Traffic deaths prompt reconfiguration of Playa del Rey streets to slow cut-through traffic
By Gary Walker
Naomi Larsen, 16, died after being struck by a taxi while trying to
cross Vista Del Mar from Dockweiler Beach to her parked car
Vista Del Mar is more than a scenic alternate route for South Bay commuters hoping to avoid congestion on Pacific Coast Highway and the 405. The busy coastal road connecting Playa del Rey to Manhattan Beach also has a long and deadly history of traffic collisions and pedestrians run down by speeding cars, with very few crosswalks and poor lighting after dark.
After paying out a $9.5-million settlement to the family of a teenage girl killed trying to cross Vista Del Mar to Dockweiler State Beach, Los Angeles city officials are implementing roadway improvements and new parking restrictions designed to calm traffic flow.
Last week the city began restriping Vista Del Mar to narrow traffic flow to one lane in each direction, install U-Turn pockets and eliminate parking on the east side of the roadway to keep beachgoers from crossing on foot.
“This will make the street safer, create more parking inventory, reduce speeding and curb the use of Playa del Rey streets as a shortcut from the South Bay to points north,” Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin wrote in a pre- Memorial Day message to constituents.
Beginning as early as Saturday, June 3, city workers will begin resurfacing Pershing Drive, then restripe Pershing as well as portions of Culver and Jefferson boulevards. Traffic flow on all three will be reduced to one travel lane in each direction, with the addition of
new center turn lanes and bike lanes — calming traffic once again being the main objective.
A 2015 city survey of 133 Playa del Rey residents found that safer street crossings, discouraging commuters from taking shortcuts through neighborhoods and reducing vehicle speeds along Culver, Pershing and Manchester Avenue were among their top traffic and safety-related priorities.
It was also in 2015 that 16-year-old Naomi Larsen was fatally struck by a taxi late one night February while trying to cross Vista Del Mar after a bonfire with friends on Dockweiler. Larsen’s family was represented by the firm Paoli & Purdy in reaching the mid-April settlement with the city.
Paoli & Purdy also represent the parents of 21-year-old Michael Lockridge, killed in April 2016 after he was struck by northbound and southbound vehicles while trying to cross Vista Del Mar. Lockridge’s girlfriend was also struck by a vehicle and hospitalized with serious injuries. The outcome of the Lockridge family’s lawsuit is still pending.
Attorney Court Purdy, the lead attorney for the Larsen family, said city officials should have been more proactive in moving parking spaces away from the east side of Vista Del Mar, where both Larsen and Lockridge had parked on the nights they were killed.
“I couldn’t be happier that the city is taking affirmative steps to make Vista Del Mar safer,” Purdy said. But doing so earlier, he said, “certainly would have prevented innumerable instances of family heartbreak and tragedy.”
The civil complaint in the Lockridge case cites historical evidence that a marked pedestrian crosswalk had once existed where Lockridge and his girlfriend were struck, almost 1,300 feet north of where Vista Del Mar crosses Imperial Highway.
Purdy said Larsen was struck a few hundred feet north of where Lockridge was killed.
There is only one crosswalk on Vista Del Mar between Imperial Highway and Napoleon Street, a distance of more than two miles.
While the city survey showed traffic and pedestrian safety to be a top concern for Playa del Rey residents, locals are also concerned in the interim that roadwork for this and other projects could result in severe traffic congestion for residents — especially when Culver drops to one lane of traffic in each direction.
Carol Kapp, a resident of the beachside neighborhood at the end of Culver (known locally as The Jungle) for nearly 40 years, worries that the upcoming Venice Dual Force Main sewer replacement project will all but shut down access to and from her home in late summer.
“My concern is the Dual Force Main sewer project that is scheduled to come from under the marina and south on Pacific [Avenue] and continue south on Vista del Mar. There is about a 20-foot-in-diameter pit that will impede residents of The Jungle from exiting from the parking lot [off South Trolley Place],” Kapp said. “Then there will be an open trench in the new single lane on Vista del Mar from approximately Sunridge [Street]. So then how does anyone go southerly?”
In his letter to constituents, Bonin noted that some of the changes — including the reduction of lanes on Culver and Jefferson — may not be welcome to everyone, and aren’t necessarily permanent.
“It is important to note that the new lane configurations are pilot programs, using low-cost and temporary materials. We are going to gather data and public input, analyze whether impacts are positive or not, and adjust accordingly,” Bonin wrote. “We can keep what we love, improve what we can, and remove what we dislike.”
I’m so grateful that this traffic calming project has begun. Ballona Institute released a proposal a number of years ago – I think it was in 2008? – for a Green & Safe Culver Blvd. We are happy to see that some of those measures are beginning to be adopted, and we ask the City to continue with them.
It is sad and tragic that Naomi Larsen lost her life on one of the roads going through Playa del Rey. It is just as sad and tragic that we have had to watch many other fatalities and serious injuries occur on our Playa del Rey roads. And it is also sad and tragic that the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve is the site of many deaths and injuries to wildlife. Thank you Mike Bonin for taking action and thank you to all of the residents and business owners who demanded something be done to correct this situation. We look forward to the day that our community streets looks more like Larchmont Village and less like a freeway.
