The Los Angeles Times’ Steve Lopez attended the recent community meeting on the Rowena “Road Diet.”  His article on the meeting can be found HERE.

His takeaway: That the city didn’t do its homework. (Which is the essence of FTCs lawsuit on MP2035).

His personal finding: “Traffic on Rowena can be hellish at rush hour, so I and a lot of other impatient motorists avoid it by taking alternate routes through narrow streets that weren’t built to accommodate the added flow.”

We found this segment was interesting: “Tim Fremaux of the transportation department said that in Silver Lake, the city studied what it was legally required to study, but maybe not what it should have studied.  ‘We have by no means done this flawlessly,’ he said. ‘There were errors along the way.’

The problem is that FTC can’t find the legally required studies, can’t find any council file appropriating the funds, can’t find out who authorized the changes and under what authority those changes/expenditures were made.

FTC will be issuing several public records requests exploring these issues.   We will be focusing on:

  1. Governance
    1. Under what authority was the Rowena road diet implemented?
    2. Was any environmental work completed?
    3. What was the cost?
    4. What funding source was used?
    5. Was there a council file opened with a corresponding vote?
  2. Traffic
    1. What traffic studies/counts exist for Rowena and connected local streets before and after the road diet was put in place?
    2. How has the LOS changed on Rowena?  VMT?  VHT?
    3. How has the capacity and volume changed on Rowena?
    4. What has the impact been on local cut-through streets?
  3. Public Safety – First Responders
    1. What have response times for LAFD been compared to before the road diet was put in place – both average response time and % of time under 5 minutes?
    2. What have response times for LAPD been compared to before the road diet was put in place?
  4. Public Safety – Accidents
    1. Has there been a change in the number of accidents on Rowena between car/car, car/bike, car/pedestrian, bike/pedestrian?
    2. Has there been a change in the number of accidents on cut-through streets connected to Rowena between car/car, car/bike, car/pedestrian, bike/pedestrian?
    3. How many car/bike/ped accidents have been the result of:
      1. Car driver at fault.
      2. Bike rider at fault.
      3. Pedestrian at fault.
      4. Alcohol/substance abuse.
      5. Distractions such as cell phones.
      6. Infrastructure issue (bad roadway surface/sidewalk).
    4. Has the severity of injuries changed for any accidents since the road diet was put in place?
  5. Outreach
    1. What outreach was done before the road diet was put in place?
    2. Was there a survey before the road diet was put in place?
    3. Has there been any surveying done of residents in the area concerning impacts of the road diet?

And… we couldn’t agree more with this statements: “When city officials come snooping around your neighborhood with plans for a road diet, don’t assume they’re going to do their homework. Get involved. Ask questions. Work out your own compromises.”

FTC is involved and we are asking questions.

Some stats that may be relevant to the discussion:

Bike Accident DataBikeSafety Pedestrian Accident DataPedSafety

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and advocacy group Fix the City are pleased to announce they have reached a settlement agreement regarding the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures project. The settlement agreement ensures the Academy and Fix the City will work closely to minimize the Museum’s impact on surrounding neighborhoods. Per the agreement, the Academy and Fix the City will monitor and, if necessary, enforce mutually agreed upon standards for a variety of factors, including traffic, parking, signage, and  noise for the benefit of the community.  This monitoring and enforcement system will likely serve as a model for future development projects in the area.

“Our agreement with Fix the City is the result of several months of fruitful discussion and collaboration,” said an Academy spokesperson. “Our goal has always been to build a museum that not only enriches the public but is respectful to all our neighbors. We are thrilled to begin construction with the support of the community.”

“The settlement agreement embodies a trust, but verify approach with built in mechanisms to fix impacts rather than have them be merely a cost of doing business. Fix the City appreciates the Academy’s willingness to think outside the box on this creative settlement,” said Laura Lake, board member of Fix the City.

In June the Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted to approve plans for the Academy Museum. Construction begins this month and the museum is expected to open in late 2017.

Settlement Highlights

The Agreement provides creative approaches that balance community protection with the creation of a world class facility.  The highlights are as follows:

  • There is a reduction in signage:
    • The banners on the western edge of the sphere have been removed.
    • The large digital sign on the south side of the Sphere will not be visible from any public street by a motorist.
    • The sign/banners on the east side of the Sphere will not be visible from any public street by a motorist.
    • Signs in the Sign District are limited to only flags, internal signage, canopies, two street level display case monitors on Wilshire Blvd. and the iconic Oscar™ statuette.
    • The Academy Museum and Fix the City will ask the City to amend the Sign District to reflect the limitations.
  • There will be an innovative neighborhood traffic intrusion monitoring and enforcement system.  The system monitors and reports on traffic associated with Museum regular operations and special events.
  • There will also be noise monitoring and enforcement system that ensures operational compliance with the conditions of approval.
  • There will be an innovative parking capacity monitoring system.
  • All monitoring is privately operated and mechanisms for enforcement (if necessary) under the agreement do not rely on the City and are in addition to any provided by the City.
  • There will be reporting on water use.

