What about the Westside East of Beverly Hills?

We have talked mostly about traffic on the Westside, west of Beverly Hills. We haven't talked about the the 1, the 101, La Cienega or any of the other major streets carrying traffic north-south east of La Cienega.

As traffic moves east towards the mountains, it encounters a very densely populated and highly urban area built in a GRID. If traffic moving East slows down, it is probably because this area is gridlocked and cannot absorb the influx of any more cars from the West. This area and points East of it are the ones where a large chunk of the population actually lives. Evening rush hour is a big migration Eastward from the West, where the affluence really is and where most people work.

The traffic problem in this part of town boils down to the grid getting locked by the high volume of cars. The interesting thing is that this whole part of town is built along several major North-South roads (La Cienega, Crescent Heights, Fairfax, La Brea, Highland, Vine) and several East-West roads (Hollywood Blvd., Sunset Blvd., Santa Monica Blvd., Melrose Blvd., Beverly Blvd., Third Street, Wilshire Blvd., Olympic, Pico...). Most of the traffic moves along these roads. Inside the quadrants formed by these roads lie residential neighborhoods - riddled with stop signs and sometimes speedbumps - that frown on through traffic through their area.

The solution to the traffic problem is this part of town is obvious but politically explosive [See OPEN DISCUSSION #10: "...mum's the word! Don't give away the secrets."/Thinking BEYOND the GRID.]. To anyone who would rather drive through stop signs and even speedbumps rather than sit for hours stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I'd say, use your discretion and find your way out of the gridlock as best you can. [wink! wink! pshssssssst! :-)]

This whole part of town is considered more traditional L.A. and probably more politically sensitive to any possible uglification by overpasses and skywalks that might change its character. This makes my idea of "speed coorridors" difficult to implement here. Apparently, Jerry Brown canceled two projects that would have created North-South freeways down the middle of the Westside. The only way left to speed up traffic then is East-West and viceversa along the North and South fringes of this part of the Westside - on the 101 and on I-10. The rest is all gridlock territory with no way out except through residential neighborhoods.

Going North-South, roads like La Cienega, Fairfax, Fairfax, La Brea, Highland, Vine, are oversaturated and need relief. For those who know, Crescent Heights is fast becoming the alternative to La Cienega to get to and from I-10 from West Hollywood. More roads like Crescent Heights should be prepared and opened for this kind of traffic. Or the gridlock shall never find relief in this part of the Westside.