THEY RAN HER OVER ON PURPOSE JUST TO GET THIS STORY OUT. GENTRIFIERS ARE SPREADING EVERYWHERE. IT WON’T BE LONG UNTIL ALL OF LOS ANGELES BECOMES SO GENTRIFIED THAT NOBODY WILL BE ABLE TO AFFORD TO LIVE HERE. WE ARE HEADED TOWARDS AN ECONOMIC MELTDOWN. THAT’S OKAY BECAUSE ALL THE IMPROVEMENTS THE GENTRIFIERS MADE FOR THE LOCAL THEY KICKED OUT ARE GOING TO BE USED BY THE LOCALS ONCE WE COME BACK. YOU TOOK WHAT THE LOCALS MADE OUT OF THIS PLACE IN THE OLD DAYS AND MADE IT LEGAL FOR GREEDY WHITE FOLKS: EXAMPLE: ORGANIZED ONLINE PIMPING: SAFER AND SECURE LIKE SITES CALLED BACKPAGE AND CRAIGSLIST. LEGALIZED WEED, LEGALIZED GRAFITTI “ART”. ONCE YOU LEAVE IT BECOMES “UNLAWFUL”. WHEN WHITE FOLKS COME GENTRIFY, EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE LEGALIZED OR WHITE FOLKS GO TO JAIL. AND THEY DON’T WANT THAT. THEY NEED THINGS SAFE AND CLEAN FOR THEIR WHITE KIDS SO THEY CAN SEND THEM OFF ON AUTONOMOUS CARS SAFELY TO SCHOOL EACH DAY WHILE THE WHITE PARENTS SAFELY AND LEGALLY SMOKE WEED. NOW YOU CAN’T SAY LOOK AT THOSE SHORELINE CRIPS AND VENICE 13 GANG MEMBERS SMOKING WEED ILLEGALLY. YOU PUT A GANG INJUNCTION ON THEM SO YOU COULD GO TO OAKWOOD PARK HIGH AS A KITE WHILE YOU THROW A BALL TO YOUR DOG “ILLEGALLY” OFF THE LEASH. WHO CARES THEN BECAUSE AS A WHITE GENTRIFIER YOU KNOW THAT VENICE IS BECOMING AS SAFE LEGALLY FOR YOU TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER……”LEGALLY”.
Just because people are stupid to cross the street late at night why do all people in L.A. have to suffer for their mistakes? I have never seen traffic this bad in L.A. in all my life. Lets vote Bonin out of office and send him back to the East Coast!
I am also baffled by the size of the monetary settlement granted by the City to the victims of the traffic accidents that have occured. What are the City Lawyers thinking and doing ??? It would be useful for all readers if the Argonaut would report on this, and on the legal theories behind these huge financial awards. Such awards are incomprehensible. In aggregate, they will ruin the City and they just appear to be WRONG. These tragic accidents should remain between the parties involved monetary damages should be allocated to the driver and whoever is responsible, including the parents of minors. Of course the City should learn the proper lessons from such accidents, but being held responsible for them is just wrong.
These settlements are incomprehensible to people who do not understand litigation. Personal Injury law is like most other businesses. The people who are involved know the value of the “product.” All personal settlements and verdicts are reported so that all the attorneys, judges, insurance companies and risk managers know the value f almost any type of injury. While some settlements are confidential, enough settlements are public that the value of a case is pretty well known well before trial. Verdicts cannot be confidential.
The main reason people settle lawsuits is to eliminate the risk of losing more money by going to trial. Plaintiff attorneys have to lay out tens of thousands of dollars cash out of pocket to bring a case to trial as long as pay all their on-going expenses until there is a verdict and the verdict is paid. Thus, all plaintiffs know that a settlement will gross a lot less than a settlement, but it my result in a higher net recovery as tens of thousands of dollars will not be spent on trial. Also, settlements are paid within a few months and there are no appeals.
Defendants, on the other hand, prefer settlements rather than spend the money for trial and risk a much higher verdict. Going to trial not only incurs tens of thousands of dollars more to have a trial but also risks a judgment which is millions of dollars higher than the settlement.
continued
A settlement represents the reasonable judgment of professionals who have decades of experience in evaluating all aspects of personal injury cases. The number of facts which they take into account would boggle the mind of a lay person. It gets down to the courthouse where the case is filed — Pasadena vs DTLA, the judge who will preside, the medical experts who have been retained, the likeability of the injured person, the likeability of the defendant, the degree of comparative fault by the various defendants, the nature and extent of the injuries and all the other settlements and jury verdicts in the same area.
People who have no knowledge of these complexities often shoot from the hip, and based upon no information whatsoever are confident that they know better.
I’m so grateful that this traffic calming project has begun. Ballona Institute released a proposal a number of years ago – I think it was in 2008? – for a Green & Safe Culver Blvd. We are happy to see that some of those measures are beginning to be adopted, and we ask the City to continue with them.
It is sad and tragic that Naomi Larsen lost her life on one of the roads going through Playa del Rey. It is just as sad and tragic that we have had to watch many other fatalities and serious injuries occur on our Playa del Rey roads. And it is also sad and tragic that the roads through the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve is the site of many deaths and injuries to wildlife – according to scientists, the greatest percentage of reserves in Southern California.
