DLANC Complete Streets Working Group Wants Pilot Project Ideas
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — I have lived on Spring Street for 4 1/2 years, and I love my neighborhood, walk every day to work, bike to hang out with friends, and buy local ('cause I can!). But there's one aspect of our neighborhood that really stands out as in need of improvement: the streets!
Downtown streets are designed to move vehicles through Downtown as efficiently as possible, at the peril of pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders. In fact, about 75% of the public right-of-way along Spring and Main streets, our most pedestrian-activated throughout a 24-hour period, is devoted to vehicular traffic, while only 25% is afforded to sidewalk space. Many a Downtowner has countless stories of feeling invisible while standing at an intersection waiting to cross with a vehicle of one sort or another wooshing by to beat the red light, inches from your nose, or from your patiently waiting dog.
Should vehicles really be racing through our dense urban core at 45-50 mph? Do we really need up to 5 traffic lanes (when peak-hour parking restrictions are in effect at “rush hour”) slicing through our neighborhood on each major street? This is unacceptable for a burgeoning neighborhood. It's bad for pedestrian and bike safety, it's bad for sidewalk experience, it's bad for business, and it's just plain antithetical to good urban design and community-building.
We want people flocking to, not speeding through, Downtown LA.
The Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council (DLANC) Parks and Transportation Committees are joining forces to create a community-generated Complete Streets Vision for Spring and Main streets, as well as to implement a to-be-determined pilot project as a first step toward achieving this vision. Complete Streets are roadways that are designed to balance the needs of all those who use streets, including pedestrians, cyclists, vehicles, buses, delivery trucks – people of all ages and abilities.
Building from recent progressive City policy (Downtown Street Standards (PDF); Bike Master Plan; Mayor Villaraigosa’s Directive for Bike Master Plan Implementation (PDF)), leveraging the enormous positive growth in residents, businesses, street life, and cultural activity, and in keeping with the tradition of DLANC's effective community advocacy (the crusade of blogdowntown’s own Eric Richardson to remove the contra-flow bus lane is a great example!), DLANC is spearheading this effort to articulate a vision for Spring and Main as a pair of streets that achieves a healthy parity amongst modes and honors the investment within, and spirit of, the neighborhood.
We’re looking for creative ideas for a pilot project that can begin to shift the balance on these two streets, which are a critical couplet in Downtown public life. Join the DLANC Complete Streets Working Group this Thursday, July 7, at 7:00 PM at The Exchange (114 W. 5th Street – 5th between Spring & Main) as we start to hammer out our ideas. All are welcome.
If you can’t make it to our meetings, start talking with your neighbors, folks who own and work in the businesses Downtown, and strike up a conversation on the sidewalk with a stranger – find out what they think could be improved and report back to us! You can also leave your ideas in the comments below for the Working Group to consider.
Valerie Watson works as an urban designer with Meléndrez, a Landscape Architecture, Planning and Urban Design firm, and is a Board member of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, through which she is the chair of the Parks Committee and works to improve the public realm of Downtown LA. She can be reached at valerie.watson@dlanc.com
Robert Bewernick on July 07, 2011, at 10:09AM – #1
Here are a few things on my wish list :
Implementing some Bike corrals.
Having more midblock crosswalks, maybe with lights.
Timed streets for pedestrians, not cars.
Hanging more flower beds.
Dan Garcia on July 07, 2011, at 10:21AM – #2
Thank you, Valerie!
This is such an important discussion, and I'm glad that you're opening it up here. The mean streets in downtown are in serious need of some loving... One little idea, I would really like to see the alleys between Main and Broadway opened up, cleaned up and programmed. Living alleys offer great connections to the streets, and a place to escape the action. My favorite walking cities make great use of their alleys.
Chris Loos on July 07, 2011, at 11:00AM – #3
Just off the top of my head:
And last but not least:
I didn't know there was a meeting tonight. I will definitely be there!
