Addressing the Concerns of Local 4th Street Residents

Update: There has been some confusion regarding the draft concept treatments. Again, these images are concepts, only. To date, no design work has been completed as DOT continues the public outreach process. We have created a new draft concept for Highland/4th that we feel more clearly represents the intersection(s) at Rossmore and Highland. This new image highlights the signal head for the bicycle/pedestrian actuated signal on 4th Street. Regarding turn movements onto 4th St. from Highland or Rossmore; there will be no restriction on turn movements (right or left) onto 4th Street from either Highland or Rossmore. The only restrictions will be for through movements on 4th through Highland or Rossmore (motor-vehicles will be forced to make a right while bicycles and pedestrians are unrestricted).

A New Concept

Since Bicycle Friendly Street’s are a new concept for the City of Los Angeles, local residents may have some questions about the effects of various treatments. We here at the LADOT Bike Program are happy to address any questions and concerns that residents may have concerning the Bicycle Friendly Street pilot project. We encourage residents to attend local meetings, or if you can’t make those, feel free to leave us a comment on the blog and we will be sure to pass your concerns on to the appropriate staff. Below the fold we discuss the rationale for bike friendly treatments and present concepts for 4th/Highland and 4th/New Hampshire. Also, before we continue, just a friendly reminder that these concepts do not represent final designs and are merely intended to help visualize potential treatments.

Current conditions on 4th approaching Highland from the east via Google Maps

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Next Phase of 4th Street Transformation on the Horizon

Living blocks away from 4th Street biased me from Day One. I became even more attached to this priority project when I helped mark our second round of sharrows from Wilton Place to Cochran Avenue. Personal prejudices aside, this future bicycle boulevard (called a “Bicycle Friendly Street” in the LA Bike Plan) has remained at the forefront of bike plan implementation discussions for good reason – as one of the most direct, low volume connections across the City.

Bicyclists on 4th Street during last summer's Tour LaBonge

A Bicycle Friendly Street on 4th Street is one of the priority projects for the Bike Plan Implementation Team (BPIT) and has long been a dream of both the LACBC and CD 4 Council Member Tom LaBonge. To roll out the next phase of bicycle improvements for 4th Street, we here at the LADOT Bike Program have begun community outreach efforts to determine the most efficient use of available bicycle infrastructure funds. 4th Street already has sharrows for over 3 miles from Cochran Ave to Hoover St. It also has new bike-sensitive loop detectors which can pick up the wheel of a bicycle at each stoplight. If you’re unsure of where to place your bike to activate the signal, check out our previous post here.

4th Street Map – Existing Conditions

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