Thank you, Mike Bonin, for taking action and thank you to all of the residents and business owners who demanded something be done to correct this situation. We look forward to the day that our community streets looks more like Larchmont Village and less like a freeway.
Let’s vote Bonin out of his job. Taking away lanes of traffic is the opposite of what needs to be done.
Exactly. The only people who like this either don’t work, don’t drive, or both.
100 percent agreed! This traffic project is insane. The worst ever!! They should add new lanes on Culver and they did the opposite…So ridiculous!!!
Great improvements to Vista del Mar. I frequently travel through the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve and on Vista del Mar in my 32 foot motor home to Dockweiler RV Park. It was like running a gauntlet, with the narrow lanes, potholes, pedestrians and speeding cars. I’m amazed there weren’t more accidents and fatalities. Thanks to all for the new configurations. Calmness and sanity have replaced the chaos.
For folks in El Segundo, this change to Pershing is terrible. There’s now only one decent route North: Sepulveda. So short-sighted…
This is great news for residents of PDR. Folk from elsewhere will have to stop using it as a rat-run.
Jim, I hope when you come to visit Manhattan or Hermosa that you will return the same favor and stick to Sepulveda. Stay off Highland, it belongs to the residents of MB & HB.
Lol Highland is single lane each way (except for a tiny section north of Rosecrans). You can’t complain about Vista Del Mar being 1 lane until Highland gets made into 2 lanes each way.
The point is not to compare the number of lanes on VDM versus Highland it is that Jim seems to act like he owns VDM. Roads are for the public and not just the members of the community through which it runs. 30,000 cars drive Highland and I live 150 off it and while I don’t like it, it comes with the territory.
It belongs to Angeleno taxpayers, self-entitled nimbyist.
Perhaps you might consider that people from South Bay and elsewhere in LA county, also pay taxes to maintain roads and streets in PDR. We also patronize businesses in PDR- Would you like us to stop doing that as well? This route has never been a “shortcut” just one of too few routes available to commuters. Routes that have now become more difficult thanks to this project. Want to make VDM safer? Eliminate street parking and make beach parking free. This should have been done decades ago.
South Bay Residents’ taxes do not support streets in PdR, and yes please stop frequenting business here. And FYI beach parking is free in PdR proper and yes we have the same problem of people searching for free beach parking roaming the neighborhoods and fouling our air
.
John Thomas Crosse, the CA state gasoline tax is used for highway and street repair/maintenance projects. I know I pay it. I would be confident in saying that some of the tax money I’ve paid over the years has been used to maintain transportation infrastructure in PDR. Especially since I lived in PDR/Westchester for 14 years. As far as free beach parking, I will clarify. I was proposing to make Dockweiler beach lot parking free and eliminate any parking on VDM. Would greatly reduce chances of pedestrian accidents on VDM. In my opinion, if LA is not prepared to forgo some parking revenue for a real chance at pedestrian safety on VDM then revenue is more important to the city. Yes, this current project will slow down traffic which was needed but this solution is not the answer. Once commuters realize there are no other commute routes that save time compared to the current VDM debacle, commuters will just continue to use VDM and grid lock the streets for all PDR residents. I would also say to you that PDR businesses might take issue with the loss of patrons and the money they bring into the PDR community.
“Fouling our air”? Now if that doesn’t sound like self entitlement, I don’t know what does.
Love this solution!!
Jim, you are an idiot for saying that. All of our communities deal with traffic flow. What Bonehead Bonin has done, and by being sneaky and not letting any of the communities know about it, is create a traffic mess. Make people park on the beach and pay for it, like we ALL do at our beaches. Jim, by your standards, no thoroughfares are to be used in anyone’s city? NIMBY much? If you don’t like what’s been there since you were born, then move to a rural community. California is a nanny state, and soon no one will be able to get to work, and companies will move away from all the regulations, then I guess we can just give it back to the Chumash and our homes worthless. Great insight Jim. I am happy not to know you. In the meantime my traffic nightmare already has gone from awful to hellish. I’ll start a honkathon and we will all honk our horns while we sit for 30 minutes wasting gas until this gets returned to normal.
People in El Segundo can still take Pershing immediately West of the airport and cut up Westchester or Manchester to avoid route on traffic at the airport. Pershing will only be one lane for an additional 1/2 mile from where it is now. The biggest issue with the plan is Culver will no longer be a great choice for commuters which I think should be revaluated during the pilot phase. I thing there is a compromise here somewhere, but Pershing, Vista del Mar and Culver are not interstates and frankly people from the South Bay are treating them as such. I’ve heard discussion of having 3 lanes on Culver where the center lane would fluctuate between East bound to West bound during rush hours. That would still allow for a bike lane to be installed. I like this as a first step and looking forward to providing feedback how to improve it in the future.
Thank you Argonaut for following this safety issue that is of great concern to many of the residents of Playa del Rey.
Thank you Councilman Bonin and your staff for all of the work you’ve put into making our community safer.
There are quite a few residents already up in arms over the perceived lengthening of their commutes as a result of these safety mitigations. I find that sad and disheartening that people put their commute time above the safety of our community.
There are also quite a few South Bay commuters that are already voicing their outrage over our new and safer road configurations. To them I say, you aren’t allowed to use your downtown streets in El Segundo, Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach as high speed highways, why shouldn’t Playa del Rey have the same safe streets that you have in your communities?