LAofAnaheim on July 07, 2011, at 11:04AM – #4
The removal of the "anti-gridlock zoning". Maintaining street parking during rush hours are a traffic calming measure. You feel safer and the street is quieter when parked cars are a buffer between the pedestrian and moving cars.
Rush Varela on July 07, 2011, at 01:04PM – #5
In complete agreement in changing Main and Spring Streets to cater to the community residents and businesses rather than the commuters who use the streets as a thoroughfare. Eliminating the "tow away" measures and allowing parking during "rush hour" will liven up the place with pedestrians, thus supporting local businesses rather than the vulturous TOW companies that clog those lanes anyway.
Many of the alleys are private but it would be a great idea to activate them for public use.
Dion on July 07, 2011, at 01:17PM – #6
i agree with every idea that has been proposed so far. our sidewalks and streets are in horrible shape, the street furniture and lighting is dated and needs to be replaced, and we need to soften the edge a bit with flowers and art.
i know that this is a long ways away, just please make sure that all pipe replacement, street lighting work, whatever that will tear up the streets is completed before a repaving or replacement of our sidewalks and streets. Its as though the left hand and the right hand dont coordinate here in LA.
KJ1 on July 07, 2011, at 01:38PM – #7
More trees, more companion greenery, shrubbery. Better tree-grates with LED lighting. Flowers in well-kept flower beds. Re-think ALL of DTLA’s one-way streets. Go Valerie!
Katherine
Robert A on July 07, 2011, at 02:11PM – #8
Linear parks along the streets with decomposed granite and flowering shrubs.
Sandblast (not just powerwash) the sidewalks in the Historic District.
Eliminate bus routes on selected streets.
Flowers!
On Main Street around 3rd/4th, take out asphault someone put in the tree wells and put in trees! Fix the sidewalks...they are a lawsuit waiting to happen.
LAofAnaheim on July 07, 2011, at 04:08PM – #9
Why the hatred toward buses? That's called "public transportation". Buses are good...it's the private automobiles that require parking spaces. A bus moves people, a car moves a person. Every world-class city has plenty of buses in addition to a network of trains, streetcars and trams. We need to advocate for more bus priority. By asking to eliminate bus routes, you are just making public transit more inconvenient, thus giving more people the need and convenience to drive.
Robert A on July 07, 2011, at 04:55PM – #10
LA of Anaheim: If you live in a loft on Spring, Broadway, 9th etc the sounds of the buses are intolerable and they idle as early as 4:00 in the AM. Many lofts are not well insulated due to the historic nature of the bldgs. They also speed too way too fast right next to the curb with no regard to walking, biking etc. Why do we have to have so many routes on every street..why not every other street? Try sitting Downtown at a cafe and have a conversation outside. They do not mix well with sidewalk cafes...which we need more of. I say we need some bus-free streets.
LAofAnaheim on July 07, 2011, at 05:14PM – #11
Robert - 1) you chose to live in downtown LA, you should expect noise 2) the problem is the lack of street parking as a noise buffer. I know what you mean, I live above Panini cafe. The bus noise sucks when there is anti-gridlock zoning in effect when sitting in the outdoor cafe at Panini restaurant. Now, when street parking is in effect, the noise disintegrates.
Again, you chose to live in downtown LA as did I; so that I, and many others, can conveniently take buses to/from our destinations and not drive. Buses are a benefit of living in a city.
Neva Chevalier on July 07, 2011, at 05:40PM – #12
Wider sidewalks. At some places, where cafes/bars have taken over sidewalk for outdoor seating, ped flow narrows to farkin' single file (LA Cafe comes to mind).
Fewer buses. I support mass transit, really I do. But having 30 bus lines converge at one intersection + 1 block in any direction means it's a constant flow. C O N S T A N T. It would be another thing if the buses were a bit quieter, but the belt whining, the OVERLY loud ramp-coming-down alarms and the brake squeals get a bit ri-goldarn-diculous.
