Dec 7, 2006 8:09 pm US/Pacific
$11M Plan To Relieve Traffic Congestion Unveiled
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
-
-
The plan employs various measures, from installing left-turn arrows at 32 Westside intersections and synchronizing traffic signals, to studying whether the Metro Green Line should run between Los Angeles International Airport and Santa Monica.
AP
An $11 million plan to relieve traffic congestion and boost mass transit on the city's Westside was unveiled Thursday by Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl.
The plan employs various measures, from installing left-turn arrows at 32 Westside intersections and synchronizing traffic signals, to studying whether the Metro Green Line should run between Los Angeles International Airport and Santa Monica.
"We have reached a boiling point," Rosendahl said. "The gridlock is past intolerable. It is time for action, it is time to get Los Angeles moving again."
The spending plan, which uses accumulated traffic mitigation funds that can only be spent in Rosendahl's 11th District, requires final approval from the City Council.
"The use of coastal transportation funds will go a long way toward reducing congestion at crowded intersections and will initiate long-range planning for needed mass transit," said Gloria Jeff, general manager of the city's Transportation Department.
Rosendahl's plan calls for spending:
-- $3 million to install left-turn arrows at 32 intersections;
-- $5 million to synchronize 165 traffic signals and enhance 239 others;
-- $1.75 million to study whether to connect the Green Line with the
Expo Line, whether to run the light-rail line along Lincoln Boulevard and to map out potential Green Line stops;
-- $750,000 to develop a master plan to oversee transit-oriented development improve bicycle and pedestrian routes;
-- $500,000 to fund work by a multi-agency task force studying ways to extend the Green Line from LAX to Santa Monica;
-- $50,000 for additional parking along Lincoln Boulevard;
"We cannot continue to Band-aid the traffic problems in this city," Rosendahl said. "Our transportation infrastructure is a real problem that calls for vision, for bold thinking and long-range planning."
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
