Fountain Avenue is primarily a four-lane road for now. (photo by Rance Collins)
Fountain Avenue may not have been on the agenda, but residents did not miss the opportunity to discuss the proposed streetscape redesign during the Nov. 18 City Council meeting.
“I just don’t know how we got here,” resident Cathy Blaivas said. “I really feel like community was left out, and I really hope that it doesn’t proceed much further without really, truly engaging the community.”
The Nov. 5 election saw Mayor John Erickson reelected and business license commissioner Danny Hang elected. Both candidates were staunch proponents of adding bike lanes on Fountain Avenue, as well as expanding the sidewalks and reducing the street to two lanes of traffic. Currently, Fountain Avenue is primarily four lanes, with sections reduced to two lanes in favor of street parking during certain hours of the day.
“There was such a huge fire the other day at Fountain and Highland that the fire department had to call for backup [from the West Hollywood Fire Department],” resident Mikie Friedman said. “Imagine how slow it would’ve been for fire responders if there had only been one lane in each direction.”
Vice Mayor Chelsea Byers, however, said she thinks the redesign would help with community safety.
“Street safety became a defining issue in the election and we saw how many new people in the community got engaged as a result,” Byers said. “We know the safety solutions we bring to Fountain need to include everyone. With the election behind us, we can get to work having the conversations needed to bring our community together and move us forward.”
“The votes in the election give the Fountain Avenue Streetscape project and protected bike lanes a mandate since opponents made that the hill they were willing to die on and they lost their campaigns to two candidates who were proud and loud supporters of protected bike lanes, better safety and ADA sidewalk improvements on Fountain,” Councilwoman Sepi Shyne said.
Councilman John Heilman, though, did not see Erickson and Hang’s electoral success as a mandate.
“I don’t think the election results indicate that people in the community support the decision to remove parking and reduce Fountain to one lane in both directions,” Heilman said. “The council majority’s half-baked scheme to alter Fountain still doesn’t make sense. No one is able to explain where residents along the street who have no parking are supposed to go. No one can explain where cyclists are supposed to go once they reach Fountain.”
To the west, Fountain Avenue ends at La Cienega Boulevard, a street with a steep incline that climbs up to Sunset Boulevard to the north and intersects with Santa Monica Boulevard to the south. Santa Monica Boulevard currently has bike lanes at its intersection with La Cienega Boulevard.
“No one can explain why we should spend millions of dollars on a plan that makes no sense,” Heilman continued. “Unfortunately, some people are so wedded to their position that they are unwilling to look at whether having a bike lane on Fountain makes any practical sense.”
A recent fatal collision at the intersection of Fountain and Spaulding avenues sparked further intense debate among residents over the future of Fountain Avenue. In October, opposing rallies were even led by City Council candidates on either side of the issue.
Mayor John Erickson said that, while some residents continue to make noise, the detractors do not represent the majority of the city.
“The individuals that came to speak last night are the same individuals, not new ones, that have been coming to speak and say things,” Erickson said. “In addition, these individuals live nowhere near Fountain Avenue. They actually have their own private driveways and single-family homes and have not been invested in making our streets safer. We have to holistically make our streets safer for everyone. And until we do that, we are not doing what we should be doing for our city residents and businesses, and that’s creating safer communities.”
4 Comments
Living right off fountain, needing to cross it multiple times on foot daily – I am excited to see it go on a long-overdue diet. There are constantly accidents and it is clear why: it has minimal traffic calming measures, the street size is changing all day (sometimes 2 lanes, sometimes 3, sometimes 4!), and the city is limited in speed enforcement options (can’t use speed cameras; can’t add more Sheriffs if they wanted).
Getting the majority commuter, non-local traffic off this local street will be a major QoL improvement; a couple years ago – a study the city commissioned showed that a strong majority (60%? I think maybe as high as 80%?) neither started nor ended in the city: these are cars that are only adding pollution to the neighborhood.
The election results are quite clear: candidates expressly for redesigning fountain ASAP for safety (Hang, Erickson) beat out very well the candidates that were either wishy-washy (Block) or staunchly in opposition (the rest).
To the commuters that are upset: you can try Sunset, Santa Monica (stop by a weho spot for snack en route!) Beverly, or the 10.
I live in this immediate area and the lack of community outreach and representation has been shameful. Regardless of how anyone feels about bike lanes, The simple fact of the matter is that the city council admittedly pushed this through while acknowledging that the residents hadn’t been informed (March WeHo council meeting). We begged for real outreach and have been largely ignored. None of my (many) Russian-speaking and mostly elderly neighbors have been at any of the barely publicized meetings and some members of council seem to be fine with this. We need to do better.
There is no doubt Fountain is in need of safety improvements. After a couple of tragic accidents we on the far eastside of Fountain were able to have pedestrian safety infrastructure installed that has improved safety. But that was not a holistic approach to West Hollywood’s entire length of Fountain. The current proposal to reduce Fountain to one lane in each direction will have a domino effect on traffic, creating gridlock through out the City. The fact that 60% or more of the trips on Fountain are generated from outside our City limits is irrelevant; those trips are not going away, they will just be diverted to Santa Monica or Sunset. I would remind folks that WeHo’s business economy could not survive without those folks who drive into our City to spend their cash. Unfortunately the dishonest “debate” over Fountain was hobbled by the lack of a City sponsored traffic study or any reports from first responders regarding the Design’s real world impacts. Clearly the City Council majority is afraid to do a traffic study because the science will undermine the plan. Why be confused by facts?
I start by inserting links from “Streets for All” endorsement for City Council nmominnies and their signed signatures without consulting Taxpayer residents!
1) https://www.streetsforall.org/2024-voter-guide
2) Questionnaires that both Danny Hang and John Ericson signed: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16FwMwYQjOE4jbw9Z1oOXLqo7ojU61Znn
I live near Fountain Ave.. I have been a resident of West Hollywood for 24 years. I am blessed to have my own parking spot at our garage. However, not many people do. We only have one parking spot per unit. If there are roommates or couples, they have to look for parking in the streets. There are also some buildings that don’t have parking garages and people depend on parking in the streets.
We can’t have more traffic and gridlock on Fountain. For safety reasons, they need to install red lights on every street and stop signs. That will be much cheaper than spending on bike lanes by Taxpayer money! Bike lanes will create gridlock and even more traffic! This will also affect the security for stopping cars to drop off pedestrians. Neither Disabled people ride bikes, nor senior citizens, people traveling to corporate offices, women during hight crime times, going out at night, kids and rebel teenagers. Los Angeles County was not designed for “15 Minute Cities” and bike lanes. It is dangerous to ride bikes at our major streets. There are accidents in every street in LA County. We the people at West Hollywood were not informed about bike lanes that are empty even in side streets. We heavily depend on cars. Even during emergency the bike lanes will hurt first responders.
As mentioned in this article John Erickson, Danny Hang, and Chelsey Byers are supporters of “Streets for All” and they are for slowly getting rid of cars. That is impossible for LA County that heavily depends on driving cars. We do need a safe and functioning subway. However, we know from NYC and Metro system in Los Aneles that we have to depend on policing and cops. As a woman, I am scared to use public transportation.
There aren’t enough bicycles at fountain or major streets. Side streets are safer for bicycle riders. However, there are many bikers that need to pass DMV tests. They don’t stop at stop signs, they just keep on riding. Bikers, cars drivers, scooter users, and even pedestrians need to take DMV lessons and pass tests. Bikers need to dress up with neon colors or something that has lighting on them. They also need to put on helmets. Bicycles also need to have some kind of lighting device for nights!