Poll of only 133 PDR residence, poor communication with locals and surrounding cities about this project, and sold as “safety measures”. That is the problem! I’m sure I can speak for ALL Westchester and PDR residence that while safety is a major concern on VDM and this entire area, this project was and is being done all wrong and as a rouse.
First off the pros; parking on only ONE side of VDM (great), more lighting (great), more crosswalks with flashers (overdue), more safe U-turn sports (well done).
Now the cons; unsafe measures have been added, like head in parking, and encouraging bikes with new BIKE LANES… try backing out of a spot into ONE lane of traffic with bikes flying down the street (what about this is MORE safe?). No center dividers were added just a small double yellow. There are already safe bike lanes down at the beach, this road should be off limits to bicycles. That would make things more safe.
There was a smart way to fix the issues, have safer streets, and not add 20 – 30 minutes to everyone’s commutes. Mike (for whatever reason) decided to do this one alone (or I should say with only 133 of his closest friends)!
Absolutely agree, Jim. Forcing motor vehicle drivers into a road diet by reducreducing travel lanes is bone headed. But then such simplistic stupidity is to be expected of Bonin. All that needed to be done for pedestrian safety on Vista del Mar is to construct overhead walkways over the road. But then that would be to logical for politicians.
This feels like in an old western movie where the rancher shuts off water access from the people downriver from him. There was no outreach to any people in South Bay who are most affected by it (probably because they knew what the reaction would be).
And why the heck are they doing it to Pershing when in the article they talk about making VDM safer? Nobody’s running across Pershing. And as far as VDM, the needs of commuters and beachgoers are easily squared — when the commuters need access, people aren’t going to the beach (and vice versa). Some flexible parking restrictions would solve a legitimate problem much more fairly.
I have been wondering why Pershing was changed??
A facebook group has been started to promote alternatives to this ill-conceived attempt to improve safety on Vista del Mar
https://www.facebook.com/KeepVDMopen/
There is also a change.org petition with nearly 1,000 signatures
https://www.change.org/p/councilman-mike-bonin-s-office-one-lane-madness-in-playa-del-rey
While this change will supposedly result in “safer streets” it, in fact, encourages cars to circle looking for parking and make illegal u turns. It also forces cyclists to share a single lane with motorists, reducing cyclist safety. Also, anyone pulling out of the new parking spaces must accelerate into traffic through an area that will now be occupied by pedestrians getting out of their cars. The parking area itself also has no sidewalks, trash cans, or a stairway down to the beach so people utilizing it must descend the cliff. This policy will likely make Playa’s streets less safe and result in additional cyclist and pedestrian fatalities.
This will adversely impact the commutes of thousands of Playa Vista, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, and Hermosa Beach residents. Some residents are already reporting commute times increased by as much as 20 minutes. 20 minutes x 2 ways x 5 days x 50 weeks = 166 hours per year, almost a week! These residents, many of them parents trying to get home to see their children, are being unnecessarily robbed of their time and the additional congestion is creating unnecessary pollution. I believe you will also find that there will be significant secondary impacts on traffic throughout your district including on PCH and around LAX as Manhattan Beach traffic engineers have reported as many as 2,100 cars per hour go up Highland through Playa and will now have no place to go.
Finally, the citizens of Los Angeles recently passed Measure M to improve roads, reduce congestion, and increase mass transit. Using Measure M funds to reduce lanes available to the public is a bait and switch.
When summer hits, this will be a logistical nightmare! People will start cutting through neighborhoods (likely at high speeds) trying to avoid inevitable traffic congestion. Instead of completely reconfiguring traffic, maybe cut down on late night bonfires at Dockweiler where people are partying late into the night.
Usually a “pilot project” would be limited on it’s scope and it’s affect on a population to judge the impact. The changes being implemented I would argue are opposite of this, the impact to thousands of people lives is not something that should be taken lightly without input from all the surrounding communities.
Frankly this feels like a “not in my backyard” attempt to divert traffic veiled in the guise of safety. If safety was the main concern how about eliminate parking on Vista Del Mar , and have people park in the mostly empty beach lots that already exist? Or have restrictions on the lanes when the beach is populated which is usually not when traffic is at it’s peak?
A balanced approach needs to be taken that enhances safety but also mitigates the effect of traffic in the area that is thought out not just proposed and implemented on a whim
This impacts TENS of thousands of people’s lives TWICE DAILY according to the traffic study done by Manhattan Beach sited in this article: http://www.easyreadernews.com/152781/lane-closures-cause-south-bay-commuter-gridlock-vista-del-mar-culver-boulevard/.
Meanwhile, the lot at the Dockweiler Youth Center (located just south of Imperial & VDM) sits empty, even on weekends. There is plenty of parking at this beach it is just that people want to park for Free or they want to have their bonfires until late night, past when the lots close (8pm and 10pm).
