Many of the respondents to our survey added comments which we publish here, because they deserve a wider audience. They document a ongoing debate, frustration, some despair, and some hope.
Comments from residents in the area of the Westwood Neighborhood Council
(Anon) Please please please include bike lanes instead of sharrows; they are the only way I feel safe on LA streets with so many cars.
(Anon) I am a HUGE supporter for bike lanes!! Not only for bikes but to make cars SLOW DOWN! It will make it safer for walkers too.
Ann: I rarely ride on a bicycle myself, but as a driver I am a lot more comfortable when the bicyclists have some space set aside for them. I strongly support bike lanes both on the grounds that it is better for everybody, and to encourage more bicycling. Without bike lanes I am afraid to bike in traffic!
(Anon) I don't mind bike lane ONLY IF they don't take away the CAR LANES.
Limiting CAR traffic is not going to work. We need to drive. I'm too old to ride a bike.
KEEP all Car lanes. Ocean Park Blvd is a clear example of how the bike lanes now create more car traffic to skirt thru neighborhoods to avoid the traffic.
Bobby: With the large number of cyclists traveling along Westwood Blvd towards UCLA the street deserves a dedicated bike lane in each direction in order to insure the safety of all those who choose to ride a bike instead of contributing to the mass of cars. A dedicated bike lane also tends to lead to an increase in business for all the local businesses.
(Anon) We absolutely need a bike lane or a shared lane between National and Santa Monica. It's dangerous and doesn't need to be w/o. Thanks!
(Anon) Any plan to better accommodate cyclists is welcome. This will, undoubtedly, slow traffic, but that is a good thing. Reduced speeds lower the risks for pedestrians and cyclists. This makes our communities safer. I fully support bike lanes in any part of Los Angeles.
(Anon) Bike lanes would make bikers already on Westwood blvd safer. Both riders and drivers would bennifit.
Bill: I bike in Westwood almost every day, and would like to see more bicycle facilities, especially separated bike lanes. With so much traffic in the area, we should promote alternative modes as much as possible and also work to improve the health of people living in this neighborhood by providing active transportation.
CDG: Los Angeles is not a bike city like Portland or others. They pose a real hazard to cars, pedestrians and themselves. They are particularly difficult to deal with at night, like on Sepulveda. Biker have an aura of entitlement that implies that they are invincible. We've had them yell and preach to us. LA is (sadly) all about cars. Until our basic infrastructure changes - like all our roads widened, bikes are not a safe option in this town.
Vivian: From my daughter - Hello! My name is Vivian. We REALLY need bike lanes!
(Anon) I think striping helps both bikers and drivers.... with signs to keep drivers from cutting into the biking lane. More stop or yield signs would help as well. Also designated places for the homeless to safely store their belongings.
(Anon) WHY CAN'T THE BICYCLIST RIDE DOWN A SIDE STREET LIKE GLENDON TO GET FROM PICO TO UCLA???
(Anon) I've had to get surgically screwed back together after breaking both wrists in a bike accident crossing Wilshire on Westwood Boulevard, and a friend of mine had a similar accident last year. Having the bike lane suddenly disappear makes that area extremely dangerous for everyone.
(Anon) I am in favor of bike lanes in general, but not on the stretch of WW Blvd between LeConte and Wilshire, as this is a dangerous traffic area for all. The lanes cannot be reduced for bike lanes with the huge amount of bus and cars, plus pedestrians. An alternate route should be found for this stretch.
(Anon) The bike lane people are not being honest and will make biking in westwood more dangerous.
TD: I believe in preserving the safety for all people in our neighborhood.
Thomas: Preferred way to travel between Cheviot Hills and UCLA, though Prosser is quite good too.
Quest: I am completely in favor of bike lines on Westwood Blvd. As a cyclist, I feel like I am risking my life each time I take Westwood Blvd. With the metro opening up, the amount of cyclists is only going to increase. It's time to give us a safer way to share the road!
(Anon) I am a frequent bike rider in this area and feel that bike lanes will not only keep cyclists safer, but will improve traffic flow by keeping cyclists away from the flow of cars.
