The first lawsuit has been filed in the ongoing battle against #BadIdeaBonin and #GridlockGarcetti's "Road Diets."
Yesterday the Breakers at Westport Condominium Homeowners Association filed a 17-page complaint against the city of Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti, and Councilman Mike Bonin.
The suit aims to undo the horrible changes made to Vista Del Mar, Culver Boulevard, Jefferson Boulevard, and Pershing Drive until an environmental impact report and public hearings are conducted.
Ernest Franceschi is the attorney representing the Breakers residents, he says city officials worked around the environmental impact report process because they knew the road changes would be unpopular.
“I’m not opposed to bike paths and bike lanes, but they have to be reasonable and they can’t come at the expense of two lanes of travel on these major thoroughfares."
Residents of the Breakers say they've been greatly affected by the "unlawful implementation" of the project. The suit reads:
“The only access to the development is from Vista del Mar, which has now become time consuming and onerous due to the severe traffic congestion at all hours of the day, particularly during business commute times."
The suit also says that the "road diets" could delay emergency responders because of the the bumper-to-bumper traffic, and has the potential to destroy small businesses and property values:
“Due to the gridlock, customers will have difficulty accessing these establishments which may ultimately cause some to close, thereby harming not only the business owners, but petitioner’s members and the general public as well, who will be deprived of access to local and convenient restaurants, coffee shops, convenience stores and the like."
There will be another "road diet" discussion at a Department of Transportation meeting on July 29th from 1-3pm Loyola Marymount University’s Roski dining hall.
Attorney Ernest Franceschi joined us this afternoon to discuss the lawsuit: