Pico & Olympic

[LAofAnaheim]

Check out this blog article from Native Intelligence

LA Observed is saying turning Olympic & Pico into one way streets is "the day traffic ended". WTF? If anything, this is horrible move. Usually, 1 way streets are a block away, as it is in downtown. So, bus riders are not inconvened to walk only 1 block to get to their bus stop. But, there are points when Pico & Olympic are .7 miles away, this is inconvienant. I take the bus sometimes from downtown to century city on Line 28/328. With this proposal, it'll be too inconvenient for me to get to Pico to take the bus back. I'll probably just take my car everyday. This is a horrid proposal for transit advocates. Of course, fantastic for private automobile enthusiasts. "The day the traffic ended" - hahaha

[gibiscus]

If they want to make two streets one-way, I would suggest Pico and Venice, between Downtown and Mid-City. They are only .2 miles apart.

[LAofAnaheim]

Well...this is interesting. The Mayor will time the lights on Olympic westbound and Pico eastbound, yet keeping the 2 way streets. An unfortunate resolution to the 1-way debate. First, we lose all rush hour street parking, which means the street becomes another mini-freeway (what about the kids!!!!) and secondly, no bus only lanes. In Zev's proposal, a 2-way bus-only lanes were a compromise to a 1 way street, now we keep the 2-way street and no bus only lanes.

I take the 28/328 sometimes to Century City and it pains me that it still takes faster by the private car to get to Century City compared to a bus. In other world-class cities, buses have dedicated lanes on major arteries, yet in LA, they are treated as a "bottleneck" to the private automobile. Yes, a subway for the westside is needed on Wilshire, but we will never a get subway down Olympic/Pico. A bus only lane would be the greatest benefit. Makes me want to continue commuting via my car.....

Anybody else feel strongly of the mayor's latest actions on Olympic/Pico?

[blueridge]

One thing that concerns me about this proposal is that the mayor threw out a figure of a 45% reduction in travel times. The media printed this as the gospel truth. How did they arrive at this 45% figure? My guess is they pulled it out of thin air. It just doesn't make sense. But I guess it doesn't matter because this looks like a done deal.

[LAofAnaheim]

Great! A petition to stop the freewayization of Olympic & Pico. I'd love to see the area of Pico/Robertson to stay as a nice urban area w/ plenty of on-street parking and no anti-gridlock suburban policy. Feel free to sign this petition.

[nickv]

Be sure to contact the city officials too when voicing opposition to this proposal.

[LAofAnaheim]

^ Thank you!

I live in downtown, so I'm not a natural 'westsider'; however, I do have to endure the pain of going to Century City (i.e. LA's urban mistake). Century City is the reason we have this problem; some smart politicians thought it would be wise to set up a 2nd downtown where everybody could drive and no public transit was needed. Now, we are in fear of losing more urban fabric of Los Angeles with INCREASED anti-gridlock zoning; forcing more surburban streets into a place that NEEDS to be a CITY. The attraction of parking on a street, makes the street appear smaller, pedestrian-friendliness, and vibrant sidewalks. Street parking gives a feeling that you are Somewhere and not "going somewhere" like a parking garage does. We need to focus on urban qualities of L.A. besides transit efficiencies.

Yes, it would be more efficient for speed to restrict parking and make 1-way streets. But, we lose the urban fabric of a city. Heck, a 1-way street would make me continue driving my personal vehicle instead of taking a bus.

[nickv]

I do have to endure the pain of going to Century City (i.e. LA's urban mistake). Century City is the reason we have this problem; some smart politicians thought it would be wise to set up a 2nd downtown where everybody could drive and no public transit was needed.

When you have the moment, listen to this audio presentation of Which Way L.A.? - "Easing Congestion on LA's West Side: Too Little Too Late?"

Listen to how Mr. Bart Reed presents his arguments front and center and how important it is to improve transit along the Wilshire Bl corridor together with better commuter service from the Valley to the West Side. Get the employers to offer rideshare incentives for the employees including extra cash in exchange for free parking; then more service-based employees may ditch their cars and rideshare/ride the bus.

[Tony Fernandez]

If you think about it, Century City was supposed to have the Beverly Hills Freeway and the Red Line, so it's not like it was put there with no thought.

[blueridge]

Wasn't the sychronization of the lights to be completed by now? I haven't noticed any difference on Pico or Olympic on the days I drive them. Also, another major flaw with this plan is the access to Pico and Olympic off the 405 Freeway. On the northbound 405 is there access to Pico for the eastbound traffic? On the southbound 405 if you are heading eastbound (Pico) you have to exit the freeway. Turn left on Sawtelle. Then (the hard part) turn left on Pico. This already tends to back up in the morning. At least if Olympic were the eastbound "freeway" you would just have to make two rights off of the 405 south. From a traffic flow standpoint of the biggest funnel of traffic (405), it seems to me that it would have made more sense for Olympic to be the eastbound route and Pico the westbound.

[LAofAnaheim]

Synchronization has been pushed back to May 1st last I read. Sorry, cannot find the article right now. The homeowner groups and local businesses are protesting big time. Also, the LA Business Commerce Assocation is not thrilled about this project either.

Personally - I don't like this idea of furthering anti-gridlock. We need to protect our streets from "freewayization". I prefer the traffic calming measures (i.e. street parking, widened sidewalks, a bus lane instead of a no-parking restriction, etc...). I hope this standstill continues.

