Improvements take time, plan in motion
VENICE — Standing in front of one of the busiest intersections in West Los Angeles, City Councilman Bill Rosendahl unveiled on Thursday a proposed transportation plan to spend more than $11 million on traffic mitigation and mass transit projects.
“Traffic is a nightmare,” Rosendahl said during a press conference before the Marina Car Wash at Lincoln and Venice boulevards.
Thursday’s announcement took place just a few blocks from where Rosendahl announced his candidacy for Los Angeles City Council. He made a promise then to take action on the issue of West LA gridlock, a source of headache for many LA commuters.
“I promised action on this issue,” Rosendahl said. “Today, we are delivering.”
Funding for the proposed plan will come out of a fund in which commercial developers in the City of Los Angeles have funneled money for transportation improvements.
The plan includes $3 million to improve 32 signals within the 11th District — represented by Rosendahl — which includes parts of West Los Angeles such as Westchester, Pacific Palisades, Venice, Mar Vista and Brentwood. Another $5 million out of the $11 million will go towards improving the synchronization of 165 signals, as well as other improvements to improve timing and accommodate signal changes with traffic flow.
Green Line extensions to LAX are also in store under Rosendahl’s proposal, which would allocate $500,000 to finance the efforts of a Green Line Task Force that would examine ways to extend the light rail to LAX, and another $750,000 to plot Green Line station locations.
Motioning to the traffic on Lincoln Boulevard, Rosendahl said he intends to spend $1.05 million to improve the busy corridor by adding parking along the street, and begin the process of studying the possibility of installing a light rail system that would travel along the bustling boulevard. Included in that portion of the plan is funding the next phase of the Exposition line from Culver City to Downtown Santa Monica.
Other improvements in store under the plan include $200,000 to improve bicycle and pedestrian routes in the district, and approximately $550,000 for master plan studies of Sepulveda, Olympic, Pico, Santa Monica and Venice boulevards.
If the plan is ultimately approved by the Rosendahl worked with the LA City Department of Transportation and the Planning Department in formulating the plan.
Traffic improvements will take time. There is no “silver bullet” in this plan and commuters will not see traffic disappear overnight, said Gloria Jeff, general manager of the LA Department of Transportation.
“As a transportation official, we love it when you give us money,” Jeff joked.
Many commuters who come to West LA are from the South Bay communities. West LA is a popular place to work, but not a great place to live because of the high cost of living, said Rosendahl.
He proposed adding a third travel lane during peak traffic hours on Lincoln Boulevard to accommodate the traffic coming from the South Bay. For example, during peak traffic hours in the morning, a third lane would be added on the northbound side of Lincoln Boulevard. During afternoon congestion, the third lane would switch to the southbound side.
The first part of the Expo Line extension — from Downtown Los Angeles to Culver City — has already begun construction, said Darrell Clarke, who is the co-chairman of the Friends for Expo Transit, as well as a Santa Monica Planning Commission member. The second part of the Expo Line — from Culver City to Downtown Santa Monica — is still in the environmental study phase.
Clarke has advocated for the Expo Line into Santa Monica for 17 years. Clarke said he drove from Brentwood to the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue around 4 p.m. The entire trip took him a little under two hours.
“And that was nothing unusual,” Clarke said. “It’s that bad all over.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 8, 2006. Read the original PDF.