Most of the panel discussion at the L.A. Press Club focused on "mobility," "capacity" and "flow" on the freeways in L.A. I believe that this is a misplaced and misguided emphasis. We have to get away from this idea that the only way to increase mobility and traffic flow in the L.A. area is by increasing flow on the freeways. The idea that the only way to increase mobility is by increasing flow on the freeways is a totally misguided idea. DO NOT believe it.
Any solution to the congestion in L.A., especially on the Westside, will have to include increasing traffic flow on the streets as well, as an alternative to the freeways.
The only way to achieve increasing traffic flow on the streets is by creating temporary SPEED CORRIDORS.
The only way to create SPEED CORRIDORS is by keeping the lights GREEN on ALL major roads going east-west from Sunset to Venice (Sunset Blvd., Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica Blvd., Olympic, Pico, Venice Blvd.) for at least 5 minutes or longer at certain intervals from 7:00am to 9:00am in the morning going east to west, and from 4:00pm to 7:00om in the evening going from west to east. This would create unbelievable flow that would get most cars and buses in and out of the Westside (west of he 405) every morning and evening at a very fast rate.
It is this mass migration of workers going east to west in the morning and west to east in the evenings what creates unbelievable congestion on I-10 and all major roads east-west from Sunset to Venice.
By creating these SPEED CORRIDORS, you would be creating an alternative I-10, which cannot possibly handle such an unbelievable volume of cars without getting jammed. You would be creating an alternative to I-10 without increasing capacity on the freeway and without building another freeway.
It's a great idea. BELIEVE IN IT.
Detractors of this idea would counter: "Well, what about traffic going north-south? While the lights are green for east-west traffic, north-south traffic would be getting jammed on all those roads running north-south that cross the roads you mentioned. And what about pedestrians? They'd be stuck waiting for 5 minutes or longer for the light to change to cross the road!"
My answer is that this idea of SPEED CORRIDORS cannot be implemented without creating a few overpasses for north-south traffic and some skywalks for pedestrians (see my posts WHY L.A. traffic sucks: OPEN DISCUSSION #3 and WHY L.A. traffic sucks: Open Discussion #6: Pedestrian Under/Overpasses for more on this issue).
The idea of tolls on freeways as a solution to congestion would be not only self-defeating, tax-regressive and eventually useless, but it would also be COUNTERPRODUCTIVE: ALL those who are unwilling or unable to pay the tolls would simply spill out onto the streets and roads to avoid paying the tolls, thus creating even more congestion, congestion of unbelievable proportions on the streets of L.A. To believe that tolls are going to change behavior and keep people from driving as single drivers in one car is an illusion. Whoever said that freeways are the only way to "get there"?
Since, according to Tom Rubin, former Administrator for Public Transport in Southern California, "we" (whatever that means!) have decided NOT to increase capacity on freeways, ANY solution to the traffic congestion problem in L.A. MUST include increasing flow on streets and roads as an alternative to the freeways. There's NO question about it.
Any solution, or set of solutions, that focuses on freeway flow at the expense of street flow is part of the problem, NOT part of the solution.
ANY great and creative solution, or set of solutions, for the traffic congestion in L.A. and other metropolitan areas, will have to consider flow EVERYWHERE, NOT just on the freeways.
L.A. is like a 500-pound individual whose arteries are clogged and whose blood is not flowing like it should. This "individual" needs to slim down, start exercising and increase blood flow to ALL parts of the body.
It is that simple a solution.
Whether this "individual" will have the willpower and determination to change or continue to stumble along at the current sluggish pace, is another question.
If you were one of those "blood cells" inside this "individual", what would you say?
Would you say this?
DAMN LOS ANGELES TRAFFIC! [From: ACCDzek]
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Sunday, October 07, 2007
SPEED CORRIDORS: East-West
Friday, May 12, 2006
WHY L.A. traffic sucks: that "monster," the 405 freeway...
WHY L.A. traffic sucks: that "monster," the 405 freeway...
Setting aside for a moment L.A. drivers addicted to driving and addicted to driving while talking on their cell phones, let's turn our attention for a moment to that "monster," the 405 freeway. Let's focus first on traffic going south--from the Valley to points south. On this stretch of the 405 from, say, the Ventura/101 exit in the Valley to the Century Blvd/LAX exit, the 405 is ALWAYS clogged. Perhaps not 24/7 but certainly from, say, 6:00am to 9:00pm MON-SAT (let's give Sunday MORNING a respite. But dare venture onto the 405 anytime Sunday afternoon or evening, and see what you're in for!).
WHY?
Simple. The 405 has at least 4 to 6 lanes (in some stretches) in each direction--plenty of lanes to carry quite a bit of traffic. BUT, as it approaches the I-10 junction, those 4 or 6 lanes narrow down to a TINY bottleneck of TWO measly lanes as the far right lane becomes the "Exit Only" ramp to enter I-10 West and the second right lane turns into the "Exit Only" ramp to enter I-10 East. The designers of this freeway probably assumed that most of the traffic from the north was going to go into one of these three directions--South, I-10 West, I-10 East--in equal proportions. Well, guesswhat? They guessed wrong. DEAD WRONG. MOST of the traffic is actually going south (LAX, for one!). And not only that. RIGHT BEFORE the 405/I-10 junction, FIVE (5) of the major East-West boulevards--Sunset, Wilshire, Santa Monica, Olympic and Pico--feed into the 405 hundreds of cars, thousands of cars, from the East and from the West. And ALL OF THIS almost RIGHT BEFORE THE 405/I-10 junction where the freeway narrows to a bottleneck of a mere TWO lanes and so many cars have to negotiate where they are going: South on the 405? East on I-10? Or West on I-10?