John: I bike to campus and am frequently frustrated by the absence of more bike lanes. On campus is also a problem; even where there bikes are treated as equals to cars, there are too few of the stenciled bicycles on the surface. In my opinion, they should be located about every 100 meters. The ongoing absence of access to the campus via the relatively safe (because of a low density of auto traffic) street Tiverton continues to be frustrating. Do we know whether there will be adequate bicycle access when the construction has finally been completed?
(Anon) People would be more supporting of bike lanes if the supporters could explain what changes would be needed at intersections and bus stops.
(Anon) A bicycle lane on Westwood Boulevard would be very unsafe, especially in the Village, due to the very heavy volume of bus traffic that dominates that street. Another alternative route is a much better, and more realistic, alternative so as not to harm the business community.
(Anon) The Westwood community is for bike lanes when they are safe. Westwood Blvd north of Pico is not safe and a bike lane would attract more bicyclists to an unsafe path.
San: FWIW, I saw a girl get knocked off her bike while a car was heading north on Westwood Blvd attempting to merge into the right turn lane to go east on Pico. She wasn't injured, and the collision was at very low speed, but it easily could have been much worse. A bike lane here would have helped because the driver may not have assumed there were no bikes filtering.
(Anon) If more people commute by bike and fewer with cars, our neighborhoods will be safer, cleaner, and more vibrant.
(Anon) I am all for bicycle lanes wherever safe and feasible, but Westwood Blvd. (at least north of Pico) is NOT one of those locations. Alternative side streets are strongly recommended for safe, accessible routes for long-distance bicyclists, with the understanding that they can always access Westwood Blvd. anywhere along the way to their final destination.
This isn't an issue of car vs. bicycle, it's a matter of safety and mobility for all. There's a big reason why bike lanes on Sepulveda are so great, and so easy to create...while not true on Westwood: the size of the street. One size, I'm afraid, doesn't fit all.
(Anon) Bike lanes are a life saver.
(Anon) I used to live and work in Westwood. I wanted Westwood Blvd to be a complete street then, and I still want it to become a complete street now because it would greatly benefit so many people: the 70K people who go to UCLA (only 51% of staff drive alone, over 25 percentage points lower than the County average; 75% of students walk, bike or use the bus to travel to class), plus the people who converge on Westwood for work (100K). The assertion that the 'community' is 'united' in its rejection of bicycle markings on Westwood Boulevard is simply unfounded.
Swerv: My wife and I live a couple of blocks northeast of Santa Monica and Westwood. She was getting physical therapy in Culver City twice a week, and her therapist recommended that she ride her bike there as part of it. The sheer level of harassment from motorists - close passes, honking, yelling - it makes me feel like the bike lanes are not for people riding bikes, it's that people driving on Westwood have forgotten how to act like civilized people.
The speed limit south of Santa Monica is 30mph, I believe, but people routinely drive at 45+. Trying to cross in the crosswalk at Missouri and Westwood is an exercise in terror. I contacted Paul Koretz about this on a couple of occasions but have only ever received a response from one of his staff who recently responded back saying that bike lanes are off the table because it might slow down traffic. It seems to me like that might be a good thing for a road that many people treat like a freeway.
When the Expo Line station at Westwood is finished, I'd love for my wife and I to feel safe biking to it. It's barely a mile away, four minutes or so by bike, and a great way to reach the rest of the city. But unless we're ready to start enforcing the law against drivers that try to bully anyone that might make them change lanes, we need to put in some sort of infrastructure to help. I consider myself and my wife to be pretty confident cyclists, but Westwood is a pretty harrowing experience as it stands now.
(Anon) Bike lane on Westwood will reduce traffic and increase commuters safety
(Anon) Thank you for this work. Unfortunately, a few people have shrilly spoken for all of WW So of SM against bike lanes. They are a needed addition to improving the livability and safety of our neighborhood
SNS: Genuine protection for cyclists is WAY overdue on Westwood Blvd, which is one of the most dangerous stretches to ride a bike in LA. Solutions are on the table and should be implemented now, especially with Expo on the way. How many people have to be hurt or killed before this gets fixed?