As a VDM north-bound commuter from Hermosa Beach every morning for over a dozen years, this is one of the most irrational city planning decisions I have ever seen. I was wiling, just possibly willing, to accept that VDM go down to one lane for safety reasons, as I figured “Hey, I can take Pershing and I’ll be fine.” But now that Pershing is ALSO going down to one lane (to add a bicycle lane!) this whole system is totally irrational and so poorly thought-out. I have never even seen a bicycle on Pershing, ever! To displace TENS OF THOUSANDS of South Bay commuters twice a day every day, to appease a few cyclists and keep free street parking on VDM (when the large paid lots remain empty!), is just beyond any rational belief. And to the many local Mom-and-Pop businesses on Culver Blvd in Playa Del Rey that I would frequent along my commute – thanks to Councilman Bonin my money will now be spent elsewhere.
If you could even exit your vehicle during your commute on Culver, I’m surprised. It’s nearly impossible! And I’ve seen people’s car doors ripped off by commuters barreling by!
This is not a solution to the folks who use the VDM everyday and it is NOT a short cut! Did anyone consider making the east side of the street No Parking at anytime??? Make the parking below more accessible both financially and logistically? My heart breaks for the families who have lost their loved ones but this is not the solution. Please come up with a better solution.
Thank you Councilman Bonin and Jessie for helping us to get PDR back. We can tell the residents of Manhatttan Beach and El Segundo that we will open it back to 4 lanes as soon as they open Highland to 4 lanes and allow 50 mph on Main Street in El Segundo ! There is no bike lane on VDM- that lane is extra room for people to back out of the parking . I have lived over Pershing and Culver for 22 years and have seen so many accidents for pedestrians and cyclists . Yes to safety and livability !
No to senile, old people who don’t drive or work, and that don’t care about the people that do.
And for those who SUPPORT traffic calming and SAFETY for humans AND for wildlife – this petition was started in response to the other petitions…..
https://www.change.org/p/los-angeles-city-councilmember-mike-bonin-say-yes-to-making-playa-del-rey-streets-safe-and-green-safe-for-humans-and-wildlife
We in Playa del Rey are so proud of our Councilman Mike Bonin for finally doing something to improve our quality of life and safety!!! We need to go even further and broad-stripe all of the pedestrian crosswalks and put in speed bumps to make things even safer. Please encourage Mike to stand firm against SoBay pressure and make these improvements permanent.
Traffic impact was one of the arguments our organization used to oppose the enormity of the Playa Vista development. Without the effort of numerous grassroots organizations what you see now along Jefferson Blvd east of Lincoln would have also been built north of Ballona Creek east and west of Lincoln.
We can’t just keep widening roads for faster through access. The safety of our families and suitable habitat for wildlife are more important to quality of life than commute time. Hopefully, more people will realize that commuting by bicycle between Manhattan Beach and other points south and Playa Vista/Culver City is an excellent way to get to and from work while getting fresh air and exercise.
Obviously you don’t live in either of these places because it is 12.4 miles between Culver City and Manhattan Beach. This would take approximately just over 1hr (if you’re in phenomenal shape- which lets face it, I am not) just to go one way. So your basically expecting people to bike approximately 25 miles every single day, a commute that would take a total of ~2.5 hrs round trip for an average adult. That’s not a feasible solution, especially if a shift ends at night! Additionally south bay residents weren’t arguing to open the road up wider, two lanes was just fine. There needs to be a better solution such as alleviating parking cost and times for the lots that just sit empty all day and night, building pedestrian bridges to the beach (like any other beach worth its salt already has done), and providing more street lighting.
Safety for our families, wildlife, fresh air, exercise. You sound disingenuous. Nobody said anything about widening roads. Try to keep up, Walter.
thanks Mike Bonin this is a step in the right direction
As a resident of Playa del Rey, I can completely understand the desire to slow traffic on Vista del Mar as well as along Culver in the PdR business district for safety reasons. What I don’t understand, however, is the reduction of lanes on Culver and Jefferson through the wetlands. This will make commuting in and out of PdR much more difficult. No need to create choke points on both sides of PdR if the desire is to reduce South Bay commuting through the neighborhood. The choke points on the south end of PdR will serve that purpose without punishing PdR residents and potentially hurting property values in the neighborhood.
Therein lies the real motivation for the move. Yet another nasty bit of nimbyism to add to LA…
Oh so sad! I am glad the traffic will slow down. Safety first!!! For all
Right, punish everybody because some drunk girl wandered across the road and call it safety.
Leave it to government to f’ up already jacked up traffic on Pershing. Nothing to do with VDM- yes eliminate parking there, duh. Choking traffic on Pershing will just make that nightmare worse, unless they widen lanes on VDM to make use of the new space created by elimianting parking on the E. side. Already have enough rude Ass “Bikers” bikers flying around thinking they own the road- last thing they need is a more lanes- move them off the roads and subjugate then to the beach where they can run into more pedestrians…
As always, it’s tragic to lose a life, especially in a traffic related incident. Vista Del Mar is notorious for speeding cars, people crossing the road illegally and making terrible u turns. I was glad to see parking on the east side abolished. What would have made further sense would be to ban parking on both sides especially with the coastal erosion of the west side, which in recent past years has reduced traffic to one lane. With the increased weight of more cars parked on in the west side surely it’s only a matter of time before nature gives way. Which most likely will result in legal action of some sort, somehow. The parking lots are rarely full at dockweiller beach. The extra income from the parking is always, or at least should be, welcome. Cutting out the pollution from the open fires at dockweiller beach would go a long way to help the Ballona wetlands, but that’s a whole different story. I can not see the logic in reducing traffic flow in a city such as Los Angeles. I have only experienced the “traffic project” on Vista Del Mar so far and have seen more illegal u turns and people slamming on their brakes when they see a parking spot. Please remember the people from other beach communities use Vista Del Mar, not as a short cut, but as everyday travel. Full credit to the engineering staff to the prompt action, sad that it took such a unfortunate incident for the project.
