Despite fierce opposition from residents and concerns by two City Council members, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has ordered Los Angeles transportation officials to implement a plan to make Pico Boulevard mostly one-way eastbound, and Olympic Boulevard mostly one-way westbound.
Under the mayor's plan, which had stalled earlier this week in a City Council committee, parking would be forbidden on all but a few stretches of Pico and Olympic during rush hour beginning March 8.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday, February 16, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 70 words Type of Material: Correction
Traffic plan: In Friday's California section, a photo with an article about a plan to ease traffic gridlock by making Pico and Olympic boulevards mostly one-way showed a section of Pico Boulevard that is not included in the plan. The change would affect the portions of the two streets from the Santa Monica city limit to Fairfax Avenue. The photo showed Pico at Curzon Avenue, which is east of Fairfax.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday, February 19, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 31 words Type of Material: Correction
Curson Avenue: A correction in Saturday's Section A about an article in Friday's California section on a plan to ease traffic on Pico and Olympic boulevards misspelled Curson Avenue as Curzon.
Traffic signals would be timed to favor faster eastbound traffic on Pico and westbound traffic on Olympic by April 28. After six months to a year, the two streets likely would be restriped so that Pico will have four lanes going east and two going west, while Olympic had four lanes going west and two going east, a spokesman for the mayor said Thursday.
The move comes a day after Councilmen Bill Rosendahl and Herb Wesson said they might remove their districts from the proposal because of concerns from local businesses and residents that the changes would harm shops and restaurants by making it impossible for customers to park.
On Thursday, the mayor, backed by Westside Councilman Jack Weiss, overrode the council's Transportation Committee, which had postponed action on the plan, saying through a spokesman that the council did not have jurisdiction over such issues as parking regulations or whether streets were one-way.
"The Department of Transportation reports to the mayor," said Matt Szabo, a spokesman for Villaraigosa.
The mayor reduced the size of the project by more than a mile.
It was initially supposed to run from the Santa Monica city limits to La Brea Avenue. Now, the idea is for it to end at Fairfax Avenue. The change is apparently a nod to Wesson, because the project no longer goes through a part of his district for which he expressed concerns.
Weiss' strong support for the idea has come despite some heated opposition from merchants in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson district.
The mayor's end-run around those council members underscores his effort to do something about Los Angeles' gridlocked traffic, particularly on the Westside.
A spokesman for Wesson said the councilman did not know about the mayor's move late Thursday and could not comment.
Wesson just Wednesday said he would submit a motion to make the program's eastern terminus be Fairfax Avenue -- effectively removing most of his district. Villaraigosa's plan seems to address that issue.