Patrick: It is time to take back the West side from single occupancy automobiles and assert the freedom of all westsiders to safely move about the city without a car. Why do people who say they hate traffic resist attempts to make it safe to travel without a car?
lp: I find the options confusing, i.e., shutting lanes, removing parking at certain hours, etc. It would be great if we could try out a few different options to see which worked best, rather than arguing forever about what the impact might be. Bike lanes are a good thing, but why do we have to guess at the impact on traffic, which is already terrible? Let's have probationary periods for a few options.
(Anon) Absolute idiocy. Bike lanes in gridlocked Westwood? Take away a traffic lane? Moronic!
Synch traffic lights, ban left turns instead.
(Anon) Westwood Blvd is so dangerous with all the buses on it. Bike lanes could not be safe with the buses moving in and out of them. Bike lanes up Veteran, Gayley or Hilgard would be better.
(Anon) Although I support bike lanes, Westwood between Santa Monica Blvd & Pico Blvd is too dangerous for bicyclists. The street is to narrow and with the aggressiveness of drivers I fear many accidents will happen. I try to avoid this stretch of road because it is very stressful to drive at rush hour.
Asi: Bike lanes on busy commercial streets are dangerous for everyone. Bikers should use quiet residential streets which are safe and certainly more inviting to ride in.
(Anon) Proponents of bike lanes on Westwood Blvd have not demonstrated how bike lane traffic at intersections can be accommodated without unacceptable impacts on heavy bus traffic on the street.
(Anon) Yes please!!!
Comments from respondents who indicated they lived outside the area of the Westwood Neighborhood Council
I commute daily by bicycle on Westwood Blvd, and it is the most dangerous part of my commute. Drivers swerve across my path all the time, without signalling or looking. I witnessed a cyclist get hit in an accident that was entirely the driver's fault. It is a very busy street, and drivers need it made very obvious that there are cyclists, and they must pay attention to them. Westwood Blvd. DESPERATELY needs a dedicated, consistent bike lane.
Brittney: Thank you for your pursuit of bike lanes in Westwood! I manage a family business in Westwood and think bike lanes are a promising element of the revival in Westwood Village!
I would love to have these bike lanes! If I had a dollar for every time a driver nearly hit me, I'd pay for the lanes myself. This is a simple thing that doesn't cost much and could make so many people safer.
Streets should be safe for all users. Period.
There are very few long north-south corridors available to cyclists on the West side, and in Los Angeles more generally. The Westwood route is a quick, direct, easy way to get from Santa Monica/Westwood all the way to Culver City without waiting at any lights. No analogous route exists elsewhere, while there are multiple alternatives for cars to use.
I regularly bike down Westwood Blvd to commute to work, and after a couple of near accidents I have started to bike on the sidewalks, which creates inconvenience to pedestrians, and is also dangerous for cars coming in and out of alleyways. In fact, the commute becomes extremely stressful this way. Having bike lanes all down Westwood would make a substantial change in road safety, and would produce a more inclusive space on city streets.
Westwood Blvd is for all of LA. Not just the wealthy that can afford to live there.
I am one of thousands of students that commutes to UCLA on a bicycle. The hills surrounding the campus make Westwood Boulevard the path of least resistance, especially north of Wilshire. Bicyclists will be safer with bicycle lanes on Westwood Blvd.
Within the last two days I've cycled through the Westwood blvd area and I was always hit head on by a motorist making a left turn into oncoming traffic. Luckily he stopped in time and I swerved out of the way. If there was a bike lane maybe he would have been more aware of cyclist in the area.
I've been hit by one car on Veteran Blvd and struck by a door swung open on Westwood while commuting from my home in Westwood south of Santa Monica to work at UCLA. I prefer traveling by bike, but the way the roads today are organized is clearly dangerous for bikes.
Parking and traffic in Westwood is difficult. Bikes are an easy way for people who live, work and shop in the Westwood Village area to commute and park without much difficulty. Let's encourage people to be active, healthy and have fun.
