From the Baily Bruin,
Letter to the Editor: Addition of bike lanes would harm Westwood traffic, community
Your recent editorial on bicycle lanes on Westwood Boulevard trivializes the Westwood Neighborhood Council’s concerns about the safety of bicyclists and adverse impacts resulting from such lanes.
The WWNC knows the statistic regarding bicycle collisions with the implementation of bicycle lanes. Westwood Boulevard’s traffic makes it a dangerous place for bicyclists. Bicycle lane markings will not alter that fact. Many cyclists avoid cycling on this street, being more realistic than proponents who feel protected by paint. Protected lanes interfere with the necessity to load and unload bus passengers at curbside, and bicyclists would need to go around buses which are loading and unloading, placing them between a stopped bus and moving vehicles.
You refer to prolonged traffic delays as a “temporary inconvenience.” Adding bicycle lanes necessitates modification of traffic signal timing and the narrowing, or loss, of traffic lanes, causing ongoing traffic slowing, which Ryan Snyder, developer of the “Remove Nothing Plan” for bikeways on Westwood, has acknowledged. Slowing would affect Village traffic, traffic from Beverly Hills to Brentwood and increase the production of greenhouse gases.
Westwood Village’s economic viability is marginal, and the statement that “concerns about parking are overblown” is seriously out of touch with reality. The WWNC believes that its position on bicycle lanes is appropriate, reflecting the best interests of its constituents. Bicycle lanes on Westwood Boulevard would be detrimental to Westwood and areas beyond.
Dr. Jerry Brown
President,
Westwood Neighborhood Council
The Westwood Neighborhood Council adamantly opposes the construction or
implementation of ANY new bike lanes on Westwood Blvd. or Sepulveda Blvd.
between Exposition and LeConte (on Westwood) or Church Lane (on Sepulveda)
if it will result in the removal of any traffic lanes or the loss of parking. We believe
that the impact of such lanes on traffic, residents, and businesses will be extremely
detrimental. Furthermore, we believe that these lanes would not provide adequate
safety for bicycles due to the tremendous volume of vehicles, including significant
bus traffic, that use these thoroughfares. We support the desire to locate and
designate safe north/south bicycle routes in Westwood but request that these two
streets no longer be considered. We strongly urge Councilmember Koretz and his
office to actively promote this opinion.
implementation of ANY new bike lanes on Westwood Blvd. or Sepulveda Blvd.
between Exposition and LeConte (on Westwood) or Church Lane (on Sepulveda)
if it will result in the removal of any traffic lanes or the loss of parking. We believe
that the impact of such lanes on traffic, residents, and businesses will be extremely
detrimental. Furthermore, we believe that these lanes would not provide adequate
safety for bicycles due to the tremendous volume of vehicles, including significant
bus traffic, that use these thoroughfares. We support the desire to locate and
designate safe north/south bicycle routes in Westwood but request that these two
streets no longer be considered. We strongly urge Councilmember Koretz and his
office to actively promote this opinion.
Minutes, Westwood Neighborhood Council, Feb 12, 2014, Motion by Dean Abell, seconded by Lisa Chapman
From: "Chapman, Lisa" <LChapman@mednet.ucla.edu> To: "'Dr Michael Cahn'" <velocipedus@gmail.com>, <LChapman@wwnc.org> Subject: RE: UCLA Vice Chancellor and Dean of Medical School speaks out for more bikes & Bicycle Lanes in Westwood (Huffington Post) Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 16:27:23
Our council has already taken a stance, and voted on a motion regarding bicycle lanes in Westwood. This is well documented on our website and in numerous Daily Bruin articles and interviews.
We, as a council, are IN FAVOR of bicycle lanes in Westwood, we are just not in favor of them ON Westwood Blvd itself. There are parallel and adjacent streets next to WW Blvd. that we feel would be much more suitable, and more importantly SAFER for both bicyclists and car/bus traffic. We have requested that the city look into detail on these alternate routes for bicycle lanes. Our objective has always been to look at the broader picture, taking into account car traffic, size of streets, bus traffic, congestion, parking, impact to businesses, and increased bicycle ridership.
