Romero's parents hold photo of promising Chatsworth high soccer star
Important news was revealed at our last regularly scheduled Northridge West Neighborhood Council meeting by Glenn Bailey of the LABAC. During public comment Bailey revealed that police detectives working on the Alex Romero hit and run fatality had traced the owner of the car to a gated community located in Porter Ranch. LAPD has independently confirmed this fact.
According to Bailey, detectives have not released the name of the registered owner but have information that the owner has retained legal representation. Detectives allege that shortly after the collision that took the life of Alex Romero near the intersection of De Soto and Valerio, the driver of the vehicle fled to a location in Palmdale where relatives of the registered owner reside. Detectives allege that the car was then driven to a to a business address associated with the registered owner in San Pedro. Police are not able to determine where the car is currently located and have distributed a community alert to the public to be on the look out.
2003 Silver/Gray Toyota Corolla
SUSPECT WEAPON(S): VEHICLE
SUSPECT VEHICLE:
2003 TOYOTA COROLLA 4 DOOR
LIGHT GRY OR SILVER LIC PLATE: 5FCA061
(REGISTERED TO ADDRESS
IN PORTER RANCH)
MISSING RIGHT SIDE MIRROR &
FRONT EMBLEM, DAMAGE TO RIGHT
PORTION OF WINDSHIELD, AND
POSSIBLE FRONT GRILL DAMAGE
Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call Valley Traffic Detective Krajchir, at (818) 644-8034. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477). Tipsters may also contact Crime Stoppers by texting the word "TIPLA" and the message to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone. Tipsters may also go to www.lacrimestoppers.org, click on "Submit a Tip" and follow the prompts.
For additional information contact Valley Traffic Detectives at (818) 644-8000.
The LA Times reported that a pothole fix costs between $5 and $21. By that calculation, the city is spending up to 9000 "pothole fixes" worth of money ($45,000) to paint in a 45mph lane merge right up to a residential intersection where local residents signed petitions asking to have a crosswalk installed. Not only is the city spending scarce funds to do it, they are spending the money on a street that less than a year ago was freshly paved and striped with a much needed safe street configuration designed to discourage speeders and encourage multi-mode use. Commuters to the north, who were used to cutting through the neighborhood (typically at high speeds) raised an angry protest backed by Councilman Smith's office will ultimately get their "fix" at the cost of a safer pedestrian friendly neighborhood intersection to the south. The lines are currently chalked and paint is set to be laid some time soon... possibly this weekend.
A parent speaks out against the Mayall 45 mph rated merge:
Bike lanes shoved to the gutter....
This father of two loses some on street parking with the Mayall merge
How did this happen?
The 1998 Northridge Community Plan with specific reference to Wilbur
The process that led the LADOT to re-pave and re-stripe Wilbur Ave. a second time in only 10 months was driven by a rift between local and outside interests but could not have happened without the ultimate decision of Councilman Smith's office to move forward with a "compromise plan" that was rejected by the public for different reasons. The root of the issue is that Wilbur Ave. is contradiction in civic planning. The street, designed decades ago is wide and fast yet distinctly residential. There are many homes along the street with frontages and driveways with no access to alleys or outlets other than Wilbur Ave. itself. The street does not connect across the valley and is therefore under traveled during off peak hours which means drivers had a wide open street to speed on under the old "4 lane" configuration. This lead to chronic problems of collisions and even death. SWITRS (a CHP maintained statewide database) statistics analysis reveals that in just 10 years 5 people died and more than 300 collisions occurred on the two mile stretch in which the new configuration was striped. The problem was significant enough that the 1998 Northridge community plan - part of the city wide general planning document - focuses on Wilbur specifically by name and calls for "narrowing of travel lanes, chokers or sidewalk bulges" to calm speeders.
Despite the calls in the LA City General plan for a safer more residential Wilbur, in 2009, the LADOT attempted to remove the crosswalks at Prairie and Superior posting small signs at the crosswalks to alert the community of their impending removal. The people in the community reacted fiercely, signing 600 petition signatures in favor of keeping the crosswalks and showing up to Northridge West and Northridge East Neighborhood Council meetings. People voiced demands that the crosswalks stay and that peak hour lanes not be installed on Reseda Blvd. in the residential area north of Devonshire. Both meetings featured heated and passionate public comment directed at the LADOT representatives from the local residents.
CHP/LAPD statistics re the 2 mile stretch of Wilbur now cured by the road diet.
