Eyes on the Street: New Two-Way Protected Lanes on Elenda in Culver City

Armadillos spotted on southern California streets! Culver City has nearly completed construction on a new two-way protected bikeway along Elenda Street.

The bikeway is part of Culver City's La Ballona Safe Routes To School Project. The safety upgrades are designed to facilitate students safely walking and bicycling to and from La Ballona Elementary School - located on the west side of Washington Boulevard at Elenda.

The new Elenda bikeway extends one-third of a mile from Washington to Culver Boulevard. Where Elenda ends in front of the school, the two-way bikeway turns north to run along Washington for about 125 feet to the intersection of Washington and Girard Avenue.

As many good safe routes projects do, the bikeway serves not only students, but all bicyclists using Elenda - as well people getting around the school's vicinity on foot. The facility placement on the north side of Elenda makes a lot of sense as that side of the street has no driveways, so cyclist-driver conflict is minimized.

The bikeway is protected by "armadillos" essentially a series of low speed-bumps bolted into the street.

It also features green pavement markings in conflict zones.

The southeast end of the bikeway features two rain garden median islands. There the bikeway connects to the existing Culver Boulevard median bike path. More properly, it will connect to that bikeway, which is currently partially closed for construction of the city's Culver Boulevard Realignment & Urban Stormwater Project. That project includes "installation of a new raised bikeway/pedestrian/landscaping median separating the eastbound and westbound lanes of traffic."

The La Ballona safe routes project also includes various pedestrian safety features along Washington, and on neighboring streets. According to Culver City Project Manager Gabe Garcia, the project features the city's first two HAWK signals, and the city's first raised crosswalk - on Matteson Avenue at College Avenue.

Garcia stated that the La Ballona project construction is expected to be completed in mid-October; the city is planning a ribbon-cutting event to take place soon after.