A plan to turn a small section of Griffith Park Boulevard in Silver Lake into a traffic-free zone for pedestrians and bikes is moving forward. Under a City Council motion introduced by Councilman Eric Garcetti, nearly two blocks of Griffith Park Boulevard between Sunset Boulevard and Edgecliff Drive will be off limits to most motor vehicle traffic to create additional a public space with seating areas. It’s part of a pilot project under Streets for People, which consists of a coalition of planning departments, public health agencies and other groups seeking to transform underused streets into public spaces.
Councilman Tom LaBonge wants city staff to study the possibility of reducing a stretch of busy Rowena Avenue in Silver Lake to one traffic lane in each direction as part of a “road diet.” The Eastsider reported earlier this month that some members of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council have proposed reducing traffic lanes on Rowena between Glendale Boulevard and Hyperion Avenue to reduce speeding traffic and create a safer and more attractive environment for pedestrians and cyclists. Now, LaBonge seems to be getting behind the concept by introducing a City Council motion asking the Department of Transportation and Planning Department to study the feasibility of a reducing Rowena from two lanes to one in each direction. LaBonge spokesman Todd Leitz said the councilman will “assess whether to support the idea after hearing the report and discussing it with interested parties.”
The motion, which is must be reviewed by the City Council’s Transportation Committee, says in part:
This is a concept has been a successful throughout other communities where bike lanes have been added to their neighborhoods.
The motion said that now is “the opportune time” to study a road diet since sections of Rowena and other nearby streets being torn up for a DWP water pipeline project.
City officials will gather on the First Street Bridge – one of the Los Angeles River spans linking Boyle Heights to downtown Los Angeles – on Tuesday morning to celebrate the reopening of the structure following a widening project that took longer and cost more than expected. Portions of the 82-year-old bridge have been closed to traffic since 2007 to allow the bridge to be widened by 26-feet to accommodate the Metro Gold Line tracks that run down the middle of the structure. While the Gold Line trains started running across the bridge in 2008, work on widening the span ran into unexpected trouble and delays, ranging from the unexpected discovery of large boulders and unknown utility lines that complicated foundation construction to restricted work hours near a Metro rail yard. Officials had estimated last year that cost overruns could reach as high as $12 million.
As a result of delays, the project, which was to have been completed in May 2010, dragged on, leaving the bridge closed to westbound traffic until last Thursday. Now, traffic, trains and pedestrians flow in both directions.
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Some members of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council want to reduce a stretch of busy Rowena Avenue down to one lane in each direction instead of two as part of a so-called “road diet.” The idea behind a slimmer, trimmer Rowena between Glendale Boulevard and Hyperion Avenue is to reduce speeding traffic and create a safer and more attractive environment for pedestrians and cyclists, according to proponents of the road diet. The concept is scheduled to be discussed at a Wednesday night meeting devoted to a proposed 45-unit, Rowena Avenue condo project on the site of the former Coffee Table cafe. Neighborhood council officials said they hope the developers of the new townhouse project will support the reduction of traffic lanes.
The idea of providing less lanes for cars and trucks, however, might be a tough sell for any of the commuters who pour down Rowena. At a meeting last year of the neighborhood council’s Urban Design & Preservation Committee, Mike Groszkruger, who has spearheaded the Rowena road diet, said:
People in Eagle Rock or Glendale might be upset about their commute route being slowed down.
Last year the residents of El Sereno celebrated the opening of a long-awaited Valley Boulevard bridge over the train tracks near Mariana Avenue. The $54 million Valley Grade Separation Bridge was supposed to eliminate the daily traffic jams and blaring train horns every time a Union Pacific freight train – as many as 30 a day – rumbled through the crossing. The new bridge may have improved Valley Boulevard traffic but it has been far less effective in reducing train-related noise across El Sereno and Hillside Village. Engineers are still required by federal law to blast those horns at four other crossings between Alhambra and Mission Road in Lincoln Heights and also when train crews spot maintenance workers or anyone else walking along the tracks, said Rick Coca, spokesman for Councilman Jose Huizar.
In order to get El Sereno some train-horn relief, Huizar has instructed city staff to apply for a federal “Quiet Zone” through El Sereno.
In addition to the new signs, the Bureau of Street Lighting is scheduled to begin work in January to replace the stolen copper wire that left about 100 new LED pathway lights in the dark. That project, which will include new features to deter copper wire thieves, is expected to take four to six months, according to the neighborhood watch.
The good news for Echo Park drivers and Dash bus riders is that northbound Echo Park Avenue near Park Avenue will soon reopen. The bad news is that a section of Park Avenue will soon be closed in both directions through the end of January for the construction of an underground storm water structure related to the Echo Park Lake rehab project. Park Avenue between Echo Park Avenue and Logan Street will be closed in both directions beginning the week of Nov. 14, according to the Echo Park Lake Rehabilitation website. Parking on Park Avenue will also be prohibited near the construction area.
Warren, who traveled the now closed section of Glendale Boulevard to get to work and drop off his child to school, is trying to rally neighbors to get the city to deal with the problems caused by the detour:
Making the left turn in front of Astro’s coffee shop has become a backed up nightmare that is considerably adding to commute times as motorists wait at the light for 15-25 minutes only to watch a maximum of 4-5 cars go through at a time. As a result, drivers are going through parking lots, making U-turns and otherwise getting very frustrated at the additional time it takes to get through this intersection.
But what can be done without shifting the traffic jam to other streets?
Alex Graber of Montecito Heights drives frequently through the tangle of lanes where the 110 and 5 freeways meet near Lincoln Heights and Cypress Park. But Graber said getting through this busy interchange has been made more challenging since so many of the lights have gone dark and have stayed that way for the past year. The darkened interchange bothered Graber enough to complain to authorities to get Caltrans to fix the lights. There was no response, Graber said by email:
For well over a year, 60 lights have been shut off all along these freeways at very dangerous transition points. I have contacted my councilman’s office several times and they don’t seem to be getting any response from Cal Trans. Think you’d see this on the West Side? Doubtful. Next time you drive this at night, check it out. It’s appalling.
Caltrans spokesman Patrick Chandler could not say how long the lights had been out at the interchange but agency officials blame copper wire thieves for the problem. Starting this weekend, repairs will begin to get the lights back on.
A group of Eagle Rock citizens and community groups have once undertaken the task of revitalizing Colorado Boulevard. One of the ideas raised at a recent meeting of the Take Back the Boulevard campaign was the introduction of angled parking to increase the number of spaces along the busy street. But this would not be the typical angled parking you might be familiar from a visit to Brand Boulevard in Glendale. Instead, this would be what’s called “reverse angled parking” (shown in the video above) in which drivers would back into their space. Why is backing into an angled parking space better than pulling in?
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A plan to turn a small section of Griffith Park Boulevard in Silver Lake into a traffic-free zone for pedestrians and bikes is moving forward. Under a City Council motion introduced by Councilman Eric Garcetti, nearly two blocks of Griffith Park Boulevard between Sunset Boulevard and Edgecliff Drive will be off limits to most motor vehicle traffic to create additional a public space with seating areas. It’s part of a pilot project under Streets for People, which consists of a coalition of planning departments, public health agencies and other groups seeking to transform underused streets into public spaces.
City officials will gather on the 
Many Silver Lake residents like David Warren welcomed the 
Alex Graber of Montecito Heights drives frequently through the tangle of lanes where the 
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The Eastsider publishes stories and news from the northeast corner of the City of Los Angeles and neighboring East Los Angeles. Who is the Eastsider? Where does the Eastsider roam? 
