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A major California roadway is set to undergo millions of dollars of improvements to help address safety concerns.
Hollywood Boulevard, one of the most iconic streets in Los Angeles, is set to receive a major makeover aimed at improving pedestrian safety. The $8 million project, which was announced March 21 and funded by Metro's Active Transportation Program, will introduce wider sidewalks, bus lanes, and protected bike lanes, per ABC 7.
The "Access to Hollywood" initiative comes in response to a decade of traffic accidents on the boulevard that resulted in 56 deaths from 53 crashes, NBC Los Angeles reports. Most of the victims were pedestrians or cyclists.
"Hollywood Boulevard serves as a lifeline for our community but has been dominated by speeding cars,” said Jason Bautista, who works at the Thai Development Community Center in Hollywood.
The new bike lanes will stretch from La Brea Fountain Avenues, while the bus lanes will be added from Orange Drive to Gower Street. The project will cost Hollywood 216 street parking spaces, but city officials believe the benefits will far outweigh the loss.
"This plan takes a holistic approach to deliver a Hollywood Boulevard that is worth of its famous namesake and is a testament to what we can do when we work together as partners,” said Clare Eberle, a transportation planning associate with the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.
While the changes will add at least one to five minutes of travel time for drivers, bus times are expected to improve. The project is anticipated to be completed by the first half of 2025.
LA City Council Member Hugo Soto-Martinez said, “If you’re like me, you walk around the city, you bike around the city. I even skateboard around the city, but we know that the streets often can be very dangerous.”
The initiative is part of a broader plan to revitalize Hollywood and make the city less car-dependent and more pedestrian-friendly.