Mid-City Group Talks Traffic
With City Officials

Hannah Heineman

Mirror contributing writer

Traffic calming proposals slated for the Mid-City area were the subject of a community forum hosted by Mid-City Neighbors at their 18th annual convention Saturday, June 3.
Ron Fuchiwacki, who is the City Traffic Operations Manager, discussed the background leading up to many of the traffic calming measures that the City is implementing or proposing in the Mid-City area bounded by Wilshire Boulevard to the north, Colorado Boulevard to the south, Centinella to the east and west to 26th street.
Mid-City Neighbors and other concerned residents worked with the City about ten years ago to help develop traffic calming measures to respond to the increased traffic that the special office district, comprised of Water Garden, MGM Plaza and the Arboretum, would bring into the Mid-City area. Residents were primarily concerned with increased traffic on Colorado, Broadway and Arizona Avenues and cars traveling north and south on the college-named streets east of 26th Street.
Mike Brourman, a Mid-City Board member questioned Fugiwacki's characterization of the traffic plan "as the end of the Mid-City traffic calming plan" since the plan he presented does not "go west of 26th street." Brourman pointed out that "the traffic calming plan needs to be extended to other parts of the Mid-City area." Fugiwacki responded, "that naturally additional programs can developed west of 26th street in conjunction with City staff."
Linda Lancaster, also a Mid-City Board member, was concerned with the City's plans for Cloverfield Boulevard. Fuchiwacki stated "Cloverfield is being widened from two lanes in each direction to three lanes in each direction from the Santa Monica Freeway to Colorado Boulevard. In addition, the City is adding left turn lanes at various intersections along Cloverfield Boulevard and upgrading traffic signals." He stressed, "The developer paid a traffic mitigation fee to the City when the Water Garden and Arboretum projects were approved so no City general fund money is being used to make these traffic mitigation changes."
The City is also building curb extensions at 26th and Arizona and Yale and Arizona to slow traffic down on these residential streets. 
Landscaped medians will also be placed on Broadway and Colorado Boulevards. Galye Cooper, a resident of the Village Trailer Park, was concerned that the proposed median for Colorado Boulevard would affect curb parking near the park. Fugiwacki assured her that "parking would be unaffected." Work on the Broadway median has been delayed because the City is going to resurface the street first.
Ellen Gelbard, from the City Planning and Community Development Depart-ment, explained the process the City is using to enhance pedestrian crosswalks throughout the City. Since September, 1999, the City has been holding workshops at which residents can review and comment on proposed crosswalk enhancements. Community recommendations will then be presented to City Council for adoption and funding consideration.
The City is proposing that a "refuge island" be placed halfway across the pedestrian crosswalk on Wilshire since it is five lanes wide. 
The City plans to retain all of the uncontrolled pedestrian crosswalks on Wilshire in the Mid-City area, owing to pedestrian demand. All of these crosswalks will eventually be restripped.
The forum also included Stephanie Negriff, Manager of Transit Development and Intergovernmental Relations for the Big Blue Bus. The Big Blue Bus has expanded its service on 6 of its 13 lines 20% because of the booming City economy. Service improvements were made on April 2 based on recommendations from the community outreach program done back in 1997. A similar program is scheduled for next year. 
Residents complained that schedules posted at bus stops are out of date.