and bike lanes project in the Valley, LADOT developed an improved outreach plan for a proposed road diet for Main Street in Venice.  The project would mirror the road configuration on Main Street in Santa Monica, and in the words of the LADOT would "complete" the street by providing seamless connectivity on Maon Street throughout the Westside.

(Brigham Yen is a real estate agent and voice for sustainable transportation based in the city of Pasadena.  We've always welcomed his comments in the comments section, and double welcome his coverage of the Cordova Road Diet meeting last night.  What did I tell you yesterday?  We're going to start moving in to Pasadena in the coming weeks.  You can read more of Yen at his personal real estate blog, viewable at Brighamyen.com)

Calls for a Road Diet on Colorado Boulevard are growing, and beginning to become too loud to ignore.  For those not familiar with the layout of the road, it currently spans six car travel lanes, provides on-street car parking, and features a seventeen foot median that occasionally features live grass.  Eagle Rock residents have been puzzled about a road configuration that is designed for many more cars than actually use it.  The result is that the traffic that does use the street, tends to drive above the speed limit.

Last week, Streetsblog warned that car drivers who use Verdugo Avenue were organizing a petition to fight the Avenue's Road Diet.  However, when the City Council gathered to decide whether or not to continue the diet, the opposition to the traffic calmed street was in the minority in the room and on the dais.  Instead of a packed room of car drivers presenting their petition, it was dozen of community and bicycle activists presenting 450 signatures in support of the diet that ruled the evening Tuesday night.

Last March, the City of Burbank repaved Verdugo Avenue and repainted the street to remove a car travel lane and add a bike lane.  While the plan had been on the books since the passage of the city's bike plan in 2003, the Burbank City Council only approved the road diet for a six month trial period.  To make certain policy, not funding issues, would decide whether or not the diet stays; the Council passed approved enough funds for the diet and, if necessary, funds to remove the diet all at once last year.