Right after this two-lane bottleneck, the freeway widens again into more lanes. BUT guesswhat? the ramps from I-10 East and West feed even MORE cars into the 405. So you have a jam before the bottleneck and a jam after the bottleneck. And this jam is not disolved until you reach the Century Blvd/LAX exit.
This is TERRIBLE DESIGN. I don't care WHO did it, I don't care WHEN they did it, I don't care WHY they did it, it is TERRIBLE, ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE DESIGN. Whoever created the 405 created most of the traffic problems on the Westside. (See my April 26, 2006 post: "WHY L.A. traffic sucks #2: bad (or not exactly forward-looking) design"). And this jumbled junction, right before FIVE (5) of the major East-West boulevards--Sunset, Wilshire, Santa Monica, Olympic and Pico--feeding into it, causes a major backed-up bottleneck traffic jam GRIDLOCK all the way to the Ventura Blvd. exit in the Valley. It is ridiculous. It is ABSURD. It is one of the reasons -- perhaps not the only reason, but certainly one of the MAIN reasons, if not THE MAIN REASON-- the 405 is ALWAYS jammed. You don't have to be a rocket scientist or a civil engineer to figure this one out. Anybody with a modicum of intelligence can figure out what the problem is by driving through this juction. Now that the problem has been created--who knows how long ago--the hard part is, HOW to solve it.
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO FIX IT? SOLUTION: REDIRECTING TRAFFIC
There is construction work on the 405 from Wilshire all the way to Century Blvd. It looks like they are trying to widen the freeway and improve some entrances/exits (and/or put in those ridiculous ineffective HOV lanes. Does anyone know?). Depending on WHAT they are trying to do and HOW LONG it will take them to complete it (anyone's guess!), anyone expecting the 405 to get any better anytime soon is dreaming.
The solution, again, must be to redirect some of that north-south traffic ELSEWHERE, and that "elsewhere" can only be either onto Sepulveda or onto Sawtelle. That in turn cannot be done without creating an unbelievable jam at the five or six major roads--Sunset, Wilshire, Santa Monica, Olympic, Pico, Venice--that intersect Sepulveda and Sawtelle. The 405 needs a break! But it can't be given a break at the expense of all those other major roads. What to do?
OVERPASSES OVER WILSHIRE, SANTA MONICE, OLYMPIC, PICO AND VENICE ON SEPULVEDA AND/OR SAWTELLE
My idea of turning roads into virtual "freeways" by keeping the lights GREEN for a longer period of time would not work here. Those major roads--Wilshire, Santa Monica, Olympic, Pico, Venice--need to be turned into virtual "freeways" themselves or East-West traffic will continue to be jammed as it is. Overpasses might be one possible solution, if not the only viable solution. Redirecting traffic has to become one of the KEY SOLUTIONS to traffic problems in L.A. The major freeways and major roads cannot handle the current volume of cars hoisted onto them. Enlarging all the freeways, or even building new ones (major ones), is, if not politically, certainly financially impossible. Building a comprehensive subway system or a monorail in earthquake-prone California is, if not politically, certainly financially a long way off (it ain't happening tomorrow! I can tell you that much!). It is time for CREATIVE solutions to intractable problems that work NOW--RIGHT NOW. It might not be pretty (overpasses tend to uglify intersections) but gridlock is even uglier--and unhealthier. SOMETHING'S GOT TO GIVE.
THE 90 MARINA DEL REY FREEWAY
The 90 Marina del Rey freeway is a great example of what could be done to redirect traffic. If you are coming North on the 405 and heading towards Marina del Rey, Venice or downtown Santa Monica, The 90 Marina del Rey freeway is a very wise, if not the very best, alternative. TAKE IT. You'd have to be crazy to stay on the 405 when you can take the 90.
Driving Tip #1:
Once you get to Lincoln, make a right and go as far as Washington Blvd. Make a left on Washington and you'll get anywhere in Marina del Rey you need to go. You're going to Venice? Make a left on Washington and then make a right on Abbot Kinney and you'll get anywhere in Venice you need to go. You're going to downtown Santa Monica? Make a left on Washington and then make a right on Aboot Kinney. Stay on Abbot Kinney until it "tees" with Main. Make a right on Main. Make a left on Rose (DO NOT GO THROUGH THE REST OF MAIN!! Too many lights and too much pedestrian traffic! Nielssen rocks!). Make a right on Nielssen Way and stay on Nielssen until it turns into Ocean Blvd. and you'll get anywhere in downtown Santa Monica (Third Street Promenade) you need to go. This way you will have bypassed all the traffic and gotten to your destination a lot more quickly than by staying on the 405 (I did this ALL THE TIME!).
This is the kind of CREATIVE redirection of traffic that needs to be done all over L.A. to unclog the freeways and major roads and get traffic flowing.
This is the other possible solution based on the same premise of redirecting traffic: build more SHORT freeways like the 90 Marina del Rey freeway.
Whoever had the idea of building the 90 Marina del Rey freeway had an excellent idea. L.A. needs a lot more such excellent ideas!
With this "get there quick" tip, we're going to start a series of helpful "how to get there quick" tips all over L.A. (you're welcome to contribute!!). Finding creative ways of "getting there" by redirecting traffic is the only way to get freeways and major roads UNCLOGGED and find some "breathing room" in L.A.--at least for the time being, until the city faces what it has to do to seek more permanent solutions...
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Photo: FOCUSING ON THE SOLUTION, NOT ON THE PROBLEM!
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