Mid-Town NC Holds Off on Bike Lane Vote; Town Hall Planned

The Mid-Town North Hollywood Neighborhood Council held off voicing its opnion Wednesday on proposed bike lanes through the heart of the NoHo Arts District on Lankershim Boulevard until more public feedback is collected.

Nearly 50 people, including constituents and a few business owners, attended the board of director's meeting and spoke in favor of implementing bike lanes on both sides of the major street at the cost of losing one of the two northbound lanes.

The effort is part of the much larger Bicycle Master Plan, adopted by the Los Angeles City Council in 2011, to establish 1,600 miles of bike lanes throughout the city over the next several decades.

But Karo Torossian, director of planning and land use for L.A. City Councilman Paul Krekorian's office, stopped by the meeting and urged the neighborhood council to reach out to as many community members as possible on such a long-lasting project.

Krekorian's communication director, Jeremy Oberstein, echoed those sentiments to Patch.

"We just want to make sure everything is thought out, that all proposals are studied and nothing is hastily done," Oberstein said.

At the end of the day, the neighborhood council is an advisory group and the final call of whether bike lanes end up on Lankershim is up to the city council.

Neighborhood Council President Mary Garcia agreed to postpone the recommendation.

"When you're talking about changing a lifestyle, you need to involve the community," she said.

The neighborhood council is planning on holding a special town hall meeting for residents to sound off on whether the Lankershim bike lanes are a good idea or if another segment of the town is a more suitable candidate.

Alek Bartrosouf, campaign and policy manager for the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition, said his organization has already shown the council that there is support for the project.

"I've given them evidence that there are 1,100 people in the community that want this and there's 30 businesses with letters of support that want this," he said, adding: "Regardless, we're looking forward to doing outreach with the community."

On Facebook, resident Jesse William Fuller shared his disappointment on the neighborhood council's decision to push back its vote.

"I think the NoHo NC should be ashamed of themselves for not taking a stand with the obvious desires of the constituents and patrons of the area," he wrote.

The city's department of transportation is holding its own public hearing on the Lankershim bike lanes as well as lanes for other parts of the valley. The meeting is being held next Thursday at 6 p.m. at North Hollywood Regional Library - 5211 Tujunga Ave.