Fast forward to 2010 when Wilbur was scheduled for a re-pavement. The LADOT, perhaps responding directly to the lashing from the year before, installed what is called a road diet on Wilbur Ave. A road diet takes a 4 lane street and converts it to a 3 lane street with bike lanes and added parking. This configuration gave drivers an option to use the center turn lane to slow and turn from rather than stopping in the path of (often) speeding traffic. With a contiguous center turn lane, left turns into driveways and street-locked communities became much safer. The statistics showed left turn collisions were the majority of crashes that were occurring under the 4 lane configuration. Drivers were vulnerable to speeders zooming up from behind who then either had to slow down or move to the right to pass - a dangerous situation especially in a residential area. With the road diet in place, drivers could now avoid stopping in the "fast lane" in order to make a left.
The road diet ultimately engineered slower more reasonable speeds of 35-40 mph which of course was not received well by those who were used to speeding on Wilbur. One LA Times reporter and Porter Ranch resident lamented the loss of her "speedway." Parents dropping their kids off at the area schools became infuriated at the initial backup caused by the road diet. An angry mob hurled insults at Rita Robinson, the LADOT General Manager at the time who happened to have a speaking engagement scheduled at the Porter Ranch neighborhood council shortly after the road diet was striped. One NC member famously called her an "idiot" in a fit of anger. The situation was only made more hostile by the fact that Councilman Smith, whose office is located on the south end of Wilbur was vehemently opposed to the road diet.
The Wilbur Working Group Ad-Hoc Committee is formed
To address the anti-road diet crowd, Councilman Greig Smith formed an ad hoc committee headed up by Chief of Staff Mitch Englander. Smith put Porter Ranch NC and Northridge West NC in charge of assigning members to the committee. After the committee came to a decision Smith proclaimed, there would be a joint NC vote on the matter. Immediately, the committee was stacked with anti-road diet people. 3 from Porter Ranch, 2 from the Ridgegate and Belcourt gated communities and 3 from Northridge West. The only pro-road diet voice initially was Paul Kirk a resident of a street-locked community south of Plummer. Two other representatives chosen by Northridge West lived North of Devonshire and were vehemently anti-road diet.
Wilbur Residents express support for the road diet:
Representation by people living on Wilbur aggressively quieted
Alternative plan rejected by LADOT and CD12
One problem for Smith and the anti-road diet crowd... The people that actually lived on Wilbur and within the street-locked neighborhoods were in favor of the new configuration and wanted to be heard. Many felt that having a calmer safer street with better turning ability and bike lanes as a "buffer zone" between traffic and their homes was an improvement. People from the community circulated petitions and made phone calls in support of the new configuration. With no representation of the people that actually lived on the street I pleaded to become a member of the committee arguing that people that live on the street itself should have a say. Smith's chief of staff Mitch Englander, himself an anti-road diet advocate, actively blocked my attendance to the crucial first meeting of the Ad-Hoc committee. This, despite presenting petition signatures from nearly every resident that lived on Wilbur from Nordhoff to Chatsworth requesting my attendance as their representative. By the time the second and third meeting of the Wilbur Ad Hoc committee adjourned, the Mayall high speed merge was a part of the plan. Despite my objections, the LADOT explained there was no other possible alternative design available. Stop signs, street lights, 4 lanes to Devonshire - all possible remedies to the speeding and the morning school drop off issue were flatly rejected. Furthermore during the meeting city officials refused to address the cost of the 2nd re-striping despite repeated questions from both pro and anti road diet voices regarding the matter. Traffic counts and cost were not considered.
The Town Hall Meeting
The conclusion of the matter was a March 15th townhall meeting where the joint Porter Ranch and Northridge west NC panel would decide the fate of Wilbur. Even the location of the meeting became an issue as the anti-road diet voices pushed to have the meeting at the regularly scheduled Porter Ranch NC meeting place. This did not seem fair after all, the entirety of the road diet existed within the boundaries of Northridge West. The meeting was moved to Nobel Middle School auditorium where an estimated crowd of 500 people showed up. About 2/3 of the people were clearly anti-road diet, most of which were from Porter Ranch. The other 1/3 were pro-road diet and pro-residential Wilbur.
