Keep L.A. Moving Fails on Sweeping Anti-Road Diet Motion – Twice

The Manhattan Beach-based nonprofit Keep L.A. Moving has been pushing a pernicious anti-safety resolution in L.A.’s neighborhood council circles. So far, the motion has twice failed to be approved. Earlier this month, the L.A. Neighborhood Council Coalition put it off to be reconsidered in January. Last night the motion was voted down at the Rampart Village Neighborhood Council.

Keep L.A. Moving pushed the motion at the December 1 meeting of the L.A. Neighborhood Council Coalition. The LANCC is a somewhat unusual group that is neither a governmental body nor an incorporated nonprofit. Though it includes elected representatives from L.A. City’s neighborhood councils, it is a quasi-governmental body, not subject to open government laws like the Brown Act. Nonetheless, the LANCC tends to serve as a springboard for motions that disseminate out to various elected neighborhood councils.

Less than a full 24 hours before its December 1 meeting, on November 30, LANCC released its agenda, which included a KLAM motion that:

demands that the city […] remove all traffic calming measures, including but not limited to road diets, from: Current and former state highways; Designated emergency evacuation routes; Thoroughfares that qualify as “regionally significant streets or highways”; All thoroughfares that have seen an increase in accidents since July 2015; and All thoroughfares with two or more lanes of travel in both directions.

The LANCC meeting agenda also included a presentation from just one side of the issue – by Chris LeGras of KLAM, on “road diets and safety concerns for the public.”

The word got out to safety and mobility advocates, who submitted comments in writing and in person. After hearing input, the LANCC postponed the motion until its January meeting.

Last night a copycat motion was on the agenda for the Rampart Village Neighborhood Council. That motion was defeated on a 1-8 vote, though it was sent to the RVNC’s Public Safety, Housing & Transportation Committee for modifications, so it may return at a later date.

The RVNC unanimously endorsed a Mobility Bill of Rights that calls for supporting the safety of “pedestrians and cyclists” and emphasizes the multiple benefits of communities that “embrace the full range of transportation options.”

Interested readers should keep an eye out for the same KLAM motion popping up at your neighborhood council. One way to defeat these KLAM efforts is for mobility advocates to run for seats on local councils. NC elections will take place throughout 2019. For election details see the L.A. City Clerk website.