[nickv]

Judge Puts Brakes on Mayor’s Pico-Olympic Traffic Scheme
LA Traffic City Watch - Link to Article
By Ken Draper


The Pico-Olympic Project hit a red light...
Note - This pic is not Pico or Olympic Bl

Superior Court Judge John Torribio put the brakes on the Mayor’s Pico East-Olympic West traffic scheme, ruling on Monday that the City would have to fulfill its California Environmental Quality Act obligations and conduct an impact study. The study could take as much as a year.

The judge’s decision could not have made Mayor Villaraigosa … or his 1st Lieutenant on this project, Councilman Jack Weiss … happy campers. The Mayor felt so strongly about his almost one-way streets idea a few months ago that he short circuited any recommendations from Wendy Greuel’s Transportation Committee and ordered the immediate implementation of the Pico-Olympic plan.

A move not lost on the judge who noted in his ruling: “The undisputed evidence is that City Council Transportation Committee meetings on the proposed activity were abruptly suspended and the City’s Department of Transportation was instructed to implement “phase one” of the plan by the Mayor.”

“In this instance,” Judge Torribio went on, “where the city has not prepared any environmental document.”

The Pico-Olympic battle got to court because two citizen groups … the Greater West LA Chamber of Commerce and the Westwood South of Santa Monica Boulevard Homeowners Assn sued the City. They represent a coalition of businesses and a coalition of community groups respectively. Both felt that the City was not listening to stakeholders in the most affected neighborhoods and that the City was ignoring the potential impact of the Mayor’s plan on the environment and the area’s residents.

Many transportation planners believe that the Pico-Olympic Plan will increase traffic incalculably … and thus pollution and side street woes … in already jam packed and nerve wracked Westside neighborhoods.

Judge Torribio agreed, noting in his opinion: “The very purpose of the project is to expand the use of existing streets. To claim that the project will not expand the current use and is therefore exempt (from an EIR) seems inconsistent with the stated purpose.”

“We hope that today’s ruling will encourage the Mayor and Jack Weiss to start listening to and working with their constituents,” said Jay Handal, chair of the GWLACC. Handal said that the groups that brought the suit “stand ready to talk about real solutions for the traffic problems we all face.”

Ironically, Handal’s group met with the Mayor and his advisors offering to drop the law suit if the City would rethink their plan. The City told Handal they would take their chances in court.

A long-time City Hall insider called it, “Yet another example of the use of the court system to stop City Hall from trampling on people. It’s sad in a way,” he said, “but this is what the court system is for.”

“Is still think,” he concluded, “that neighborhood councils will need, at some point, to use the court system to keep themselves from being trampled.”

No word yet from the City on whether they will attempt to take any further action. Most feel they will not. The judge’s ruling was very clear and … according to the LA Times … the Mayor has said that the city would be willing to conduct a study if ordered to do so.

The president of one of the participating groups, Jim O’Sullivan, said that at this point “it is a victory for all stakeholders in Los Angeles. We all win,” he said, “when the City follows the law and doesn’t make up the rules as it goes along.”

It is also fair to conclude that the other groups who are headed to court to resolve their issues with City Hall will feel encouraged by Judge Torribio’s favorable ruling for the folks from the neighborhood.

(Ken Draper is the editor of CityWatch and can be reached at: [e-mail].)

[Tony Fernandez]

I was just thinking about this; instead of making Olympic and Pico one-way, why not traffic-calm them? Put an island down the middle, widen the sidewalks, put bus-only lanes for rush hour, and add bike lanes. You could then promote mixed-use development on those boulevards (and make them actual boulevards in the European sense with more greenery) which could provide low-income housing and a way to develop in the Westside which has high-demand in a way that would not require a ton of parking. This would be great in Santa Monica because the area would be able to use the Expo Line to get downtown and into other areas.

[LAofAnaheim]

Jun 24, 2008 11:41:14 GMT -8 Tony Fernandez said:

I was just thinking about this; instead of making Olympic and Pico one-way, why not traffic-calm them? Put an island down the middle, widen the sidewalks, put bus-only lanes for rush hour, and add bike lanes. You could then promote mixed-use development on those boulevards (and make them actual boulevards in the European sense with more greenery) which could provide low-income housing and a way to develop in the Westside which has high-demand in a way that would not require a ton of parking. This would be great in Santa Monica because the area would be able to use the Expo Line to get downtown and into other areas.

Tony, that's just crazy talk. LA's goal is to move cars, not people. LA would rather continue anti-gridlocking LA city streets and making our streets mini-highways. I too, share with your goal. I live on an "anti-gridlock zone" street and during the day, cars travel at 35 mph, slow to admire the Ralphs & Panini Cafe and people are comfortably walking. And during "anti-gridlock", cars go 50 mph!! No joke! We need to change the mentality in LA that street parking is great and we need more of it. A median is nice, but I would prefer a smaller street, with street parking on both sides [or a bus lane is cool as well].

[Tony Fernandez]

How about street parking that extends deeper into the street, like Brand Blvd in Glendale. That's always a great way to slow down traffic, except that I don't know if that's compatible with a bike lane. I'd like to see these streets as 4 lane roads (2 in each direction) that moves slowly and is shrunken down to 2 lanes as one of the lanes is converted to a bus lane during rush hour. Grass-lined sidewalks and maybe a median with plenty of trees and shade (if there's enough room). But I guess perceived efficiency (anti-gridlock zoning and car dominance) is more important than beauty, safety, and real efficiency (traffic calmed streets) for our city politicians and most of our city's citizens.