Presentation against the Mayall merge:
The LADOT presented their design to the crowd, along with cases presented both for and against the LADOT proposed re-design. The joint panel ultimately voted against the LADOT proposed plan Members of the joint panel, disgusted with the compromise plan and the process itself, abstained in protest that they were only given one option. This apparently was not understood by Councilman Smith who was not present at the meeting but moved ahead with the rejected LADOT plan choosing to override the entire process that many people spent hours of volunteer time attempting to reach a compromise on.
Mitch Englander addresses a packed town hall meeting
The final cost...
Only 10 months after the initial re-pavement of Wilbur, the Bureau of Street Services and the LADOT are back to re-pave and re-stripe Wilbur. Instead of a crosswalk, the community gets a $45,000 "finish line" at Mayall, in a residential area of Wilbur, a block west of Nobel Middle School and adjacent to a streetlocked community to the east. Meanwhile not 2 miles away, a worn out crosswalk on Zelzah, recently the site of a collision that sent 3 pedestrians to the hospital, deteriorates... in need of a new paint job.
If a jumbo jet went down every month, Congress would pass laws left and right. If a consumer product injured someone every seven minutes, the feds would shut down production.
Well, that’s exactly how many Americans are being killed and injured in the act of walking pedestrian-unfriendly streets, according to our report, out today. But in the case of pedestrian safety, our federal tax dollars actually go to build streets that are designed to be perilous to children, the elderly and everyone else.
And yet, right now, some in Congress are trying to kill funding for projects to make it safer to walk and bicycle!
Our Dangerous by Design research found that more than 47,700 Americans were struck and killed while walking and another 688,000 were injured from 2000 to 2009. The highways-only lobby insists that pedestrian safety is a “frill” and a local responsibility. But 67 percent of these fatalities over the last 10 years occurred on federal-aid roads — roads eligible to receive federal funding or with federal guidelines or oversight for their design.
That’s right: Federal programs have encouraged state departments of transportation to prioritize speeding traffic over the safety of people in our neighborhoods and shopping districts.
The irony is that fixing these conditions is relatively cheap: Existing funds for that purpose – now targeted for elimination -- amount to less than 1.5 percent of the current federal transportation outlay. A policy of giving federal support only to “complete streets” that are designed for the safety of people on foot or bicycle as well as in cars would cost next to nothing.
Northridge West President Tom Johnson just passed this info on to me. If any one has ANY info please contact 1-877-LAPD-24-7 or the LAPD detective listed below.
71 year old bicyclist fatally struck by hit and run vehicle in Canoga Park On Saturday, May, 14 2011 at approximately 1215 pm, a vehicle described as a small black 4 door sports utility type vehicle was traveling eastbound on Sherman Way. The vehicle negotiated a right turn onto Canoga Avenue where it struck a bicyclist that was traveling eastbound on the south crosswalk of Sherman Way. The impact caused the bicyclist to collide with the ground. The driver left the scene failing to render aid and exchange information as required by law. The bicyclist sustained severe injuries and was transported to a local hospital where he died two days later as a result of his injuries.
The bicyclist was identified as 71 year old Eduardo Perez a resident of Canoga Park.
The hit and run driver and vehicle remain outstanding.
Anyone who may have witnessed the traffic collision is being asked to contact LAPD Valley Traffic Division Officer Martinez at (818) 644-8032, or Detective I Krajchir at (818) 644-8034. During non-business hours or weekends, calls may be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800)-222-8477). Tipsters may also contact Crimestoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most key pads) using a cell phone. All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.”
Tipsters can also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on “web tips” and follow the prompts.
Three high school students were hospitalized on Friday after being clobbered in a crosswalk by a motorist who was not cited by police reports the Daily News. It makes you wonder what it will take to issue a ticket to someone who does not pay attention while driving. Motorists are to give right of way to pedestrians in a crosswalk. That's the law. If we do nothing to punish drivers who violate the law, the streets will continue to be dangerous for everyone.
Zelzah is of particular interest because of successful moves by the LADOT to increase speed limits on this stretch and other streets in the valley RIGHT NEXT TO SCHOOLS. They got their way. So when will it end? Not long ago Councilman Smith finally got the message and compelled the LADOT to install a better crosswalk on Reseda.
The LADOT allows crosswalks to fade like this one at Zelzah, the scene of the crime.
In fact they actively remove them whenever possible.
Enforcing the rule of law city wide and reinforcing the importance of crosswalks could save lives and money but instead the LADOT chooses to remove them or drag their feet on installing them creating a self full filling prophecy. The less common pedestrian crossing points become, the less likely drivers will be watching out for them, the more likely people will be injured or die, the more likely people will choose not to walk the more obese our nation becomes.