About the Academy Museum

The Academy Museum will be the world’s pre­mier cultural institution devoted to the history and future of the moving image. Designed by Pritzker Prize­-winning architect Renzo Piano and led by Director Kerry Brougher, the Academy Museum will explore the arts and sciences that have made motion pictures our most innovative and influential art form for more than a century. Piano’s design for the museum will restore and revitalize the historic Wilshire May Company and include a new spherical addition that will connect to the May Company building with glass bridges. The Academy Museum will feature a core historical exhibition and rotating temporary exhibitions complemented by special projects, publications, digital initiatives and a slate of public programs that will include screenings, premieres, panel discussions, gallery talks, and K-12 education initiatives.

About Fix The City

Fix The City is an all-volunteer, non-profit corporation focused on fixing the city by facilitating neighborhood improvements and neighborhood protection; supporting local infrastructure; improving the transparency and efficiency of local government; challenging harmful governmental policies and practices; and advocating for other improvements to the environment.  Fix The City can be found on the web at www.fixthecity.org and followed on twitter @FixTheCityLA.  Inquiries can be sent to [email protected].

Fix The City has filed a lawsuit over the city’s approval of MP2035.  The suit can be found HERE.  Court filings are HERE.

Some of the backup documentation provided to the city by FTC can be found HERE.  (huge file).

More information and an official press release shortly.

The linked article discusses the “counterintuitive” prospect of decreasing VMT while increasing congestion and pollution.  It might provide a useful basis for discussion of MP2035.

Congestion:

The reduction of VMT is normally expected to reduce delays for the remaining motor vehicles. However, since the roadway capacity is reduced by two lanes, the smaller VMT might be offset. The MAG model’s projected vehicle-hours of travel (VHT) indicate that the loss of capacity is a larger factor than the diversion of drivers from their cars. For the region, the addition of light rail is expected to increase VHT by 0.45 percent. For the corridor served by light rail, VHT are expected to increase by 1.23 percent. So even though fewer miles would be traveled, those trips would take longer if light rail is added to the traffic mix.

Pollution:

Inasmuch as light-rail transit is often promoted as a means of improving air quality, the indication that it will actually increase pollution may strike many as counterintuitive. After all, aren’t we luring some people out of their cars? Don’t fewer cars mean less pollution? So far as it goes, the answer is yes. However, by placing the train tracks in the street, we reduce roadway capacity. The reduction in capacity more than offsets the reduction in numbers of vehicles using the roadway. The remaining vehicles take longer to travel through the narrower roadway. This leads to more fuel consumed and higher pollution.

While this article discusses the loss of vehicle lanes to light rail, MP2035 is focused on removing lanes for bikes and buses – each with far less carrying capacity than light rail.  One can only imagine the congestion/air quality concerns would be amplified when lanes are replaced with low-passenger-count alternatives.

The MP2035 impact study predicted diminished response times for first responders.

FTC thought it would be a good idea to check FireStatLA to see what the city’s own data shows for the LAFD station on Rowena at the heart of the “road diet.”  (LAFD #56)

Without too much commentary – it looks like the city was unfortunately right – despite having not done any of the required study on the matter.  Response times have indeed suffered…

Remember: The overall citywide impact of numerous “road diets” is unknowable since, as stated above, no study was done on this critical issue.

Note that FireStatLA does not report the “arrival within 5 minutes, 90% of the time” metric.  FTC analysis of raw data shows that metric for FS56 at just 46.5% under 5 minutes – half of what it should be…

(As always – none of this should be taken as a criticism of our city’s heroes at the LAFD.  They do the best they can with diminishing resources, increasing congestion and increasing demand for service.)

Citywide (http://www.lafd.org/fsla/stations-map?year=2015)

cola2015acola2015bLAFD #56 on Rowena (2015) (http://www.lafd.org/fsla/stations-map?st=556&year=2015)

row2015arow2015bLAFD #56 on Rowena (2014)  (http://www.lafd.org/fsla/stations-map?st=556&year=2014)
row2013b
row2013aLAFD #56 on Rowena (2013) (http://www.lafd.org/fsla/stations-map?st=556&year=2013) row2014b row2014a