Bus/Bike Brief Updates: Third Street, Griffith Park, Sepulveda Blvd, Venice Blvd

A few short updates on coming bus and bike lane projects:

Protected bikeway coming to Third Street in downtown L.A.

This month, the L.A. City Transportation Department (LADOT) will install a half-mile of protected bike lane one-way westbound on Third Street, from Alameda Street to Main Street in the Little Tokyo and Arts District neighborhoods.

The facility includes a quarter mile of new protected bike lane, and upgrades a quarter mile of existing unprotected lane. It will close a gap in downtown L.A.'s bikeway network.

Twitter users have spotted some of the work underway on the one-block protected lane between Spring and Main Streets. To better connect to the new facility to the easts, this short stretch appears to be receiving an upgrade from one-way to two-way. (Which more or less acknowledges that cyclists already use it going both ways.)

More information on Third Street improvements at Urbanize.

More bike upgrades coming to Griffith Park

In a recent meeting, the Recreation and Parks Department (DRP) and L.A. Councilmember Nithya Raman presented proposed plans (presentation, boards) for Griffith Park safety upgrades. While they're not quite as visionary as what is called for, there are some decent upgrades proposed for the longer term. Will it take more deaths for Recreation and Parks to take Griffith Park cut-through traffic seriously?

In the short term, the park could add a stripe to an existing bike lane (on Zoo Drive west of Riverside Drive), do a road diet to just add buffers to existing bike lanes (potentially courting driver backlash, while offering no real improvements to cyclists - what could go wrong?), and add speed bumps.

In the medium term, the park could add new hilly unprotected bike lanes or protected bikeway.

In the long term, the park could finally add some all-ages protected bikeway in some flatter parts of the park.

Take CD4's survey regarding Griffith Park improvements. See also Streets for All's Griffith Park alert.

Bus lanes coming to Sepulveda Boulevard

Metro posted a graphic showing planned bus priority lanes on about five miles worth of Sepulveda through the middle of the San Fernando Valley.

Twitter's Metro watcher @numble shared the image, then Metro promptly deleted its project page. It is unclear what is happening with the project. Hopefully Metro will reveal more information soon.

Neighborhood Councils propose delaying Venice Boulevard bus lanes and bike lane upgrades

Streets for All is urging bus and bike supporters to show up to Neighborhood Council meetings tonight and tomorrow - to support the planned Venice Boulevard safety and mobility improvements. Per Streets for All Venice Boulevard alert: