WHY L.A. traffic sucks #6: Pesky annoying quirks: Street parking

WHY L.A. TRAFFIC SUCKS #6: PESKY, ANNOYING LITTLE QUIRKS THAT SLOW DOWN TRAFFIC: Street parking

When parking is allowed (anytime other than 7:00-9:00am or 4:00-7:00pm), Crescent Heights, from Santa Monica Boulevard to Pico, becomes a two-way, two-lane street (one lane in each direction) instead of the FOUR lane street it actually is (two lanes in each direction). Anyone making a left anywhere from Santa Monica Boulevard all the way down to Pico (anytime other than 7:00-9:00am or 4:00-7:00pm when left turns are not allowed) STOPS traffic on the left lane dead in its tracks (there are no left only lanes in that whole stretch. See previous post: "WHY L.A. TRAFFIC SUCKS #5: PESKY, ANNOYING LITTLE QUIRKS THAT SLOW DOWN TRAFFIC: NO LEFT TURN ONLY lanes").

If you want to keep going and are lucky enough to be able to switch to the right lane to do so, sometimes (let's not say all the time), even though parking is NOT allowed at peak traffic hours (7:00-9:00am - 4:00-7:00pm), cars are STILL parked past 7:00am or past 4:00pm on Crescent Heights. You're driving on the right lane and BOOM!!! suddenly there's a car (or invariably CARS!) parked up ahead!! These cars should not only be ticketed (a very high fine!!), they also should be TOWED. Where's fascist Parking Enforcement when you need it? (See "WHY L.A. TRAFFIC SUCKS #6: PESKY, ANNOYING LITTLE QUIRKS THAT AGGRAVATE TRAFFIC: fascist parking enforcement" in a few days) If your parking meter runs out of money and goes over by ONE MINUTE, parking enforcers are there waiting--READY--to give you a ticket. But when they are REALLY NEEDED to keep traffic flowing, they are NOWHERE to be seen. I've seen cars parked on Crescent Heights from Santa Monica to Pico past 4:00pm, when there should be NO cars parked on that whole stretch, without any ticket on them. This is one parking enforcement rule that SHOULD be enforced, but that, apparently, is something Parking Enforcement couldn't care less about. They care only about collecting money for their coffers, it seems (it makes you wonder where it goes and what they do with it all!!).

SOLUTION #6: WHAT CAN BE DONE TO FIX IT?

IF PARKING IS ALLOWED, SOMEONE ALWAYS VIOLATES THE PARKING RULES AND PARKS PAST 7:00AM OR PAST 4:00PM AND CLOGS TRAFFIC FOR EVERYBODY ELSE. Why should one or two people have the right to clog and slow down traffic for everybody else? Either "left only" lanes need to be put in on that stretch of Crescent Heights and other places where they are needed or street parking cannot be allowed 7:00am to 7:00pm Monday-Sunday. PERIOD. CASE CLOSED. END OF STORY. There's no two ways about it. You have to keep traffic flowing in the L.A. area. ANYTHING that contributes to the gridlock must be eliminated. Sure, this or that resident on that stretch of Crescent Heights (or any other street) will be up in arms about it. NO solution will please everybody (See "WHY L.A. traffic sucks: OPEN DISCUSSION #1: Up in Arms!"). But SOMETHING MUST BE DONE. American metropolitan areas are facing the same dilemma as overweight people: find a way to keep those arteries FLOWING [GO!] by good diet and exercise or face the consequences. It's that simple.

Parking is a BIG issue in a city where, at times, it seems that there are more cars than people, a city that wasn't really prepared or designed for such explosive urban growth. We'll have to come back to this issue and deal it with more "in-depth." We'll also re-visit that fascist entity that sucks in L.A., "Parking Enforcement." Like the MTA, they're worthy of a whole blog dedicated to the ways in which they suck...
-------------------------------
Photo collage by italianesco :-)
-------------------------------

Make it viral. Make it vital...

digg 
reddit 
del.icio.us