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Streetsblog LA
Cedillo Kills Approved North Figueroa Bike Lanes Citing “Safety” Reasons
As a candidate, Gil Cedillo pledged his support for the approved road diet bike lanes on North Figueroa Street. Once elected, Los Angeles City Councilmember Cedillo maintained that he was listening to community concerns, while he and his staff phone-banked and canvassed to rally opposition to the bike lanes.
July 11, 2014
Metro Round-Up: LAX, Open Streets, New Reps on Technical Committee
At yesterday's Metro Board Meeting, directors approved a handful of initiatives that have great implications for the future livability of the Los Angeles Region. Here is the re-cap:
June 27, 2014
CA Bills to Crack Down on Hit-and-Run Drivers Sail Through Committees
Two bills focused on addressing hit-and-run crashes, authored by CA Assemblymember Mike Gatto, appear quickly on their way to being passed. A.B. 47, which would create an alert system on California highways to help the public assist police in catching drivers involved in hit-and-run crashes, sailed through the Senate Public Safety Committee Tuesday with a 6-1 vote. A.B. 1532, Gatto's other bill which increases fines and penalties for hit-and-run drivers, passed a separate committee.
June 26, 2014
Council Transportation Committee Gives Enthusiastic Thumbs Up to Seleta Reynolds
When I covered the Transportation Committee Hearing for Rita Robinson to take the helm at LADOT in 2008, there were 10 people in the room who were not City Council staff, Council members, or Robinson herself.
June 25, 2014
What World Cup Soccer Tells Us About Using Public Space in Los Angeles
I assume that most Streetsblog readers who have any interest in sports turn elsewhere for insightful sports coverage. We barely cover competitive bike racing here. I don't claim much in the way of sport expertise, nonetheless, as a somewhat-closeted soccer fan, I am going to try my hand at writing about the World Cup Football. It's not Football in the American sense though, it is, of course, Soccer.
June 23, 2014
Mayor Garcetti Nominates New LADOT Head: Seleta Reynolds
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has nominated Seleta Reynolds to be the new general manager for the city's Transportation Department (LADOT.) From preliminary research on Reynolds's background, this looks like great news. Reynolds currently works for San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) where her focus had been livable streets, with a focus on building more equitable streets.
June 20, 2014
Showdown Becomes Slowdown: North Figueroa Street Project Drags On
In the latest installment in the fight for bike lanes on North Figueroa, North East Los Angeles communities found themselves at yet another community meeting organized by Los Angeles City Councilmember Gil Cedillo at Franklin High School in Highland Park. These community meetings have been literally dragging on and it looks like they will continue to drag on for the foreseeable future until Cedillo finally decides on a course of action.
June 13, 2014
Just How Great Will Those Great Streets Initiative Sites Become?
Yesterday and today, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the sites for his Great Streets Initiative. The mayor's Streets initiative now has an initial budget of $800,000. SBLA previewed six of these Great Streets announced during Garcetti's State of the City address. The full list now includes 15 street segments, one per City Council District. Here is how Garcetti describes Great Streets:
June 3, 2014
A Warm Welcome To SBLA Summer 2014 Intern Aviv Kleinman
There is a new face at Streetsblog Los Angeles this summer. Our latest intern Aviv Kleinman grew up in Los Angeles and currently attends SUNY Binghamton.
June 2, 2014
Federal Study Now Favors $1B Los Angeles River Restoration Plan
With billions in federal funding for the Regional Connector and the Westside Subway Extension already on his accomplishments list, today it was Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's turn to bring some attention, meaning some money, to the Los Angeles River.
May 28, 2014