We need to move beyond the thinking of the past that designs streets just for cars at rush hour. We need to design for all users and for safety. Westwood for all!
Comments from residents in the area of the Westwood Neighborhood Council
(Anon) Please please please include bike lanes instead of sharrows; they are the only way I feel safe on LA streets with so many cars.
(Anon) I am a HUGE supporter for bike lanes!! Not only for bikes but to make cars SLOW DOWN! It will make it safer for walkers too.
Ann: I rarely ride on a bicycle myself, but as a driver I am a lot more comfortable when the bicyclists have some space set aside for them. I strongly support bike lanes both on the grounds that it is better for everybody, and to encourage more bicycling. Without bike lanes I am afraid to bike in traffic!
(Anon) I don't mind bike lane ONLY IF they don't take away the CAR LANES.
Limiting CAR traffic is not going to work. We need to drive. I'm too old to ride a bike.
KEEP all Car lanes. Ocean Park Blvd is a clear example of how the bike lanes now create more car traffic to skirt thru neighborhoods to avoid the traffic.
Bobby: With the large number of cyclists traveling along Westwood Blvd towards UCLA the street deserves a dedicated bike lane in each direction in order to insure the safety of all those who choose to ride a bike instead of contributing to the mass of cars. A dedicated bike lane also tends to lead to an increase in business for all the local businesses.
(Anon) We absolutely need a bike lane or a shared lane between National and Santa Monica. It's dangerous and doesn't need to be w/o. Thanks!
(Anon) Any plan to better accommodate cyclists is welcome. This will, undoubtedly, slow traffic, but that is a good thing. Reduced speeds lower the risks for pedestrians and cyclists. This makes our communities safer. I fully support bike lanes in any part of Los Angeles.
(Anon) Bike lanes would make bikers already on Westwood blvd safer. Both riders and drivers would bennifit.
Bill: I bike in Westwood almost every day, and would like to see more bicycle facilities, especially separated bike lanes. With so much traffic in the area, we should promote alternative modes as much as possible and also work to improve the health of people living in this neighborhood by providing active transportation.
CDG: Los Angeles is not a bike city like Portland or others. They pose a real hazard to cars, pedestrians and themselves. They are particularly difficult to deal with at night, like on Sepulveda. Biker have an aura of entitlement that implies that they are invincible. We've had them yell and preach to us. LA is (sadly) all about cars. Until our basic infrastructure changes - like all our roads widened, bikes are not a safe option in this town.
Vivian: From my daughter - Hello! My name is Vivian. We REALLY need bike lanes!
(Anon) I think striping helps both bikers and drivers.... with signs to keep drivers from cutting into the biking lane. More stop or yield signs would help as well. Also designated places for the homeless to safely store their belongings.
(Anon) WHY CAN'T THE BICYCLIST RIDE DOWN A SIDE STREET LIKE GLENDON TO GET FROM PICO TO UCLA???
(Anon) I've had to get surgically screwed back together after breaking both wrists in a bike accident crossing Wilshire on Westwood Boulevard, and a friend of mine had a similar accident last year. Having the bike lane suddenly disappear makes that area extremely dangerous for everyone.
(Anon) I am in favor of bike lanes in general, but not on the stretch of WW Blvd between LeConte and Wilshire, as this is a dangerous traffic area for all. The lanes cannot be reduced for bike lanes with the huge amount of bus and cars, plus pedestrians. An alternate route should be found for this stretch.
(Anon) The bike lane people are not being honest and will make biking in westwood more dangerous.
TD: I believe in preserving the safety for all people in our neighborhood.
Thomas: Preferred way to travel between Cheviot Hills and UCLA, though Prosser is quite good too.
Quest: I am completely in favor of bike lines on Westwood Blvd. As a cyclist, I feel like I am risking my life each time I take Westwood Blvd. With the metro opening up, the amount of cyclists is only going to increase. It's time to give us a safer way to share the road!
(Anon) I am a frequent bike rider in this area and feel that bike lanes will not only keep cyclists safer, but will improve traffic flow by keeping cyclists away from the flow of cars.