One of the more common person on person crimes committed on our streets is that of Hit and Run. Because these crimes are under-reported, they occur more than we realize. My suspicion is that the number of incidents have increased over the years and in direct correlation to the escalation in punishment for drunk driving. People, when faced with DUI charges, have an enormous incentive to run due to the disparity in punishment between DUI and hit and run crimes. I've learned a great deal about hit and run law the hard way... through experience.
Photo taken after I was helped to the
curb from the middle of Glendale Blvd.
As a hit and run survivor, I know the lonely feeling of being left for dead after a collision. On May 19th 2009 I was riding a bicycle on Glendale blvd. I was doing everything right, I had the brightest lights money could buy, I was wearing a helmet, and I was riding in a legal, vehicular fashion when a driver plowed into me from behind at an estimated speed of 50 mph. It was 1 AM and the streets were relatively empty. My bike crumpled as it collided with the grill and my body sunk in to the hood of the gray 4 door 2009 Jaguar. I was carried and thrown some 50 feet and then.... left to fend for myself in the middle of the street. I saw it coming. The driver was speeding, swerving and out of control. I tried to move out of the way but it all happened so fast. Laying face down on the ground, blurry eyed, and in shock I still managed to get most of the plate numbers. Before I even moved I tweeted them on my smashed phone, afraid I would forget the numbers. Fearful of getting hit by another car I was able to crawl to the curb with the help of a security guard and a friend who arrived minutes later. I was taken to the hospital and released that morning - luckily - with only bruises and injuries to my spine, back, elbows and tailbone. Fortunately my helmet and street clothes had protected my body to a degree. Not everyone is as lucky as I was. In fact, just months before, a hit and run victim died not 30 yards from where I had landed.
You can see my phone in hand
which I used to tweet the plate number.
Still in great pain, the next day I called the LAPD thinking that having the plate numbers would mean an all out man hunt. On cop shows they always move quick when there are leads in the case right? Sadly, I was dead wrong. The officer who answered seemed almost annoyed that I called. "Did you get hurt?" I was smashed and thrown 50 feet onto the pavement, taken to the hospital and my bike was destroyed. "Did you break any bones?" No, but I'm bruised up, I can barely walk, and my back sustained heavy injury. "Well, it's going to take a couple weeks to run the plates. You only got 6 of the 7 numbers and you didn't break any bones..." I was told to "drive around the area" and "see if I could spot something." I was truly dismayed. What I didn't understand at the time was that hit and runs are so common on our streets that the police and city hardly have the resources lest someone dies. In fact, hit and run crime priority for the police is measured by the injury sustained not by the crime alone.
Video still of the car at the shop
6GYC611... I will never forget that plate number, which turned out to be registered to a car belonging to a man named Glenn Gritzner a politically connected person of sorts who had no priors on his record and seemed to otherwise be an upstanding financially responsible citizen. I was fortunate enough to have friends in high places my damn self, namely a young and scrappy lawyer named Danny Jimenez who had a connection in the CHP. It took all of 10 minutes to run the plates and car description turning up a potential match just two miles from the point of impact. It is worth noting that this officer put his neck on the line by handing over the info to Jimenez. The City Attorney pushed me hard to find out who the source of the plate ID was. I refused at first not wanting this person to get in trouble, but the courageous officer whose first name is Gio was vehement in moving forward. I am truly thankful for this man's dedication to justice and I consider him and Jimenez to be true heroes.
Video still of the car at the shop
Armed with the registered owner's info, Jimenez and I scoured Google, Facebook and everywhere else. We uncovered a lot of information and miraculously found the location where the car was being repaired. Rusnak Pasadena. According to the repair order, Gritzner himself had turned in the car just hours after the incident. 9:39 AM to be exact. "Yes the car is getting repaired - new bumper, grill and hood it will be ready by Friday" said the receptionist.
