Streets for All and a coalition of dozens of other community groups are hoping that the Los Angeles City Council will skip the long electoral process and instead approve the Healthy Streets L.A. outright at tomorrow's council meeting (see item 20).
Healthy Streets L.A. proponents are urging supporters to attend tomorrow's meeting and testify in support of the initiative. The council meeting starts at 10 a.m., and public comment can only be delivered in person. Find details at Streets for All's alert.
The need is clear. Back in 2015, the City Council approved the city's ambitious Mobility Plan 2035, chock full of bus lanes, protected bike lanes, pedestrian priority areas, the Vision Zero initiative, and more. Then, at the behest of much of the council and a mayor unwilling to upset a few drivers (lockstep with city departments that preferred to do things pretty much the way they've always done them), the city proceeded to let the plan sit on the shelf gathering dust. In the past seven years, the city has implemented about three percent of its approved plan. At this rate, the city should probably consider renaming its plan Mobility Plan 2250. Or perhaps Mobility Plan Never.
For seven years, L.A. multi-modal transportation languished. Buses got slower. Bikeway facility implementation tanked.
At the same time, transportation-related problems grew worse. Traffic fatalities worsened. The climate baked.
Now, Healthy Streets L.A. could take most of the politicking out of the implementation (currently more often the "not-implementation") process by requiring the city to add approved bus/bike/walk facilities every time city streets are repaved.
There's plenty of resistance among the council - that same council that has delayed implementation of the plan. There's even an alternative proposal working its way through the city's legislative process - kind of sort of almost like Healthy Streets L.A., but not quite as binding - with half a nod to equity - but a council-approved version would be easier to revoke than a ballot measure.
Streetsblog L.A. will be covering tomorrow's council vote. Tune in to SBLA Twitter to follow in real time.