John: I bike to campus and am frequently frustrated by the absence of more bike lanes. On campus is also a problem; even where there bikes are treated as equals to cars, there are too few of the stenciled bicycles on the surface. In my opinion, they should be located about every 100 meters. The ongoing absence of access to the campus via the relatively safe (because of a low density of auto traffic) street Tiverton continues to be frustrating. Do we know whether there will be adequate bicycle access when the construction has finally been completed?
(Anon) People would be more supporting of bike lanes if the supporters could explain what changes would be needed at intersections and bus stops.
(Anon) A bicycle lane on Westwood Boulevard would be very unsafe, especially in the Village, due to the very heavy volume of bus traffic that dominates that street. Another alternative route is a much better, and more realistic, alternative so as not to harm the business community.
(Anon) The Westwood community is for bike lanes when they are safe. Westwood Blvd north of Pico is not safe and a bike lane would attract more bicyclists to an unsafe path.
San: FWIW, I saw a girl get knocked off her bike while a car was heading north on Westwood Blvd attempting to merge into the right turn lane to go east on Pico. She wasn't injured, and the collision was at very low speed, but it easily could have been much worse. A bike lane here would have helped because the driver may not have assumed there were no bikes filtering.
(Anon) If more people commute by bike and fewer with cars, our neighborhoods will be safer, cleaner, and more vibrant.
(Anon) I am all for bicycle lanes wherever safe and feasible, but Westwood Blvd. (at least north of Pico) is NOT one of those locations. Alternative side streets are strongly recommended for safe, accessible routes for long-distance bicyclists, with the understanding that they can always access Westwood Blvd. anywhere along the way to their final destination.
This isn't an issue of car vs. bicycle, it's a matter of safety and mobility for all. There's a big reason why bike lanes on Sepulveda are so great, and so easy to create...while not true on Westwood: the size of the street. One size, I'm afraid, doesn't fit all.
(Anon) Bike lanes are a life saver.
(Anon) I used to live and work in Westwood. I wanted Westwood Blvd to be a complete street then, and I still want it to become a complete street now because it would greatly benefit so many people: the 70K people who go to UCLA (only 51% of staff drive alone, over 25 percentage points lower than the County average; 75% of students walk, bike or use the bus to travel to class), plus the people who converge on Westwood for work (100K). The assertion that the 'community' is 'united' in its rejection of bicycle markings on Westwood Boulevard is simply unfounded.
Swerv: My wife and I live a couple of blocks northeast of Santa Monica and Westwood. She was getting physical therapy in Culver City twice a week, and her therapist recommended that she ride her bike there as part of it. The sheer level of harassment from motorists - close passes, honking, yelling - it makes me feel like the bike lanes are not for people riding bikes, it's that people driving on Westwood have forgotten how to act like civilized people.
The speed limit south of Santa Monica is 30mph, I believe, but people routinely drive at 45+. Trying to cross in the crosswalk at Missouri and Westwood is an exercise in terror. I contacted Paul Koretz about this on a couple of occasions but have only ever received a response from one of his staff who recently responded back saying that bike lanes are off the table because it might slow down traffic. It seems to me like that might be a good thing for a road that many people treat like a freeway.
When the Expo Line station at Westwood is finished, I'd love for my wife and I to feel safe biking to it. It's barely a mile away, four minutes or so by bike, and a great way to reach the rest of the city. But unless we're ready to start enforcing the law against drivers that try to bully anyone that might make them change lanes, we need to put in some sort of infrastructure to help. I consider myself and my wife to be pretty confident cyclists, but Westwood is a pretty harrowing experience as it stands now.
(Anon) Bike lane on Westwood will reduce traffic and increase commuters safety
(Anon) Thank you for this work. Unfortunately, a few people have shrilly spoken for all of WW So of SM against bike lanes. They are a needed addition to improving the livability and safety of our neighborhood
SNS: Genuine protection for cyclists is WAY overdue on Westwood Blvd, which is one of the most dangerous stretches to ride a bike in LA. Solutions are on the table and should be implemented now, especially with Expo on the way. How many people have to be hurt or killed before this gets fixed?