After careful consideration, I think this was probably overkill and overreacting to a problem. I fully support the diagonal parking along VDM, and the elimination of parking on the East side of VDM, but I also think the traffic could’ve been calmed without reducing everything down to one lane in each direction. I think a few appropriately place speed bumps and flashing yellow lights could achieve the same effect, without completely ruining the commute for folks in MB and ES. Just my two cents.
-Tony from Playa del Rey
Thank you to Councilman Bonin for doing something that may not be popular with people who have long enjoyed quick commutes from the ‘suburbs of Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach but then again– he doesn’t represent ‘those people”– he represents the people who live in PDR. As a resident of PDR, I have seen the commuter traffic increase year after year to the point that I sometimes have a hard time backing out of my own driveway as MB commuters race thru my residential neighborhood trying to ‘cut off the corner’ at VDM and Culver. My children have nearly been hit by cars, my mother-in-law’s vehicle was struck by a driver making an illegal u-turn on VDM and my children’s classmate was killed by a driver on VDM while she tried to cross the street to get to her parked car after visiting the beach. These commuters treat our community as a freeway, have absolutely no regard for speed limits or laws; as I frequently watch them make illegal right turns on the hill during the morning rush hour even though it is prohibited by law. It seems to me that these entitled commuters feel we should do everything in our power to make their commute more more pleasant? Why?
As residents of Playa del Rey, we have every right to demand that our residential streets are safe for everyone. Vista del Mar is not a freeway. I am shocked by the entitled and self-absorbed comments shared by South Bay Commuters. It is obvious they care nothing about the communities they race through each day on their way to/from work. Looking out at the sea of cars streaming North on Vista del Mar each morning, preventing me from even getting out of my own garage and neighborhood, I see only single occupants in each vehicle. Instead of complaining to our elected officials about how long your commute has grown, people need to start asking why no one is carpooling. Thousands of cars going the same direction each day and yet all the the cars are empty except for the driver. A woman passing out flyers to commuters argued with me; saying that “the South Bay is “entitled” to use this road for commuting and that they didn’t approve the Playa Vista development,’ which she believes perhaps rightly so has caused a huge increase in traffic. Well, we in PDR didn’t want Playa Vista built either- we fought it for years. Our politicians promised us that the new residents of this densely proposed development would “live and work” in Playa Vista!! We knew that wasn’t true. And, we know that the companies in Playa Vista employ lots of people who are living in the South Bay– those are the tens of thousands of added commuters that we see each morning. Instead of complaining about something that has already been built, why not insist that companies operating in these now densely populated areas of Silicon Beach and Santa Monica provide transportation or car pool vans for employees, vouchers to promote using public transportation and other incentives for people to live where they work or at the very least car pool! We can’t just keep adding more lanes. We have to reduce the number of cars, not look for ways to add more. The people of Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach have long enjoyed living in relative close proximity to the City of Los Angeles, easily commuting- in only for work. I am sorry that is changing. Welcome to our world. Instead of looking now to our elected officials to solve your commute problems– look to your own local government to start providing the residents of your cities with viable public transport. Ask your representatives to insist that the companies of Silicon Beach, Culver City and Santa Monica provide luxury commuter vans and busses like they do in Silicon Valley. Drive anywhere in Silicon Valley and you will see luxury coach buses sporting the names of the area’s biggest employers; Google, Apple, Cisco…. they all provide luxury commuter buses for their employees in Northern California. Why aren’t they providing the same perks for their employees here in LA? The answer is not to increase lanes, speeds and cars but to find other ways for people to move about safely and that means less lanes, lower speeds and less cars. There are alternative routes for commuters such as Lincoln, Sepulveda, Aviation and the 405. All of these streets were designed to handle higher volumes of cars. Commuters have options. It’s great that the South Bay commuters are organizing and finally demanding something be done about the traffic they face — I applaud them for getting involved in an effort to solve this difficult issue that we, the residents of Playa del Rey have been fighting for years. But, they need to look beyond their own immediate, selfish needs and demand that the elected officials of all our cities work together to find real, long-term solutions to gridlock. Simply adding more lanes and more cars won’t work.
Councilman Mike Bonin, who is behind this disastrous decision is doing this simply out of greed and self interest. He lives on Boise Avenue, four lots north of Venice Boulevard. The Great Streets initiative that he sponsored affects the area of Venice Boulevard which travels right by where he lives. Not only does it travel by his house but the plan calls for installing a traffic light so the councilman can have easier access to his property from Venice Boulevard. This initiative is more about helping Mike Bonin than the residents of Los Angeles. This decision stinks to high heaven. Bonin’s intentions in light of the location of where his house is should be investigated by an independent council to make sure that councilman Bonin is not using his office to enrich himself because of his political position.
Great comments here, Jennifer! I hope Mike Bonin and the tech companies of Silicon Beach pay attention to your ideas!
