After two years of community organizing and outreach from neighbors and pedestrian advocates, the Los Angeles City Council unfortunately voted 11-0 to approve the plan to retrofit the Glendale/Hyperion Bridge with just one sidewalk this week. Los Angeles Walks is deeply disappointed by this decision and we feel it is a direct result of the lack of a comprehensive policy to improve the safety of people walking and bicycling throughout the City of Los Angeles.
Even with thousands of signatures from neighbors supporting ‘Option 3’ which included two sidewalks, buffered bike lanes, three traffic lanes and signalized crosswalks connecting the Glendale Blvd and Hyperion Ave sections of the bridge complex, the Council ignored the community wishes and instead voted for ‘Option 1’ which would preserve four lanes of traffic, provide a sidewalk only on the north side of the bridge and narrow unbuffered bike lanes with no condition of approval for a signalized crosswalk between the two bridges. The City of Los Angeles must do better -- and that begins with a comprehensive, citywide policy to ensure the safety of people walking and bicycling is the top priority of all projects. We will continue to work to ensure the Hyperion Bridge design includes additional crosswalks to enable safe crossings and improved access for people with disabilities.
While the Glendale/Hyperion Bridge retrofit is a stinging defeat for the safety of Angelenos -- Los Angeles Walks is hopeful for the upcoming policy debates around the Mobility Plan and a citywide Vision Zero policy in the coming months.
In the coming weeks, we need you to speak up in favor of the Mobility 2035 Plan. The City Council’s Planning and Land Use (PLUM) and Transportation committees will review the City’s new Mobility Plan after more than four years of community input and it is likely to heard by the full City Council before the end of the month. The Mobility Plan sets citywide goals and policies for transportation for all modes in the City of Los Angeles. It includes a Vision Zero goal of eliminating transportation related deaths in LA by 2035. The Plan establishes a new Complete Streets Design Guide as the manual that determines how our streets are designed: from the width of sidewalks, bike and vehicle lanes to the design of crosswalks and curb ramps. The Mobility Plan also proposes that the city should increase funding for active transportation and create pedestrian enhanced districts on major streets and a neighborhood network of traffic-calmed residential streets. Once adopted, the Mobility 2035 Plan becomes part of the city’s General Plan, the guiding document for how Los Angeles grows and invests in infrastructure.
We need you to let City Council members know that you care about walking, safety and complete streets and want the Mobility Plan to be adopted. Help make Monday, June 15th ‘Mobility Monday’ in LA:
- Call or email your councilmember to ask them to support and adopt the Mobility Plan. Contact info is at http://lacity.org/city-government/elected-official-offices/city-council/council-directory or email all 15 councilmembers at [email protected]
- Use the hashtag #MobilityMondayLA on twitter and facebook, tagging city council offices so they see support for the Plan
We are also hard at work launching a greater Vision Zero campaign, because no loss of life on our streets is acceptable. We will have more information about our Vision Zero campaign in the coming days and look forward to continuing to work with you to make Los Angeles a safer and more walkable city.