Just 4 days after the incident, I made my way down to the LAPD Central Division, and turned in the comprehensive evidence Jimenez and I had gathered. Photos, Blog posts, Facebook archives, address, phone number, maps, even video of the car being repaired... "Wow. You did all the work for us." proclaimed the detective on duty. "Sign here please and check back in a couple weeks." By now I wasn't expecting much from the police and to their defense, the men and women of LAPD Central Division work in complete squalor. The station, located in the heart of Skid Row was dark and dingy, the computers were old and there was paperwork stacked everywhere. Our city is broke and it showed. Detective Wilson was eventually assigned to my case and she worked hard - sometimes even on her days off - going out of her way to subpoena crucial evidence from the insurance company. The police report states that Gritzner admitted to hitting me, but sadly the judge ruled that this evidence could not be used against him in court due to "attorney client privilege."
In the end, Gritzner never actually had to set foot in the courtroom. After a ferocious fight through his private attorney, Gritzner plead no contest to one count of misdemeanor hit and run "stipulating to the facts in the case" which meant that he did not dispute the official version of what happened that night and that I could move forward with relative ease in the civil matter. It was a long process to justice, taking about a year for the criminal side and an additional 6 or 7 months for the civil side. His punishment? A $500 fine and 30 days of Cal Trans clean up. It became clear to me at that point why some people choose to run.
Truth is, we can never know why most hit and run perpetrators leave their victims behind since most are never identified.. but hypothetically speaking, if a driver is drunk, running away pays off. The punishment for hit and run crimes is far weaker than DUI let alone DUI with a collision resulting in bodily harm. When a driver stays at the scene and is found drunk, they usually spend at least one night in jail and have a whole mess of legal issues and expenses to deal with. This alone is enormous incentive to run. I hold he system accountable above all else.
As of this posting the killer of Chatsworth High student German Alex Romero is still at large along with countless other hit and run criminals. Romero will unfortunately not be the last person killed on our streets.
SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE....
LIFE BEFORE LICENSE CAMPAIGN
Safe Streets Northridge proudly endorses the "Life Before License" campaign. An initiative put together by Dr. Alex Thompson and Bikeside LA. It calls for the automatic suspension of a driver's license for ANY hit and run crime be it against drivers, cyclists or pedestrians with varying lengths of suspension pending the severity of the damage and injury with death carrying the heaviest punishment. We forget in this car-centric country that driving is a privilege, not a right and judges and the system are far too lenient in the way it treats drivers. This results in a lax atmosphere of accountability on our streets, a recipe for death.
Join me in endorsing the Life Before License campaign. If you know of any group or political figure who can help PLEASE contact myself or Alex Thompson. I will be introducing a motion this Tuesday at the Northridge West Neighborhood Council where I expect unanimous support. Come out and support this very important initiative to make our streets safer.
LIFE BEFORE LICENSE CAMPAIGN:
WHEREAS 32% of all collisions in Los Angeles are hit and run, AND
WHEREAS leaving the scene of a collision is a failure to take responsibility for one’s actions and the safety of others, and therefore demonstrates a tendency to drive unsafely, AND
WHEREAS currently there is not a mandated loss of driving privileges for those convicted of hit and run, AND
WHEREAS judges sentencing convicted hit and runners rarely take away the perpetrator’s driving privileges,
Safe Streets Northridge hereby endorses the Life Before License campaign to change California law so that once convicted of a hit and run, perpetrators will automatically lose all driving privileges, and that the duration of the loss will correspond to the severity of the impact of the hit and run as follows:
A hit and run which results in fatality will result in the loss of driving privileges for 10 years.
A hit and run which results in permanent disability, or causes a life threatening injury will result in the loss of driving privileges for 5 years.
A hit and run which results in injury, but which does not lead to permanent disability or a life threatening injury, will result in the loss of driving privileges for 2 years.
A hit and run which results in the damage of property only will result in the loss of driving privileges for 1 year.
Dr. Alex Thompson states:
In LA, 32% of all collisions are hit and run [2008 SWITRS data, California Highway Patrol.] In other words, Los Angelinos involved in a collision have a nearly 2 in 5 chance of being left to fend for themselves. Worse, in those cases where a hit and run perpetrator is caught and convicted, judges rarely take away the convicts driving privileges. Life Before License, a campaign started by the cycling advocacy organization Bikeside, will seek mandatory loss of driving privileges for convicted hit and run perpetrators.
The cycling community has been a leader in identifying this problem, which is ironic given that cyclists involved in collisions are less likely to be left as victims of hit and run, 23% [LAPD, 2008 SWITRS data analysis], not more likely. Hit and run is a problem for everyone on our streets.
It’s a problem by definition. A hit and run perpetrator leaves the scene, and continues to drive. In leaving the scene they send a signal - they will not take responsibility for their actions, they will not take care of another person in need. In continuing to drive, they put us all at risk.
