L.A. Climate Directive Update: Removing Bike Lanes, Bike Path Connection

As feared, the mayor’s Directive on Climate Change is off to a poor start.

Over the weekend Rabi Abonour posted on Twitter that the Jefferson Blvd. bike lanes have been removed. An LED sign at the removal site says that the current configuration will be in place until February 2021, a victim of a sewer reconstruction project on Cochran Road. The Jefferson Blvd. bike lanes are were critical connections between Jefferson and the Expo Bike Path.

The bike lane closure is in place along between La Cienega and just east of Hauser Blvd.

To quote Abonour, “This is the only connection between the Expo Bike Path and Exposition Boulevard. It was already bad, but it’s now an actual death trap.” Read his full thread, including video of the new configuration, here.

Last week, mayor Eric Garcetti pulled his “document signing desk” out of the closet for another press event in the beautiful Los Angeles weather. He rolled out an impressive list of changes in a “Climate Directive” that would transition the city to clean energy, reduce car-dependency and focus on other ways to create a cleaner, climate-friendlier Los Angeles. As usual, he received accolades for his list of studies and promises.

At Streetsblog, I was somewhat more skeptical. Later in the week, I outlined a list of things Garcetti could do right now – not after various city departments have written reports – to show he was serious about reducing car dependency. At the time, I didn’t think we would have to worry about the city actually moving backwards on bicycle infrastructure.

But here we are. Eight days into a “Decade of Action” on climate change, the state of Los Angeles’ bike infrastructure is actually worse than it was last week.