Could we not think about a transit center to centralize these things in an area that is NOT so residential? Get those commuter buses off the streets and people connect with local ones to spread out from there.
And stop telling me I signed up for the noise when I decided to move here. It's a dismissive response that doesn't accept the validity of legitimate complaints and suggestions. I'm not asking for the death-quiet of boring suburbia. But not being forced to choose between earplugs and open windows for sleeping would be nice.
LAofAnaheim on July 07, 2011, at 06:06PM – #13
@Neva There is already a centralized location non-residential where buses converge.....it's called LA Union Station. Now, when you visit other cities and think about how great they are compared to LA, you have to see they habd more not less, bus service. I've lived in London and bus noise is same, but you deal with it because you chose to live in a city. You can't just move into a neighborhood and all of a sudden say buses are bad, especially when they probide derive to over a million people a day. You chose to live in a destination and people take buses to go to that destination. For more commuters it's more convenient to take Metro bus/rail to the center (hence why Blue Lineore popular than Gold and sane with Rapid 720). It's convenience. You chose to live in a walkable convenient neighborhood and riders would rather take a bus or train to a central convenient area, not the boondocks.
LAofAnaheim on July 07, 2011, at 06:24PM – #14
Here's another way to look at this whole "bus issue" evolving here.
Take a look at the streets with more bus service, and compare them to the streets with less bus service. What streets, of those, are more pedestrian friendly, compared to more auto-friendly? Those streets in which buses come once an hour are generally very wide and suburban. Now, compare that to the street that experiences heavy bus service, but now you'll see more pedestrians walking the street. This is common world-wide, not even an LA thing. So, asking to reduce bus service, is indirectly killing an urban environment in downtown LA, which is the last thing we need. Bus service is good, especially when it goes SOMEWHERE. Asking it to go to a non-residential area makes it inconvenient to a user --> more people chose to drive --> more auto-convenient policies (wider streets, narrower sidewalks), etc... hence, the reason why bus service is a "complete street" trait.
Please think about that. Noise is one thing, but bus service is essential for our downtown core. Just trying to be reasonable here.
Eric Metz (@lastreetcar) on July 08, 2011, at 08:22AM – #15
@LAofAnaheim: Or maybe we can just convince Metro to upgrade their fleet to non-loud-as-shit buses in the future? I agree buses are incredibly important and support them all around downtown, but its pathetic when a huge Rapid Bus is quieter than a tiny local bus. Gardena transit's buses that run throughout downtown tend to very quiet, and I think they might even be hybrids. I think the real anti-bus issue revolves around sound, not service.
Also, Metro should have a no-idling policy. If a bus is going to idle downtown for 15 minutes at 4am, turn it off.
I'd also vote for a no honking at 4am policy.
bigphatcatlover on July 08, 2011, at 09:40AM – #16
All-way crosswalks would go a long way to create safer streets and efficiency. Plus it would slow down (if not stop) the speeding through the streets. Most major cities, and even our own suburbs have this system. Why can't DTLA implement this? It would be a very low cost, very smart and pedestrian friendly beginning.
downtown vibe on July 08, 2011, at 10:57AM – #17
two cents worth abut the buses...
LAofAnaheim..if you live above Panini you live in a newer highrise apartment building. The buildings in the historic core were built between 1900-1930. They do not have soundproof windows. Also, the brick structures actually amplify low frequency bus noise. So the people in the historic core are having a much more difficult time with bus noise than you are.
A large number of buses, especially at night are running EMPTY as their routes take them through downtown. This is not efficient. This is not doing anything for the promotion of mass transit, or the community. If a bus has room for sixty people but only has a couple passengers, and the bus only gets 5 mpg, how is that good for the environment?
The bus stops are generally not organized. There are several bus companies using the same streets downtown, with no coordination between the bus stops. On some blocks you will find the entire block used up with bus stops and NO parking. This is just bad planning.