Of all the people who we can issue drivers licenses to, aren’t these the worst candidates? And yet prosecutors have refused to ask for revocation of driving privileges on the basis that they will have difficulty getting to their job, and therefore difficulty paying restitution. Similarly, judges in the same breath have given the convicted a litany of treatments for driving under the influence, and then done nothing to address the convicted drivers driving privileges. This is not sane - to put drivers who have demonstrated their lack of respect for life and property behind the wheel again.
So, Life Before License seeks mandatory loss of driving privileges for those convicted of hit and run, to commence at the termination of any related period of incarceration, with the length of loss directly tied to the impact of the convicts hit and run:
1. - fatality --> 10 years
2. - permanent disability or life threatening injury --> 5 years
Crews were spotted scraping up the lane markings on Wilbur Ave. yesterday afternoon. At a cost equivalent to Northridge West's entire annual budget, Councilman Smith has decided to go ahead with the LADOT "compromise" plan for Wilbur Ave. This plan, rejected by the joint NWNC/PRNC board, will place a 45mph rated merge south of Devonshire right up to the Mayall intersection where more than 100 residents have asked for a crosswalk. Instead they will be getting a $45,000 finish line. Pleas were made to nearly everyone possible including Asst. GM John Fisher and GM Amir Sedadi of the LADOT to re-consider the 45mph merge portion of the "compromise" but obviously those calls have been ignored.
Safe Streets Northridge will be monitoring the Mayall drag race situation via video and providing updates in the near future.
Until then check this video out - the striping is not even complete and the drag races have begun! Notice the speed at which the FED-EX van launches into the neighborhood. I tried to keep pace but gave up at the 60mph mark. Think this scenario won't play out at every single hour of the day?
Pedal to the metal (think this guy is observing the speed limit?)
What Mayall / Wilbur used to look like before the drag race merge:
Smith made sure that the crews came out during the day this time.
Looking north towards Devonshire where the drag race begins.
The briefly quieter more peaceful Mayall intersection soon to have painted in conflict.
A 17 year old Chatsworth High student was killed last night by a hit and run driver at approximately 9pm near the intersection of Valerio and DeSoto. Please be on the look out for a Toyota Corolla or Camry hatchback, described as possibly gray in color with moderate to severe damage to the front passenger side of the vehicle.
Police urge anyone with information to call 818-644-8034 or 818-644-8032
Councilman Smith, in a short paragraph on the CD12 website announced his recommendation that the LADOT go ahead with the proposed compromise plan. This despite the fact that many in the community are outraged at being given only one choice, a choice that both camps are dissatisfied with for different reasons.
Painting in a 45mph Rated Bottleneck in a residential area?
The one truly controversial portion of the LADOT compromise is the high speed rated merge just south of Devonshire that re-creates the very same scenario that led to problems and crashes under the old "4 lane" configuration at Plummer and Dearborn streets. Installment of this merge is in fact a slap in the face to the many residents near Mayall who have been asking for a crosswalk who will now find themselves with an even more difficult intersection to cross on foot sans crosswalk.
As you can see in the diagram below, the proposed solution to the back up problem at Devonshire is to create a 2 lane merge immediately south of Devonshire to shift the peak traffic backup. However, anyone and everyone who has looked at this plan can see the induced drag race scenario that will play out with every green light at Devonshire south as traffic crazed parents and commuters will suddenly find themselves having to compete for position right up to the Mayall intersection. Some drivers will be slowing to make a right turn while other drivers will just be settling into their merged position, while still others focused on their left side mirrors and traffic behind them will have less attention to pay to what's in front of them. A recipe for disaster. This says nothing of the historic speeding that will be achieved during NON PEAK driving time (22-23 hours of the day.)
Pual Kirk, a neighborhood resident who himself collected 300 petitions in support of the Road Diet states: "In accommodating the ingress-egress problem the gated communities Ridgegate and Bellcourt have north of Devonshire, (which needed to be addressed), what sense does it make to move the gated communities problem south to the land-locked community of Tuba/Crebs and the Mayall community west of Wilbur? Is it fair to simply transfer problems that gated communities have to older land-locked communities that are not gated? If the high speed merge is to be included in the plan, a traffic light at Mayall is imperative for the safety of the neighborhood."
LADOT "COMPROMISE:" A drag race from Devonshire to Mayall!