I recently read your article about the tragic death of Naomi Larsen, struck by a car on Vista del Mar. It is a very sad, heartbreaking story indeed.
Nevertheless, I am at a loss trying to understand the reason why this event resulted in a “settlement” between the victim’s family and the city in an amount of $9 million.
Naomi was 16, her parents gave her a car, she willingly used the car, she decided to cross the road when she did, she freely parked the car where she did…and her parents are being paid $9MM. This is really an example of our tort system run amok, a travesty of “justice”, a refusal to see responsibility where it clearly is and to admit the sad and tragic consequences of one’s actions.
Now, with this poorly thought out plan in place, new safety issues have arisen:
1. Cars are now flying (and I mean fast) down the bicycle lanes on Culver between Jefferson and Nicholson in fits of road rage.
2. With the traffic backups to Imperial Highway in the morning Northbound, throughout Playa from Waterview to Jefferson all day (yes all day long, come see) now, and to the 90 Freeway in the afternoon, drivers are now taking the time to text and check their phones while inching along. This is a terrible solution to a problem that was addressed poorly (see below), as now we have more potential for accidents all day long and more pollution all day long from idling cars.
The sad truth is also the bike lanes on Culver that have been added. I have literally seen fewer than 10 bicyclists in over 20 years in Playa who use Culver East of Nicholson. Why? Because there is a beautiful bike path 100 yards to the North that is much safer.
Unfortunately, this Safe Streets For Playa “process” was not well conceived, and most certainly, not well communicated nor executed.
Regarding traffic from Jefferson and Culver through to Waterview and Vista Del Mar: As a 23-year resident of Playa Del Rey, traditionally, in the AM, traffic had consistently backed up from Jefferson and Culver all the way down to Vista Del Mar and Culver at the height of morning rush. With half the available lanes, it now backs further on Vista Del Mar South of Culver.
Also traditionally, Vista Del Mar South of Culver has backed almost all the way to Sandpiper. Now, with Vista Del Mar South of Culver to Waterview down to one lane, it backs almost ⅔ of the way to Imperial. Now add in the Culver reduction above to one lane and you back to Imperial.
So, even if half of the commuters switch to an alternate route, the traffic back up will be no better than it has been for the past 23 years since you have removed half of the available lanes. This switch is not going to happen because there has been no magically better route to open up for El Segundo and Manhattan Beach residents to use that is faster than Vista Del Mar and Pershing. Traffic follows fluid dynamics quite closely. So the way it has been in the past, is that commuters from El Segundo and Manhattan have found the routes that equalize the time for all points of exit from the area. It is a clearly measurable effect. By artificially cutting the available lane volume, you will only increase the amount of idling time of stop and go traffic to more than twice the amount. This then increases the exhaust output in Playa in total because more cars will be stopped by having more stoplight cycles to endure before exiting through Playa. Which will only adversely affect the health of local residents. Was that considered? Capriciously saying that you want to make streets, not highways does not somehow reduce the number of people who need to make use of the streets.
The reverse is true for afternoon rush. Traffic backs now to the bridge over Ballona Creek. With half the available lanes, it goes to the 90 Freeway or further.
Mike Bonin, have you actually been to Playa during morning and afternoon rush? How many different times of day? What days of the week? Holiday Wednesdays or Fridays? What months of the year? When it rains? When it fogs in at night? I doubt it?
Further, I don’t want to even imagine what it will be like during the summer on weekends when the population increases by orders of magnitude.
Beyond this, the safety claims being made don’t examine the cause of accidents. Yes slower is safer, but when are you making it slower? Weekday morning and afternoon rush are not when accidents happen because traffic is already at a crawl. The majority involve nights and weekends, and more importantly, intoxication in two ways. That is, a DUI driver hits an innocent pedestrian who is expecting the driver to follow traffic laws, but does not, by either speeding, swerving, etc. As well as sober drivers who hit intoxicated pedestrians whose behavior is unexpected and illegal as well. Exemplified most frequently by intoxicated patrons coming out of establishments in the middle of Culver Blvd such as The Tripel and The Prince Of Whales, and Jaywalking by darting out across the street without looking, or misjudging the oncoming vehicle due to inebriation. A single lane each way late at night will not remedy this situation and will not slow down traffic. On the other hand, reducing Vista Del Mar South of Waterview to Imperial to one lane each way is long overdue. Accidents there are caused far more by pedestrians acting foolishly and drivers not paying attention or making illegal maneuvers on weekends.
Not to mention the waste of money and resources to not fix the problem while creating a bigger one. Take the money and park police cars at the entrance to Playa, and down by the beach on Vista Del Mar on weekends/evenings. Randomly staffing them will do far more when it actually counts.
I’d also like to know when the public comment phase occurred and how it was announced to residents. I am registered to vote and have received many notices in the past for public meetings and requested comment. Also, 133 people made up the the “community-initiated” group, and what public meetings were held? Where do they live? In the areas discussed? Nobody I have talked to knew about this change until notices were personally posted in connection to the Change.org petition started by Lucy Conlon, which I note is now up to 4000 signatures, which is 35% of the local population, and a much greater proportion of people who live in “downtown” Playa in the flats, who will now be trapped or prevented even more each day from leaving Playa or returning.