Many Cities create quiet transportation systems in their historic cores. Strausborg has a silent electric tram. Nancy, Fr has an Busbahn on tires, guided by a laser in the street. Rome has a network of minbuses to run through the noisy cobblestone streets. In contrast LA has increased the size of the express buses to hold 100 passengers and fitted them with very noisy Natural Gas engines. They are so heavy they can't stop without squealing their breaks. Those are what you have running all day and night theough the historic core.
In addtion MTA seems to take virtually no interest in proving trashcans for its riders. Food and drink is prohibited on the buses, so in many cases the riders simply dump the trash in the street.
The buses are so heavy that when you run a lot of buses over the same asphalt streets, the asphalt is destroyed. That is why there are concrete bus pads on Broadway. the problem with that is, nobody cleans the concrete in the street let alone the sidewalks on Broadway. Gum everywhere. It is disgusting.
So there is some room for Bus management in downtown LA.
Anthony Costantino on July 08, 2011, at 11:22AM – #18
Please install pet defecation areas along the street so owners are encouraged to have their pets go in specific areas instead of all over the sidewalks up and down the street. Here is an example:
http://www.ville-reims.fr/uploads/pics/espace_chiens_en_ville_02.jpg
http://www.ville-nogentsurmarne.fr/uploads/pics/espace_chiens.jpg
downtown vibe on July 08, 2011, at 02:41PM – #19
I second the dog maintenance areas.
We are dog owners in the historic core and do not like having to find tree wells for the dog to do her business.
I think it is a mistake to hold out for a multi-million dollar dog park.. We just need some place to walk the dog on a leash.
I'm not sure if we are supposed to be putting dog poop in the trash cans on the sidewalk. It seems unsanitary, but that's what is happening. We bring our own plastic bags, but street dispensers would be appreciated.
This definitely needs to be addressed soon, because the urine damage to the metal trash cans, benches, and street lighting poles can't be reversed.
downtown vibe on July 08, 2011, at 03:25PM – #20
I would like to know more about the all-directional crosswalks.
Bigphatcatlover says that "all major cities" are using this system. I've travelled quite a bit around the United States and Europe, and I honestly don't see many people using these.
Just Pasadena at a couple of locations.
I think they have caused problems. Sometimes the fallout is not obvious to the casual observer.
I think this topic deserves more discussion.
Eric Richardson (@blogdowntown) on July 08, 2011, at 05:30PM – #21
Do some googling for scramble crossings.
A couple years back I wrote about Los Angeles' 1956 experiment in scrambles on Broadway. It was a success -- sort of. Despite reports that congestion was reduced, the scrambles were taken out because they delayed vehicle movements.
A more recent test in the Fashion District didn't last long -- the intersections were confusing to all involved and were quietly removed. You can chalk that up to a lot of things, but mostly I think to the confusion of having just a couple intersections that behave completely differently than what people are used to.
Karin Liljegren on July 10, 2011, at 12:56PM – #22
Get rid of "no parking during rush hour" - that'll slow it down a tiny bit and bring more short term parking for businesses.
Find out why LAFD needs sooooooooooo many huuuuuuuuuuge red zones - if there is an emergency i don't understand why the trucks can't just be in the street with access to the hydrants like other cities.
The two above combined gives more opportunity for wider sidewalks and/or more bump outs inbetween the metered parking for outdoor cafes and greenspace.
The urine smell is becoming unbearable - need a real solution.
Valerie thank you so much for spearheading this!
Simon Hartigan on July 10, 2011, at 09:46PM – #23
The dog area could be a great way to utilize parklets. They could be well irrigated to dilute the smell. Could be interesting!
downtown vibe on July 13, 2011, at 02:35PM – #24
I found a possible doggie poop area for a demostration project.
The parking lot on the northwest corner of 6th and Main has tried to maintain a landscaping strip on the inside of their fence.
By the looks of things, people are taking their dogs in there, already. If the City could pay to have the fence reconfigured to the back of the grass area, this would make a nice doggie stop. There is nobody to offend. It would also be a great place for a bag dispenser and a trash can.