Fountain Avenue’s streetscape could change significantly under the plans. (photo by Rance Collins)

The West Hollywood City Council narrowly accepted an $8.2 million grant from the Sustainable Transportation and Equity Program on Sept. 16 that will contribute to a streetscape redesign of Fountain Avenue. STEP grants come from the California Air Resources Board, and are specified for pedestrian, bicycle, roadway safety and transit electric fleet and service improvements.

The 3-2 vote followed an hours-long discussion and public comment period over the grant’s language on bike lanes.

“We must do all that we can to invest in transportation and infrastructure around the city,” Mayor John Erickson said. “Our roads and sidewalks are out of compliance and this street, along with so many others, is due for improvements that improve the lives of everyone.”

Last year, the council first approved Fountain Avenue’s streetscape plan, and a pilot program was later approved. A permanent bike lane, however, has not come before the council. Councilwoman Lauren Meister had initially brought the language of the grant, which specified its use for bike lanes on Fountain Avenue, to the council’s attention. She said she did not believe the city should accept money for something that hasn’t been approved.

“I looked back at the meeting from Aug, 21, 2023, and what we voted for was a streetscape project that would include studying Fountain and gathering community input to come up with a design that makes sense,” Meister said. “Staff has not done their due diligence on this front. The community feels deceived as do I.”

A six-person Fountain Avenue streetscape steering committee has been formed to help guide the project. The committee is tasked with helping formulate plans for the future of Fountain Avenue’s appearance. The makeup of that group came under scrutiny during the meeting, with Meister alleging a pro-bike slant of body. An additional three members were approved, along with the grant.

Twenty-three members on both sides of the issue appeared at the meeting. Those against bike lanes on the street pointed out the potential for major traffic congestion if Fountain Avenue is reduced to two car lanes to accommodate protected bike lanes.

“I’m very concerned about the loss of two traffic lanes on Fountain,” resident Slade Lin said. “I do all my errands that I can on my bike, and I have to drive my car a lot, too, because a bike can only fit so much and [I] have to go different places that are beyond West Hollywood. Fountain has at night two lanes designated to parking. Where would all of the people in various apartments who don’t have parking [go], when we know all of those streets are already filled up?”

Others felt that it was unrealistic to reimagine West Hollywood as a bike-powered city.

“If proper traffic studies were done, and especially during peak traffic hours, you would be hard pressed to find even one cyclist during this period. Taking away car lanes to accommodate perhaps a rider or two is insane. Creating a bike lane is not going to encourage any more riders, either.”

Vice Mayor Chelsea Byers disagreed.

“This isn’t for everyone, for sure, just like driving isn’t for everyone. Not everyone is able to,” Byers said. “We’re all trying to find and create more opportunities for everyone to get around our community safely … The constraints we have in our built environment, is why Fountain specifically becomes such an incredible opportunity for this broad transformation.”

Some pointed out how the grant also helps provide for other city improvement projects.

“I want to thank staff for all their work in obtaining this highly competitive grant. They’re not easy to get … These monies will go to support a wide variety of projects, including Vision Zero, which aims to reduce injuries and fatalities in West Hollywood streets, bicycle lanes, electric vehicle transit and other transit projects,” West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition member Kevin Burton said. “We would like point out that the delay that has occurred since the passage of the 2017 bicycle and pedestrian mobility plan in installing bicycle lanes has partly been blamed on a lack of funding. There are eight different bicycle lanes on eight different streets proposed, about five miles worth, and in the past seven years only one-half of one block has been installed, so this funding will partly overcome that roadblock. Once we have a continuous, connected network of protective bike lanes throughout the city, many more bicyclists than you see now will be on our streets.”

“Change is hard, but change is constant and necessary,” resident Brianna Kaufman said. “While car deaths rival gun deaths in number nationally, we do nothing to bring the danger of our roads into the national conversation. [The redesign] will make our roads slower, safer and encourage different kinds of transit … Cities like Seattle are making these changes and have demonstrated that bike lanes do not cause delays.”

“The Fountain Avenue bike lane plan continues to be incomplete and ill conceived,” Councilman John Heilman said. “The proponents have not identified where existing vehicular traffic is going to go, nor have they explained what happens to the bike lanes when Fountain ends at La Cienega. Will they next try to reduce La Cienega to one lane in each direction? In addition, the proponents haven’t offered any realistic plan for residents who are dependent on Fountain for street parking. It appears that the supporters of this plan will ignore the needs of these residents in the same way they are ignoring the parking needs of the residents on Gardner. Even some cyclists recognize that the current proposal is half-baked. If we are going to put in bike lanes, we should make sure we address the legitimate concerns of our residents and businesses.”

It will take years to finalize and implement the Fountain Avenue plans.

“In totality, we are probably a couple years away from presenting a final plan,” West Hollywood long range planning manager Francisco Contreras said. “That includes a lot of engagement with the steering committee and review of the concept plans with the community for feedback.”

“Some of the critical steps for the year ahead will be to take those concept plans back out, get as much community input as we can before bringing a recommendation to this body from staff about whether to move forward with the project or whether to move forward with perhaps a modified project,” West Hollywood director of community development Nicholas Maricich said.

The grant, however, is a step toward something, perhaps dramatically, new.

“I’m thankful to everyone that came out to express their opinion and there is still plenty of time to ensure that community is directly involved with this project, and more to come, that make our city more walkable and safer for all,” Erickson said.