If you ride a bus or face them in traffic while driving, you’ll have three chances this month to have a say about a plan that could seriously change how they move on La Cienega Boulevard — one of WeHo’s most congested passages.
We need not tell most reading this, La Cienega is a mess. Anyone who’s tried to get anywhere between Beverly Boulevard and Wilshire during rush hour knows it. The buses sit in the same traffic as everyone else.
A regional planning coalition wants to change that; West Hollywood residents have three chances this month to say how.
It’s a community meeting open to all sponsored by The Westside Cities Council of Governments. They’re holding a new round of workshops for its Westside Bus Connection project, a quick-build initiative aimed at speeding up bus service on La Cienega Boulevard from West Hollywood south to Westchester, along with stretches of Santa Monica Boulevard west of Beverly Hills and Sepulveda Boulevard between UCLA and LAX.
The City is seriously urging residents and stakeholders to attend. Once again, they’re offering folks a chance to have a meaningful say. You’ll have three opportunities, one is a Zoom, so not really any excuse not to attend.
Three More Workshops This Month
Two in-person sessions and one virtual meeting are scheduled for June. There’s one this Thursday – June 4, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at La Cienega Community Center, 8400 Gregory Way in Beverly Hills. There’s another this Saturday, June 6, from 10 a.m. to noon at the West LA Civic Center, 1645 Corinth Avenue, Suite 101, in Los Angeles. And then one via Zoom next Wednesday, June 10, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. A registration link is available here.
Those who can’t make any of the sessions can fill out the project survey at the same address.
What’s The Plan
The workshops follow two earlier sessions held in West Hollywood and Culver City in March — one at the West Hollywood Aquatics and Recreation Center and one at the Culver City Senior Center.
Design options under consideration include dedicated bus lanes, peak-hour-only bus lanes, transit signal upgrades, curb and striping changes, pedestrian and cyclist safety improvements, and bus pad upgrades at select stops. Parking and travel lane changes are also on the table. Again, don’t dismiss this as something for bus riders only. This will impact everyone on the road and residents who live nearby.
For the La Cienega segment running through Beverly Hills, consultants have proposed either peak-hour lanes — running roughly 7 to 10 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. — or fully dedicated 24/7 bus lanes. Peak-hour lanes would convert existing rush-hour travel lanes to bus-only use. Dedicated lanes would go further, also eliminating off-peak on-street parking along the corridor.
The Bigger Picture
The WSCCOG wants construction-ready designs done by late 2026. That’s the window before the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics. Individual member cities still have to sign off before anything gets built.
Seven miles of continuous bus priority lanes could eventually run across the Westside if all three corridors move forward. Transit advocates say that kind of unbroken coverage is what makes buses worth taking over a car. The upgrades themselves are cheap by infrastructure standards. Paint. Signals. Striping. No major construction required.
What It Means for West Hollywood
La Cienega is an obvious focus for West Hollywood. It’s one of our main drags, running the length of the city’s eastern boundary. It also connects to the new Metro D Line’s Wilshire/La Cienega station in Beverly Hills. Improvements would give riders a faster surface link to that subway stop and points south. It could also help to mitigate traffic congestion.
Community feedback from the workshops will help shape design concepts before the project moves into a construction phase. Residents can sign up for project updates here. or reach the WSCCOG team here.
For City of West Hollywood information on the project, head over here. Questions can be directed to Senior Planner David Fenn at (323) 848-6336 or dfenn@weho.gov.
FFS just synchronize and time the lights to keep it all flowing.
WEHO would fix it with reduced lanes, bike lanes and no parking.
One of the best ways to improve congestion is traffic light timing measures. Simple solutions instead of lane reductions is what is needed. All major roads in West Hollywood are problematic
Can we also discuss a La Cienega beautification project as part of these improvements? Compared to Melrose / SMB where the city has invested in trees, landscaping, improved lighting and signage, La Cienega looks horrible despite having a plethora of high-end retail and restaurants.