The LADOT is proposing a 45 mph high speed merge just south of Devonshire. The finish line? Mayall, where more than a hundred residents asked for a crosswalk.
Pushing this plan forward is irresponsible.
9 months ago Councilman Smith set forth a process to engage the community because, as he said, the LADOT did not. Yet, after the LADOT plan was rejected by the very process that he created, Smith is now apparently pushing the plan forward anyway. The fact is that, after 4 Wilbur Working Group meetings, One huge town hall meeting, and a lot of citizen volunteer work, the LADOT only ever presented ONE option to the Wilbur Working Group (at the second of 4 meetings.) This compromise plan was eventually REJECTED by both "for" and "against" public voices on the matter at the joint PRNC and NWNC town hall meeting including a rejection by the voting body itself. Had Smith actually shown up to the townhall meeting (or any of the meetings) perhaps he would have seen the dismay from all camps first hand and worked to provide a better solution. Instead, Smith has elected to scrap the recommendations of the joint committee all together, ignoring the wishes of the community for more options and instead spending $40,000 in scarce public money to implement a plan that is flawed in a very serious way.
Prediction based on historical DATA:
Increased conflict and collisions at Mayall.
Based on previous data at Dearborn and Wilbur we know there is a strong likelihood that collisions will increase over the current configuration at Mayall. There is evidence that conditions will be worse as both Plummer and Dearborn bottlenecks presented merges ending at traffic lights while the Mayall merge begins with a traffic light at Devonshire a quarter mile before the Mayall intersection where the merge ends.
IGNORED SOLUTION!! 4 lanes to Devonshire NO 45mph rated merge. Install Crosswalk at Mayall / Wilbur.
The LADOT has identified that the problem area is between Chatsworth and Devonshire in the mornings during peak traffic. According to the official traffic counts the congestion occurs from 7:30-7:55am and is largely due to Nobel school drop off. This can be fixed by implementing MOST of the LADOT compromise plan while preserving the residential character of the current configuration south of Devonshire as shown in this alternative proposal. The alternative proposal would also include a crosswalk at Mayall. The crosswalk was unanimously endorsed by the Northridge West Neighborhood Council on February 8th.
The alternate plan rejected by Smith and the LADOT would satisfy the stated desires of Ridge Gate and Belcourt gated communities to the north of Devonshire while preserving the safety and residential character of the area south of Devonshire.
Councilman Smith announces his decision to go against the wishes of the public body he created.
The Northridge South Neighborhood Council voted 12-0 to endorse the completion of the Reseda Bike lanes from Roscoe to Parthenia. This particular stretch of road would be the final piece needed to complete a vital north - south bicycle friendly option in the west valley region. Among many important aspects of this project is connecting the orange line bike path to CSUN. If Northridge is truly to be a "college town" as the Northridge Vision plan comes to shape we will need to provide students with more options to get to and from school. Many residents in the CSUN area have raised issues with student off site car parking. Encouraging bicycle commuting to CSUN would work to alleviate some of that problem.
Though the bicycle lane does briefly become replaced by sharrows just north and south of Sherman Way (the jury is still out if the sharrow pilot in that area is having any kind of affect) generally speaking, Reseda Blvd. bike lanes will be complete should this plan get the pass from Greig smith's office.
In a reversal of recent process, an LADOT representative presented the street diagrams to the stakeholders in giant b/w print outs accompanied by a verbal run through of the plan and timeline for implementation.
This was my first visit to NSNC and I was surprised to find a friendly and supportive board who seemed to receive the many bike lane supporters in the audience with open arms. At one point a speaker asked the board if any of them cycle regularly and several raised their hands.
Glen Bailey BAC Chairman, led the effort to notify 100+ businesses along the block between Napa and Chase that will lose some parking on the east side of the street. He reported reactions both for and against with a mjority for. A fast food restaurant with a large parking lot on the block received the news very well stating that several of it's workers get to work via bicycle. Indeed, one businessman did show and make public comment that he was concerned about the safety of the street and the potential issues related to the loss of parking.
Mother and Daughter supporters ride bikes in the area
Among the many supporters was a mother and her daughter who ride a bike in the area. Other businesses who supported the lane including not surprisingly, Cycle World were also present. After public comment the council addressed the concerned businessman directly asking how he felt now that he heard the public support. He responded with a change of heart and seemed genuinely opened to the idea.
