Silver Lake Council Backs Bike Friendly Glendale-Hyperion Bridge

The Silver Lake Neighborhood Council on Wednesday voted unanimously to send a letter to Caltrans asking that plans for the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge Project better accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians.

The letter, which echos the same requests that the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition made, asks that the city "preserve pedestrian-oriented areas to provide alternatives to automobile-oriented commercial activity."

Currently, the bridge's redesign includes plans for traffic speeds up to 55 miles per hour as well as wider traffic lanes, which bicycle enthusiasts said is unsafe.

According to the neighborhood council's motion, the letter sent to Caltrans was sent to indicate the community's interest in a more open design process for the bridge.

"This project will have a significant impact on our community and we feel that the agencies in charge should reach out to a larger audience," the Neighborhood Council wrote. "There is ample time prior to the construction to allow more input from the community."

The letter approval comes just a few days after Councilman Mitch O'Farrell also sent a letter to Caltrans that proposed options for the bridge including dedicated bicycle lanes, modifying traffic lane widths, adding a signalized crosswalk for the entire width of the bridge and the removal of a center barrier currently in the plans.

Full Text of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council's Letter:

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November 6, 2013
Ms. Tami Podesta, Branch Chief
Division of Environmental Planning
California Dept of Transportation District 7
100 S Main St
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Subject: Glendale Boulevard-Hyperion Ave Bridges Improvement Project

Dear Ms. Podesta:

The Silver Lake Neighborhood Council supports the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition letter of October 3 as it pertains to the modernization of the bridge complex. Many of our stakeholders are very concerned that the redesign is to accommodate faster traffic with design speeds up to 55 MPH.

The Silver Lake-Echo Park-Elysian Valley Community Plan calls on the City to “preserve pedestrian-orientated areas to provide alternatives to automobile-orientated commercial activity.” Including along “Hyperion Avenue from Rowena Ave to Griffith Park Blvd.” (Policy 2-2.1). This project should enhance and extend this pedestrian orientation to connect with the similarly pedestrian-orientated Glendale Blvd in Atwater Village.

We also do not support the need for a barrier between the two traffic lanes which could cause response times to increase for emergency vehicles and we feel that the project needs to comply with the Complete Streets aspect of road redesign and safety for all modes of transportation.

The Silver Lake NC Transportation and Public Works Committee would be glad to host a local informational meeting on top of the one that was held on September 25 that would allow more community members to express their concerns on this bridge project. This project will have a significant impact on our community and we feel that the agencies in charge should reach out to a larger audience. There is ample time prior to the construction to allow more input from the community as the September 25 meeting was the only general meeting where the public had any opportunity to provide input.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Rusty Millar and Barbara Ringuette

Co-Chairs Silver Lake Transportation and Public Works Committee