Don’t Pave over the Plan!
I recently learned that elements of the Mobility Plan 2035 will be impacted by StreetsLA’s ADAPT Program. The ADAPT Program seeks to accelerate much needed street resurfacing while there is significantly reduced traffic. Established in 2015, the
Mobility Plan 2035 (Plan) provides the policy foundation for achieving a transportation system that balances the needs of all road users. As an update to the City’s General Plan Transportation Element (last adopted in 1999), Mobility Plan 2035 incorporates “complete streets” principles and lays the policy foundation for how future generations of Angelenos interact with their streets.
Imagine if this could be your local street where pedestrians, bicyclists, joggers and parents teaching their kids how to rollerblade for the first time can safely share the road with local traffic. A scene from Mid City West this past week filmed by a father riding his bike with his children through streets that have been soft-closed temporarily during COVID to allow for safe use of the streets for a variety of activities.
Some of the forward leaning aspects of the Mobility Plan include improving bus lanes to reduce transit times and adding new bike lanes and making existing bike lanes safer. These efforts will serve to reduce the number of cars on the road by making alternative transportation options more appealing through reduced times in traffic and making it all safer for all. The challenge to the Mobility Plan’s implementation is that it requires some negotiation with the local communities, the residences and businesses that border the streets that will be reconfigured, to ensure the implementation is well balanced with their needs. This is a significant improvement over the Road Diet experience we had last year but takes time.
Unfortunately, the StreetsLA ADAPT Program is blazing full speed ahead to take this opportunity, when streets are much less congested with traffic, to resurface streets throughout Los Angeles. These streets are indeed in dire need of resurfacing; pavement is degraded, lane striping is nonexistent and all long overdue for the attention they are getting. With the desire to move quickly, there is a great chance that many of the streets slated for improved bus or bike lanes will be resurfaced with current configuration and may not be re-striped or configured to the goals of the Mobility Plan for many years to come. We will lose out as a community.
In Westchester and Playa Del Rey, one of the major streets planned for improvements per the Mobility Plan that is also slated for much needed resurfacing: Manchester Blvd. Nearly the entire stretch of the boulevard is slated for a dedicated bicycle lane while the section from Sepulveda to Airport is also planned for resurfacing starting in June. It would really be unfortunate if we lost this opportunity to significantly improve the access to and safety of our bicycle lanes (that can also be used to make scooter travel safer).
How do you feel about the opportunity to make our streets safer for our children and others in need of more outdoor space? Our neighbors in Palms just to the north voted overwhelmingly in support of a move to create soft street closures.
Exploring Westchester / Playa Neighborhoods with Data 