Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced a plan Monday to significantly expedite the flow of traffic for commuters in a citywide effort to improve the heavy traffic situation in Los Angeles.
The plan is to lengthen green lights in favor of drivers heading east on Pico Boulevard and west on Olympic Boulevard and eliminate delays caused by cross traffic and parking.
More than 100,000 drivers use Olympic and Pico boulevards every day, according to a press release from Villaraigosa’s office.
If implemented, the proposed three-part “Olympic-West Pico-East” plan is estimated to cost $2.1 million.
If successful, the plan, which was created jointly by Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, will act as a critical part of a citywide venture to areas heavily impacted by traffic.
When implemented, a three-step process will affect the seven-mile stretch between La Brea and Centinela avenues.
The first measures will involve restricting parking on both sides of Pico and Olympic boulevards during rush hour to maintain a consistent flow of traffic.
The next measure will be to reprogram traffic lights to lengthen the green light time for cars headed east on Pico Boulevard and west on Olympic Boulevard.
If the Department of Transportation finds the new policies to be effective, traffic lanes will be added in favor of Pico-east and Olympic-west boulevards, according to Villaraigosa’s office.
Though this will improve traffic conditions for commuters, residents will be forced to find alternative routes into residential areas because they will have fewer opportunities to turn left on surface streets.
Villaraigosa’s office said this endeavor has never been previously attempted in Los Angeles, but the two-day trials conducted by the Department of Transportation showed a 45 percent improvement on the flow of traffic.
Villaraigosa introduced this plan along with Beverly Hills Mayor Jimmy Delshad and City Councilmembers Jack Weiss and Bill Rosendahl.
The results from the data report released by the Department of Transportation trial runs at Pico and Olympic boulevards showed a 26 percent reduction in travel time during both the morning and evening peak traffic times. The plan will decrease commuter time while obeying speed limits.
Commuting students at UCLA are also affected by the plan.
“The drive down Pico is a major pain for students who have to take additional courses not available at UCLA at Santa Monica College,” said Henry Huynh, a fourth-year psychobiology student. “I’m glad something is being done to improve their situation.”
The impacted traffic situation in Los Angeles can also be attributed to the lack of places to make turns, said Eileen Jimenez, a second-year mathematics student.
“I work for UCLA Parking Services, and it’s already so complicated to give people directions. There are too many places where you can’t turn left, and it’s such a big inconvenience if you miss a turn because you waste so much time driving back around through traffic. I wish it were easier to drive around the city,” Jimenez said.
The conflicting views of local and commuting drivers will be settled by the evaluation of the plan’s results, said Jonathan Powell, a representative from the mayor’s office.
“The trial runs in October improved the travel times of commuters 30 to 40 percent, just by changing the length of green lights alone,” Powell said.
Powell said the plan will be implemented in January, and Pico and Olympic boulevards will be repainted only if further evaluation proves that they are needed.
“We’re going to see if it works, and we think it will,” Powell said.