Pico del Mar Neighborhood Association

Update on Olympic West - Pico East (LA Beat Article by H.I. Win)

Traffic Talks ... Critics of Olympic-Pico Plan crowd City Hall

"I'm here to oppose the Pico/Olympic traffic plan because I think it's going to affect business big time," said Suzee Markowitz before the start of Los Angeles City Council's Transportation Committee meeting at City Hall. "Nobody's going to want to visit any business on Olympic or Pico boulevards."
Close to 30 people representing businesses, homeowners associations, neighborhood councils, and chambers of commerce expressed their indignation over the traffic proposal that aims to ease congestion on Olympic and Pico boulevards while keeping them two-way streets. It delineates three steps as part of a phased approach to improve the traffic flowing to and from Los Angeles and Santa Monica.
The proposal would first end parking on Pico and Olympic boulevards during rush hour and make peak-period parking restrictions consistent; then coordinate the traffic signals so they maximize flow going west on Olympic and east on Pico; and finally change the lanes so the preferred direction has four lanes while the other direction has two.
The third step, which would cost about $1.5 million, would not happen until the first two prove to be successful, according to John Fisher of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.
Villaraigosa unveiled the proposal at a press conference November 26, and his deputy mayor said at Monday's meeting that the mayor
recognized that businesses will be affected, but the proposal
represents a "balanced approach" that can be abandoned if it is not
successful. "We can reverse this at virtually no cost," he said.
Community members who addressed the committee criticized the plan for its potential damage to businesses along Pico. "If this would happen, my business would close down," said one Pico business owner during the public hearing. "Please don't kill us."
Many business owners said the plan would destroy the revitalization that is currently underway and has drawn new boutiques, restaurants, and coffee shops along Pico.
"It impacts us more than anyone else because you're taking away the street parking and ruining the business that is part of the economic revitalization" of the Pico area, said Andrew Westall, senior deputy in Councilmember Herb Wesson's office. He said - to great applause from the audience - that the plan should be amended so the project does not go east of La Cienega Boulevard. It now reaches La Brea Avenue.
One of the biggest criticisms of the proposal was that business owners and homeowners associations were not involved in the creation of the plan. Jay Handal of the West LA Neighborhood Council and president of the West L.A. Chamber of Commerce said he represents 1,300 businesses, which were all left out of the planning process.
"Insulted - that's how we feel," he said. "We heard nothing. We were included in nothing."
Jay Hyman, the president of the Century City Homeowners Alliance, echoed those remarks and suggested the plan be tabled for a month or longer to allow for more community meetings and involvement.
Councilmember Wendy Greuel, who chaired the meeting, and other
Politicians, responded to the criticisms by maintaining that the
committee has sought public comments in the past concerning traffic
proposals and had organized the meeting Monday to hear from the
community. There will be another meeting in January open to the
public, Greuel said.
"This is not the end of the dialogue - it is part of a continuing dialogue," said Paul Backstrom, representing the office of
Councilmember Jack Weiss, who supports the proposal.
(end of article)

How you can help

As with the previous proposal by Zev Yaroslavsky, "Olympic/Pico One-way Pair", we encourage our
neighbors, business owners, and neighborhood associations to write to Councilmembers, Herb Wesson, Jr. (CD10) and Jack Weiss (CD5), and to Wendy Greuel, Chair of the Transportation Committee, letting them know what
you think of this new initiative! Address your comments to each Councilmember as listed below. Please reference the following in your correspondence: Council File 07-1199, Olympic-Pico One-Way Proposal / Olympic West - Pico East Initiative

Addresses to use are:

Honorable Wendy Greuel
Councilmember, 2nd District
Chair, Transportation Committee
200 N. Spring St., Room 475
Los Angeles, CA 90012


Honorable Jack Weiss
Councilmember, 5th District
200 N. Spring Street, Room 440
Los Angeles 90012
Phone (213) 473-7005
Fax (213) 978-2250
E-Mail councilmember.weiss@lacity.org

Honorable Herb Wesson, Jr.
Councilmember, 10th District
200 North Spring Street, Room 430
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 473-7010
Fax (213) 485-9829

Please copy your letters to P.I.C.O. Neighborhood Council, as they
will be included as part of our formal response as well:

PICO Neighborhood Council
P.O. Box 351506
Los Angeles, CA 90035-1506

Thank you for being an active participant in your community!

Sign Petition

An electronic version of the petition is listed on our website under Community Link, titled: Olympic West - Pico East Initiative petition. You can read the initiative on our website under Community Pages, titled, The Mayor's Initiative ...