In addition, the announcement put out by your office was bordering on absurd. It is sadly, a Donald Trump-like use of alarmist rhetoric and politician-speak to initiate a process that is not well thought out and not wanted by a majority of people who will be affected, as in:
“The community-initiated initiative to make streets safer in Playa del Rey took exciting steps forward this month, and improvements are being made to better protect people in the neighborhood from speeding cars.”
“Exciting” is a laughable try at putting positive spin on a poorly thought-out process. It does not make your office look good. It smacks of, as Twain would say, “A device of low cunning” designed to steer a population into thinking they have received a benefit from a caring politician. It fools very few. Then there are the grasping phrases “community-initiated” and “community-driven.” Poor attempts at ascribing legitimacy to the process and the resultant plan. Again, what process? When, where and how did this happen? Fail is the word that comes to mind.
You make many very fine points. However, the ‘safety’ aspect was a rouse; the entire move is a ploy by self-involved nimybists and geriatric locals to simply remove through-traffic. Well congrats, you made your own lives marginally appreciably better at the expense of making tens of thousands of your fellow Angelenos miserable, and removing hundreds of thousands of work hours from the economy that keeps you sitting happy. Slow clap for selfish affluence.
I am absolutely appalled to realize that Bonin, for whom I voted, was behind this nightmare. I have been a resident of Playa del Rey for 23 years: and I have absolutely no doubt that this unbelievably ill-conceived plan would not have been implemented if ALL of the residents of Playa del Rey had been fully informed of the details of the project and given a chance to vote for or against this traffic travesty. Those of you who are retired, don’t commute to work or school, or otherwise have the luxury of either not having to travel these roads daily for survival, or can afford the extra commute time in your lives, should be ashamed of yourselves for your complete disregard for the rest of us. Our family kills ourselves to be able to afford to live in PDR and this is a huge reduction in our quality of life. I also cannot believe that the majority of local businesses support this either. I don’t need to repeat all of the other suggestions given in the comments above. Many of these could have been implemented and increased safety, parking, protection of humans and the environment, WITHOUT damaging residents and other Los Angeles and California taxpayers. Also, those of you in your large motorhomes spouting about the environment are hilarious. What makes you think you have more of a right to park your disgusting, noisy, polluting eyesores so that you can enjoy the natural environment, than others of us (mainly in our Toyotas, Hondas, and other small, low-emission cars) have to be able to get to and from our homes in PDR without this now horrendous commute? Shame! Shame! Self-centered jerks. If you cyclists had a hand in this, shame on you as well.
Totally agree Veronica
It is abhorrent and an affront to taxpayers to impose such wanton and callous changes in favor of ghosts
In winter time there are no pedestrians and we have a cycle path down at the beach
All you need is crosswalks for persons parking on the orher side if the road and in winter nobody uses the beach
Perhaps if parking were free at city lots as opposed to a money making enterprise people would have no need for parking on street
There are no ressons why such abhorrent changes need be done
This has to be reversed and it needs be done ASAP
Yes, Jaime, let us hope that common sense and fairness will prevail.
Pedestrians now have a false sense of security and will be less vigilant and watchful. The vacant land on vista del mar with pedestrian bridges would be the only answer if the city cared about beach goers being safe, otherwise this is just like another person said excuse to remove commuters from one of the long time thoroughfares from the southbay to the interior of Los Angeles. 1 persons tragic, accidental death does not logically call for a change in street design thats worked well for decades. Pedestrians need to educate themselves on safety and personal responsibility. There will be more accidents due to drivers all filtering into one lane, people milling about on Vista Del Mar like its a block party, and jay walkers in playa. Keep voting for these odd thinking democrats and this is the world you get.
This re configuration of the streets is uncalled for and arbitrary
While I simphstize with victims if accidents accidents are not the fault of commuters
Someone decided to cross the street were there is no pedestrian crosswalk
The city could built pedestrian bridges
But subjecting commuters to hindrances and uncalled for measures is not only wrong but it is wanton disregard for the need for fluid roads within LA
This kind of absurdity makes me think unoroffesional and fisowned officials decide things of this nature in a very ill advised manner
Regurn the streets to their right disposition
Stop the nonsense
So! Last week these changes ricocheted congestion end to end down Culver Blvd, Jefferson Blvd, Lincoln Blvd halfway up toward Venice, Sepulveda Blvd around LAX is worse than ever. These deceitful, selfish changes are grinding down traffic along half of the West Side. Sometimes its preferable for politicians and supposed do-gooders just to sit on their hands….Complete madness.
Yes, madness and extreme selfishness and narcissism. I will allow that some of these do-gooders may merely be naive, not-very-bright, and/or otherwise well-intentioned; but the underhanded way that this was done is intolerable. I have lived in Playa del Rey for 23 years and was not consulted nor given ANY notice. I have no idea what Mike Bonin’s excuse is. I had no idea that he was this kind of person when I voted for him.
This shows that CA green initiatives and greenhouse gas reduction plans are a farce and only matter when they look good politically. All of these cars stuck in traffic for an extra 30 or for minutes a day apparently don’t count.
Yes, Sandy, it is an obscene political farce; and it doesn’t even look good politically except to the selfish and feeble-minded.