Today is a win for the people trying to end the "road diets." Councilman Mike Bonin announced that he's going to restore traffic lanes along Vista Del Mar. While this win is great, we still have more work to do! Karla Mendelson from Keep LA Moving released the following response to Bonin's announcement:
"KeepLAMoving are pleased that L.A. District 11 Councilmember Mike Bonin is now listening to his constituents, and acknowledging the many difficulties caused by the changes implemented on the streets of Playa del Rey.
We are relieved that he's promised to return Vista del Mar to four lanes, and hope the work begins immediately since the street has proven to be incredibly dangerous in its current configuration.Supervisor Janice Hahn, Manhattan Beach Mayor David Lesser and M.B. Councilmember Richard Montgomery have worked hard to craft a safer solution that includes access and parking for all beachgoers.
It is encouraging that L.A. Councilmember Bonin has conveyed a willingness to start a dialog with all stakeholders, including the South Bay cities. It is our hope that such discussions consider the ongoing increase in accidents and gridlock along Playa del Rey’s roads, the impingement of the Area G Tsunami Evacuation route along Culver Boulevard, the need for better lighting, obstructed beach access in Playa del Rey, the crippling of local business, and other byproducts of the existing “experiment.”
Most importantly, we hope that accurate and informative data will be used to inform future decisions, and hope to see transparency built into the process.Road Diets — such as the ones installed on Vista del Mar, Culver, Jefferson and Playa del Rey — create problems, including longer commutes, cut-through traffic, more pollution and higher accident rates. They impose financial burdens on individuals and businesses.
They hurt families, especially the working class. The impact was immediately felt in PDR and its surrounding communities, and unfortunately will continue to impact residents until the all ill-conceived road reconfigurations are fixed.The City of Los Angeles plans to implement similar lane restrictions and removals on arterials throughout the region, including Sepulveda, Lincoln, and the entirety of Venice Boulevard. These projects have a variety of names, including Vision Zero and Great Streets.
We hope that the representatives elected to better the lives of residents will engage their communities — and everyone who relies on the impacted roads — in honest and open dialog about their intentions to remove lanes. We hope the LADOT will be truthful and transparent in their use of data, and will perform necessary studies prior to any changes being made, so follow-up studies can truly measure the impacts of these projects on traffic, commute times, finances, stress, property values, and all other quality-of-life factors.L.A. needs visionary leaders to build a better future without destroying today’s communities, businesses and families.
There are many effective ways to make streets safer while improving how they move cars, bikes and pedestrians. Until we have viable, effective and efficient transit alternatives, we need our arterials for cars. We don’t need Road Diets. There is a lot more work to do. We will continue the fight to get Playa del Rey’s, Mar Vista’s and other neighborhoods’ arterials back. And to keep other roads from being put on a “diet.” The fix on Vista del Mar is a welcome start."