End in sight for Vista del Mar lane closures
A home on Highland Avenue in Manhattan Beach displays opposition to the recent lane closures on Vista del Mar.
After nearly two months of frustration from South Bay commuters, officials announced the imminent restoration of traffic lanes on Vista del Mar.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin announced Wednesday evening that an additional lane in each direction on the popular artery would be restored within three weeks. Traffic light changes at the intersection of Vista del Mar and Culver Boulevard, where rush hour traffic often backed up for several signal cycles, will be implemented as soon as this weekend.
The changes had sparked outcry from residents, who claimed that it added upwards of half an hour to commute times. Citizen groups like Open Streets LA filed appeals of the road reconfigurations with the Los Angeles City Council. And earlier this month, a Playa del Rey condo association filed a lawsuit, alleging among other things that the implementation of changes to streets in the area violated the California Environmental Quality Act.
Restoration of the lanes came about through collaboration between Bonin and that of Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who represents the South Bay. Renewed lanes on Vista del Mar will replace added parking spaces that had been installed on the street. Lifting the road closures was made possible after Hahn directed the county, which manages the beaches and parking lots immediately to the west of Vista del Mar, to provide “free or affordable parking” at the existing lot, according to a statement from Bonin’s office.
“I said that I was listening, and that I would eagerly embrace an alternative solution that met the requirements of improving safety and maintaining coastal access,” Bonin said. “Thanks to Janice Hahn, we have that alternative.”
Also involved in the discussions were Manhattan Beach officials including Mayor pro tem Amy Howorth and Councilmember Richard Montgomery, who eagerly greeted the lane restoration.
“We are grateful to Supervisor Hahn for her efforts and applaud Councilmember Bonin for addressing the concerns of the South Bay commuters. It takes a leader to listen to residents and reverse direction when policy doesn’t go as planned,” Howorth and Montgomery said in the statement issued by Bonin’s office.
The gratitude marks a significant change in tone from Manhattan officials, who had previously criticized Bonin and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation for not involving South Bay cities in the changes on Vista del Mar, and for not responding to outreach. The frustration had mounted to the point that the Manhattan Beach council had authorized City Attorney Quinn Barrow to initiate litigation against Los Angeles.
The lane closures on Vista del Mar were implemented at the end of May as part of Bonin’s Safe Streets Playa del Rey initiative, designed to reduce traffic collisions in the neighborhood, which saw 14 traffic-related fatalities and more than 250 serious injuries between 2003 and 2015. Many of the changes in the initiative had been in the works since 2015, when Bonin began hosting community meetings with Playa del Rey constituents concerned about the rise in commuter traffic in the area.
But the Vista del Mar changes were implemented more recently and at the advice of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office. In April of this year, the city of Los Angeles approved a $9.5 million settlement with the parents of a 16-year-old girl who had been struck and killed by a taxicab while attempting to cross Vista del Mar. Her parents alleged in the wrongful death lawsuit their daughter’s death was a “foreseeable tragedy” because of conditions on the street. It is not clear when the Vista del Mar lane reduction was added to the plan, but Bonin described them in an email to constituents on May 19.
It was not immediately clear how the road restorations would affect the city’s legal liability for accidents going forward. An employee who answered the phone at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s was aware of the announcement from Bonin, and was checking with colleagues on the issue.
Officials in Manhattan and others cities complained almost from the beginning about a lack of involvement and outreach in the process. Councils in Manhattan, Hermosa Beach and elsewhere formed subcommittees devoted to the topic, and addressed it at meetings of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. In his statement, Bonin pledged the creation of a Playa del Rey Road Safety Task Force that would make recommendations on road changes in the area, and said it would include both supporters and opponents, as well as representatives from South Bay cities.