Residents Collide with LADOT over Pacific Avenue Lane Reduction Plan

Councilman Joe Buscaino (center) listens to residents at the Pacific Ave. Road Diet forum at the Grand Annex. (photo: Corey Washington)

A traffic project forum held Wednesday night by City Councilman Joe Buscaino was met with resistance and skepticism from residents largely opposed to the implementation of a traffic mediation plan for Pacific Avenue.

Residents attended the Pacific Avenue Road Diet workshop joined by Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), which outlined the details of the $495,000 project and presented data collected to support the construction project. The mediation plan would consist of reducing Pacific Avenue to two lanes between O’Farrell and 22nd Streets, and the addition of bike lanes on both sides of the street. The project was funded through the State-Legislated Safe Routes to School Program, which included $445,000 in state funds and $49,500 in local funds.

Pacific Avenue Road Diet Fact Sheet (click to enlarge)

The Pacific Avenue reconstruction project is one of about 20 transportation projects initiated this year in San Pedro, mostly consisting of bike lane and stop sign installations throughout the city.

Michelle Mowery, senior bicycle coordinator for LADOT, emphasized that the project is a safety issue, not a bike lane project. The bike lane is only an “added benefit” to the construction project, she said. According to LADOT officials, about 80 children have been struck on Pacific Avenue in the last five years.

Even though turnout for the forum was noticeably low, residents shared a myriad of complaints about the construction project, including a potentially adverse impact on public transit users, lack of traffic enforcement, and the methodology of LADOT’s reports.

Others complained that traffic woes on Pacific Avenue were the natural result of population density, adding that the swelling number of residents in San Pedro needed to be addressed if traffic officials want to mitigate traffic issues.

Officials also said the project would create a 23-second traffic delay in the reconstructed zone, an estimate that many residents refuted.

There is “a difference between numbers on paper and reality,” said Vicki Micciche. Michecce believes construction projects such as Pacific Avenue are making residents feel “unwanted” and may eventually force residents to relocate.

The project design is about 95 percent complete. Officials said they will review the project after one year to examine the effects of the Pacific Avenue reconstruction.