Patrick: It is time to take back the West side from single occupancy automobiles and assert the freedom of all westsiders to safely move about the city without a car. Why do people who say they hate traffic resist attempts to make it safe to travel without a car?
lp: I find the options confusing, i.e., shutting lanes, removing parking at certain hours, etc. It would be great if we could try out a few different options to see which worked best, rather than arguing forever about what the impact might be. Bike lanes are a good thing, but why do we have to guess at the impact on traffic, which is already terrible? Let's have probationary periods for a few options.
(Anon) Absolute idiocy. Bike lanes in gridlocked Westwood? Take away a traffic lane? Moronic!
Synch traffic lights, ban left turns instead.
(Anon) Westwood Blvd is so dangerous with all the buses on it. Bike lanes could not be safe with the buses moving in and out of them. Bike lanes up Veteran, Gayley or Hilgard would be better.
(Anon) Although I support bike lanes, Westwood between Santa Monica Blvd & Pico Blvd is too dangerous for bicyclists. The street is to narrow and with the aggressiveness of drivers I fear many accidents will happen. I try to avoid this stretch of road because it is very stressful to drive at rush hour.
Asi: Bike lanes on busy commercial streets are dangerous for everyone. Bikers should use quiet residential streets which are safe and certainly more inviting to ride in.
(Anon) Proponents of bike lanes on Westwood Blvd have not demonstrated how bike lane traffic at intersections can be accommodated without unacceptable impacts on heavy bus traffic on the street.
(Anon) Yes please!!!
Comments from respondents who indicated they lived outside the area of the Westwood Neighborhood Council
I commute daily by bicycle on Westwood Blvd, and it is the most dangerous part of my commute. Drivers swerve across my path all the time, without signalling or looking. I witnessed a cyclist get hit in an accident that was entirely the driver's fault. It is a very busy street, and drivers need it made very obvious that there are cyclists, and they must pay attention to them. Westwood Blvd. DESPERATELY needs a dedicated, consistent bike lane.
Brittney: Thank you for your pursuit of bike lanes in Westwood! I manage a family business in Westwood and think bike lanes are a promising element of the revival in Westwood Village!
I would love to have these bike lanes! If I had a dollar for every time a driver nearly hit me, I'd pay for the lanes myself. This is a simple thing that doesn't cost much and could make so many people safer.
Streets should be safe for all users. Period.
There are very few long north-south corridors available to cyclists on the West side, and in Los Angeles more generally. The Westwood route is a quick, direct, easy way to get from Santa Monica/Westwood all the way to Culver City without waiting at any lights. No analogous route exists elsewhere, while there are multiple alternatives for cars to use.
I regularly bike down Westwood Blvd to commute to work, and after a couple of near accidents I have started to bike on the sidewalks, which creates inconvenience to pedestrians, and is also dangerous for cars coming in and out of alleyways. In fact, the commute becomes extremely stressful this way. Having bike lanes all down Westwood would make a substantial change in road safety, and would produce a more inclusive space on city streets.
Westwood Blvd is for all of LA. Not just the wealthy that can afford to live there.
I am one of thousands of students that commutes to UCLA on a bicycle. The hills surrounding the campus make Westwood Boulevard the path of least resistance, especially north of Wilshire. Bicyclists will be safer with bicycle lanes on Westwood Blvd.
Within the last two days I've cycled through the Westwood blvd area and I was always hit head on by a motorist making a left turn into oncoming traffic. Luckily he stopped in time and I swerved out of the way. If there was a bike lane maybe he would have been more aware of cyclist in the area.
I've been hit by one car on Veteran Blvd and struck by a door swung open on Westwood while commuting from my home in Westwood south of Santa Monica to work at UCLA. I prefer traveling by bike, but the way the roads today are organized is clearly dangerous for bikes.
Parking and traffic in Westwood is difficult. Bikes are an easy way for people who live, work and shop in the Westwood Village area to commute and park without much difficulty. Let's encourage people to be active, healthy and have fun.
We need to move beyond the thinking of the past that designs streets just for cars at rush hour. We need to design for all users and for safety. Westwood for all!
