By Bill Hendrickson
StreetsLA held the first of two briefings on Sunday on the planned $16 million makeover of Eagle Rock Boulevard that is to take place from now to completion in 2025.
About 40 Eagle Rockers attended the Zoom meeting on the project, dubbed “Rock the Blvd.” While many of the safety and beautification objectives of the project are similar to those put forth in 2018, when “Rock the Blvd.” was launched, one of the StreetsLA design proposals took attendees by surprise. Under the proposal, StreetsLA suggested the possibility of reconfiguring the median on Eagle Rock Blvd. to transform it into bike lanes from Colorado Blvd. to York Blvd.
Median running bike lanes would allow for two lanes of traffic each way on Eagle Rock Blvd. and preserve curbside parking.
Ana Tabuena-Ruddy, the StreetsLA project manager for Rock the Blvd., polled the attendees on whether they would prefer median-running bike lanes or side-running bike lanes: 71% of attendees who voted preferred the median-running option.
Attendees were also polled about goals for the project. Safety took first place on the multiple choice “Goals” question. Another popular goal was to landscape the boulevard with a mix of drought-tolerant and native plants.
Among the safety features discussed were better street lighting, improved pedestrian crossing points, elimination of left-hand or U-turns where there are no traffic lights. Proposals to improve the use of the boulevard included installing comfortable places along the boulevard to have a comfortable seat.
There’s another chance coming up this week to have a say on the changes coming to Eagle Rock Blvd. On Thursday, Dec. 9 at 5:30 p.m., StreetsLA will hold its second virtual community meeting on Rock the Blvd. The meeting will be on zoom and can also be joined by phone (US: +1 669 900 6833, Webinar ID: 861 9508 4071).
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Bill Hendrickson, MBA, publisher of the Boulevard Sentinel, has extensive small business management, marketing and sales experience in corporate finance and real estate development and plays a not terrible game of golf.
I was disappointed with this presentation. The loss of parking would dramatically impact businesses and the surrounding neighborhoods. The meeting spent more time on the bike lanes and little on sidewalk and crosswalk improvements, which are currently in a state of disrepair. Orginally, we were told this project will dramatically improved ER Blvd but it sounding like it will only improve a few things but take more things away from us. I hope ER Blvd businesses are aware of the plans.
Let’s face it, ER residents do not use the existing bike lanes. They are lightly used on Colorado. York blvd. and elsewhere in NELA. Continually beating the bike lane drum and making it more difficult for residents to take care of their daily business is not ok. What are the statistics for bike lane use in our community? Do they replace car trips or are they mostly used for weekend recreation?
Hi,
A bike is my primary form of transportation around Eagle Rock. I’m constantly biking to Colorado to pick up food or run errands. I tend not to ride on Eagle Rock and Colorado because cars travel so fast, often well over the speed limit. On top of that, the bike lanes are unprotected and in the “door zone” of parked cars. I instead tend to ride on side streets. It takes more time and is often very difficult due to the hills. I can’t wait to get protected bike lanes on Eagle Rock!
Additionally, if they really want to improve the boulevard…. bury the power lines and remove those unsightly utility poles. Utility poles and power lines really destroy the aesthetic.
Eagle arts is absolutely correct! A lot of Eagle Rockers are getting tired of this bike lane fantasy. Sorry to say this but we are mostly a commuter based community not some sleepy college town based in the mid west!
Not to mention many of our residential neighborhoods are in quite steep, hilly areas.
there are bike lanes now, theres no need to remove 165 parking spots on eagle rock blvd. its just another road diet from TERA bike activists.
The should plant more trees, clean up trash and put better lighting, support the businesses that are there, dont kill small businesses.
there are bike lanes now, theres no need to remove 165 parking spots on eagle rock blvd. its just another road diet from TERA bike activists.
The should plant more trees, clean up trash and put better lighting, support the businesses that are there, dont kill small businesses.
It is funny how TERA is mentioned as part of the road diet. I agree that this organization has become not what it used to be and hijacked by most things Eagle Rock is not. They sit on the fence on a lot of issues or go progressive on issues that do not support our businesses or residents. They pretty much just mimic the ERNC. I used to be a member but left when I saw how detached and uninvolved they were with our actual residents and businesses. Sorry for the rant but I hear there is an old organization in town that is slowly coming back to life and bringing some things back that TERA long walked away from.