WEHOville.com Staff Report
UPDATE: Scheduled to close at 6pm, the street closure of Robertson Blvd. actually began at 4:30 pm leaving confused city staff racing to re-open the streets and then close again at 6:00 pm. Pre-printed signs had the wrong time on them. The Abbey began to move on to Robertson Blvd. before 6 pm and had to pull the plants back and begin anew at the 6pm hour. The traffic was bumper to bumper along Santa Monica Blvd and Melrose at both ends of the closure by mid-day.
West Hollywood’s shut down of Roberson Boulevard on weekends starts Saturday as the city tries to boost foot traffic to restaurants and stores to expand outdoor dining and attract more shoppers.
A stretch from North Robertson Boulevard, south of Santa Monica Boulevard and north of Melrose Avenue. will be closed to vehicle traffic every weekend between 6 p.m. Saturday and late Sunday night.
The plan is designed to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment. The closure will run every weekend from 6 p.m. Saturday through late-night Sunday. It’s unclear how long it will go for.
Only half of the street will be available for programming during these 32 hours since fire regulations require a lane for emergency vehicle access at all times.
The Robertson Boulevard block is already a hot spot for activity, lined with bars and restaurants and a busy hub for ride-hailing stops, the is already a hot spot for activity.
“If you step off the curb wrong, you could get hit by a car,” said Councilman John Erickson, a coauthor of the ordinance that brought about rhe street closure.
“Closing this highly trafficked and bustling stretch of Robertson will provide a pedestrian-safe space that allows for appropriate social distancing as the Public Health Department eases capacity restrictions while still monitoring the spread of the virus.”
Erickson is among those who hope the program will become a permanent fixture, believing it is imperative to develop safe spaces for a future with more bicyclists and pedestrians.
“It just is a perfect time to, I think, really re-envision not only what that street could look like, but how do we make it better for years to come?” Erickson said.
Some residents, though, have expressed concern about traffic spilling over into the quiet neighborhoods, taking street parking (despite it being a permit-only area after 7 p.m.) and leaving their trash on the street.
But city officials have assured there will be extra signage directing people to park in the parking deck adjacent to the West Hollywood Library. They would also put up more signs saying it was a permit-only zone and send parking enforcement into the areas more often to ticket people without a permit.
Assistant City Manager Oscar Delgado has promised city staff will work hard to assure the Robertson closure has minimal impact on the residents.
“We are doing everything we can to mitigate the impact to the community,” said Delgado. “Our goal is not to impact the residential community that we value so much.”
The city has been expanding commercial space during the COVID-19 pandemic with the “OUT Zones” program. More than 60 West Hollywood businesses have been approved for temporary outdoor expansion permits, according to city officials.
“The coronavirus pandemic has forced many of our local businesses to drastically alter how they serve the public,” Councilmember John D’Amico said in a statement. “This has had a profound impact on the City of West Hollywood’s business community and has added to the economic challenges wrought by COVID-19.”
It’s part of a city program called OUT which began during the height of the pandemic last August to give businesses the opportunity to obtain permits that allows them to expand outdoor dining and shopping onto sidewalks, parking spaces and private parking lots.
The city has been expanding commercial space during the COVID-19 pandemic with those “OUT Zones” program. More than 60 West Hollywood businesses have been approved for temporary outdoor expansion permits, according to city officials.
The areas included are marked with colorful signs that say “Dine OUT” for restaurants, “Shop OUT” for boutiques, and “Werk OUT” for exercise and personal care.
“Creating safe, socially distanced outdoor spaces for expanded operations is a creative approach,” said D’Amico, “that will help West Hollywood’s businesses, residents, and visitors as we continue to respond to the evolving pandemic.”
Below are phone numbers to report any issues:
Parking Enforcement:323-650-9912
Code Compliance:323-848-6516(leave a message)
City Council:[email protected]
Asst City Manager:Oscar Delgado[email protected]
When you think of all the time and money it takes to close off an entire street to benefit one business (the Abbey), it’s really appalling. The city had multiple parking/code enforcement personnel as well as a couple of sheriff deputies wasting their time standing guard over the closed street. A much better use of those resources would have been to have the deputies patrolling our neighborhood to keep it safe!
I checked this out over the weekend, and it was even better than I had expected! I hope the city makes this Robertson plaza permanent and opens up even more areas to pedestrians going forward.
People>cars
The one thing I notice about this city and LA County is that they do not invest in advertisement of these changes. Some knew this was coming and most didn’t. I knew it was coming I just didn’t know when it was happening until Saturday trying to go to the grocery store. It is just like with road construction, you get the sign right there on the spot to warn you with no lead up signage or greater public awareness. That is how accidents happen from sudden confusion. I think it is a great idea and traffic will find new… Read more »
I think this is a great idea, like what Santa Monica did, and similar to Old Town Pasadena. If it’s a permanent set up, this stretch could become a great destination, a good reason to invest the drive time it takes in SoCal. The more appealing the destination, the more time people are willing to invest in drive time.
No one lives across from the Third Street Prom.
That’s actually incorrect. There are apartments and condos along the promenade.
There are! And the pedestrianized area of Old Town Pasadena is adjacent to several apartment buildings as well.
What is this costing taxpayers? It looked like a lot of extra overtime this past weekend. Cannot be net positive.
I hope the city knows what it is doing with this street closure.No doubt traffic will be confusing as visitors will not know about the closure and try different ways to find parking.