In an effort to deal with the city’s traffic congestion, the West Hollywood City Council last night agreed to study various systems for synchronizing traffic.
The traffic synchronization study, proposed by Councilmember Lauren Meister, would involve looking at systems currently in place in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills.
When it comes to managing traffic, an issue for West Hollywood is the fact that much of it comes from those crossing through the city to other destinations, primarily along east/west corridors such as Sunset Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard and Melrose Avenue.
In a memo to the Council, Meister notes that many of the 60 intersections in WeHo that have traffic lights are part of a system where the lights are synchronized. That means someone driving at a certain rate of speed could expect to find consistent green lights or consistent red lights while traveling down Santa Monica Boulevard. But those lights are not connected to a system such as that used in Los Angeles, where sensors in the street detect the passage of cars and their speed and the level of congestion. That real-time information is used to change the timing of stop lights to improve traffic flow. The system has been shown to reduce travel times by 12 percent and increase speeds by 16 percent, Meister said.
Meister recommended that the city engage an outside consultant to study various technologies that might be implemented to improve traffic flow.
Why is she proposing a backwards plan? Congestion only happens during rush hour. Any other times, traffic is just fine. Synchronizing the lights will just encourage more ‘pass through’ traffic that will not bring money into the city. They will, well, pass through. This will also encourage speeding, like the ones seen on Fountain Ave and create even more hazards to people who walk(which is most of us) and other road users.
Why not start investigating this? No traffic studies There are 4 illegal developments planned on Kings Road between SMB and Waring. They must all be stopped. The city is letting developers ignore the law and skip environmental and traffic studies. Please like facebook STOP826Apartments Save our street/village. Please. 8350 Santa Monica (corner Kings/SMB): 4 story with 48 condos planned. 1028 and 1030 N. Kings just bought by developers (Next to Gelsons): Do not tear down these trees, lose people’s views, increase traffic/delivery trucks; add to noise and congestion, etc. NO MC MANSIONS. No buildings over 2 stories on this street!… Read more »
You guys suggesting the removal of crosswalks or new overpasses are living in a fantasy world. WeHo is only going to get *more* pedestrian friendly, not less. The reality is that WeHo is a dense, highly desirable area. Traffic congestion is a symptom of high desirability. The best thing the city can do is add *more* crosswalks and wider sidewalks and bike lanes so people actually have an alternative to sitting in traffic (which will always exist, crosswalks or not). In terms of signal timing, I suggest the city look at timing lights for 25 mph traffic, and posting signs… Read more »
I suggest getting rid of all the marked cross-walks that are so close to intersections with stop lights. Specifically, East of SMB by King Pao Bistro. All of the ones on SMB between La Cienega and Robertson Blvd.
PLEASE put a “Stop Light” at Westbourne (?) and Santa Monica !! (Starbucks and Trader Joe’s on the north and 24 Hour Fitness + on the south). “Stop Lights” like on Fairfax by Canter’s or on Rodeo and adjacent streets in Beverly Hills. People are CONSTANTLY walking across SMB at this location and it seriously impedes vehicular traffic.
Thank you Lauren, this is a LONG time coming! I would also hope that any traffic study include look at the total picture of our transportation infrastructure. I know it comes under the category of a pipe-dream, but there is already an incline n of Santa Monica and La Cienega, it would reduce 50% of our traffic if we built an overpass for n/s traffic that didn’t need to stop at Santa Monica. Do we really need two crosswalks between Westbourne and La Cienega? It would also be helpful if there was better coordination along San Vicente south of WeHo,… Read more »