Harried bicycle riders and scared pedestrians trying to avoid terrifying traffic in downtown Los Angeles will be rescued with a new plan, but it may take a couple years.
Changes are coming to Main and Spring streets in Downtown Los Angeles, thanks to a $1.9 million plan to create safety barriers on streets for bicyclists and pedestrians, according to city officials.
Councilman Jose Huizar and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation Sunday announced “Main & Spring Forward,” a reconfiguration of the busy streets to create a barrier between bike lanes and vehicles and improve pedestrian crossings.
Illustrations on the website mainandspringfwd.com show that by this fall work could begin to create lanes with bicycle signals, dedicated left-turn pockets and less conflicts for buses.
Phase Two proposed for 2018 to 2019 will add concrete islands at intersections to protect pedestrians and concrete curbs to protect bicyclists.
The project covers Main Street from Cesar Chavez Avenue to Ninth Street, and Spring Street from First Street to Ninth Street, Huizar said.
“What’s great about these proposed street reconfigurations is they allow us to enhance safety by creating a barrier between our bike lanes and automobiles without reducing traffic lanes,” he said.
A virtual reality app can be downloaded to smartphones to show how the project will look. It is also at mainandspringfwd.com.
—City News Service