The Beverly Hills City Council deliberated whether to implement angled parking or add bike lanes on Robertson Boulevard at its Nov. 19 study session.

The council considered the motion at the request of Mayor John Mirisch, who said he would like the boulevard to emulate Larchmont Village’s pedestrian-oriented configuration.

Within its stretch between Wilshire Boulevard and Whitworth Drive, Robertson Boulevard has 155 spaces of metered parallel parking spaces and two lanes in each direction. The corridor experiences high traffic volumes during peak hours.

Adding angled parking on the west side of Robertson Boulevard would provide up to 69 additional parking spaces, but would require a reduction in travel lanes to one lane in each direction.

While Councilman Julian Gold agreed that the project is important and the city needs more bike lanes and mobility paths, he wasn’t sure Robertson Boulevard was the solution.

“This may or may not come to be the best place for that,” Gold said.

A study conducted by Fehr & Peers, the city’s on-call traffic consultant, found that Robertson Boulevard traffic volumes exceed the capacity of a single travel lane in both directions for an urban area. Additionally, the study found that angled parking would increase congestion due to lane reductions and shift vehicles to parallel corridors.

City Councilman Robert Wunderlich suggested holding off for a more integrated approach.

“We shouldn’t do it piecemeal … but as part of what we’re launching into with the Complete Streets Plan,” Wunderlich said.

The Draft Complete Streets Plan was initiated in 2017 and focuses on repurposing existing roadways and streetscapes to offer more diverse mobility options and increase access, according to the plan’s outline.

Mirisch said that Robertson Boulevard could serve as a case study for the city to determine what works and then implement that process elsewhere.

“We want to all focus on Complete Streets, but it feels like we’re delaying something that could be an easy win,” Mirisch said.

Gold, Wunderlich, Councilwoman Lili Bosse and Vice Mayor Lester Friedman agreed that what happens on Robertson Boulevard will influence other streets, so it shouldn’t be done just by itself.

The next step for the council will be deciding whether to authorize Fehr & Peers to conduct a detailed traffic operational analysis of the Robertson Boulevard corridor, including a review of existing conditions, additional traffic counts, utilization of software modeling to analyze traffic operation and evaluating potential vehicle diversions and neighborhood intrusions.

The cost of a traffic operational analysis is approximately $45,000, according to city staff.

On Tuesday, Dec. 3, the Draft Complete Streets Plan will be presented to the public for review at a special meeting of the Traffic and Parking Commission in the Municipal Gallery at City Hall.

Beverly Hills City Hall is located at 455 N. Rexford Drive.