Here are some of the current transportation-related issues in and around Brentwood this month:
• Bike lanes on Bundy Drive – The City’s proposal to put bike lanes on Bundy Drive/Centinela from Sunset Blvd. to the Culver City border is currently pending but not actively being pursued right now while the City focuses on bike lanes in other areas such as Westwood and Century City. Bundy Drive is part of the City’s Year 1 Bicycle Plan, but the City is assessing the traffic impact in each area before proceeding. Installing bike lanes on Bundy would require taking out parking or vehicle lanes in most sections of Bundy.
• Bike lanes on San Vicente – The City has determined that San Vicente from Bundy to Bringham is wide enough that bike lanes in both directions can be painted in without removing vehicle or parking lanes. Once lanes are installed, parking will be allowed on the south side of San Vicente (eastbound) 24 hours a day. Currently there is no parking in that direction from Bundy to Darlington between 7 and 9 am on weekdays, but the City has found that relatively few vehicles drive in the parking lane in that window, and those cars that do must merge back into the two through lanes after Barrington so the 2-hour no parking lane is not helping drivers get to the freeway.
• Bundy/Mayfield Stop Signs- The Brentwood Community Council, Brentwood Homeowners Association, and South Brentwood Residents Association all polled their email lists to ask whether the new stop signs at Bundy and Mayfield should stay or be removed. Nearly 1300 responses were received, with results from all three groups overwhelmingly in favor of removing them. Based on these results, and concerned about public safety because the signs are causing drivers to speed through side streets in order to avoid them, the Council Office is now in discussions with LADOT.
• Martin Cadillac – The owners of Martin Cadillac at Olympic and Bundy would like to develop their property to include residential and commercial space in addition to a smaller car showroom without a repair shop. Their initial proposal is for 530,000 square feet of residential (516 units), 57,000 sf of retail, and 200,000 sf of office space on the 4.76 acre site. The tallest building would be 160 feet high. The Brentwood Community Council and South Brentwood Residents Association submitted comments, with the primary concern being traffic, particularly from the office space which would add to the number of commuters coming into the area every weekday. Other concerns were the height of the buildings, which are taller than the buildings adjacent to that site, and the overall size of the development. The next step is for Martin Cadillac to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Report, which must address the traffic impacts.
• Proposal to widen Bundy Drive between Santa Monica Blvd. and Wilshire Blvd. – LADOT presented a proposal to the West LA Neighborhood Council (WLANC) to widen Bundy south of Wilshire by taking several feet from the front of residences from Wilshire to Santa Monica Blvd. in order to install either a center left turn lane or bike lanes. Two of LADOT’s three proposed configurations would keep the same number of vehicle lanes at Wilshire Blvd. in and out of Brentwood. The WLANC, in its advisory role, voted unanimously to reject all of the proposals and asked the City to keep the width of Bundy Drive as it is in that section.
