Toluca Lake NC Supports Bike Lanes on Vineland

Vineland Avenue between Camarillo Street and the 101 Freeway was determined by the Toluca Lake Neighborhood Council to be the best candidate for bicycle lanes in the community, despite a push from a bike advocacy group for Lankershim Boulevard.

The council voted unanimously to support installing bike lanes on both directions of the six-lane Vineland, part of a much larger citywide Bicycle Master Plan to implement 1,600 miles of cycling-friendly paths over the next several decades.

The council's board agreed that the street was a better option than Lankershim between Camarillo Street and the Los Angeles River or Caheunga Boulevard between Chandler Boulevard and the Los Angeles River.

"Due to the width of the street, the lower volume of traffic, and little need for parking, Vineland Avenue is a vastly superior alternative for bicycle lanes through the [Toluca Lake] community," said Ryan Altoon, president of the neighborhood council, adding: "Vineland would provide the same access between North Hollywood and Universal City with the least amount of impact to the existing transportation infrastructure and built environment."

But the L.A. County Bike Coalition feels Lankershim is the right choice because it could one day connect with bike lanes that could be installed on the same street through the NoHo Arts District.

Alek Bartrosouf, campaign and policy manager for the coalition, said having bike lanes on Lankershim through Toluca Lake would also give cyclists easier access to Metro's Universal City Station. Instead, they would have to make several turns off Vineland to get to Lankershim.

"Vineland doesn't connect anybody to anywhere," he said.

Bartrosouf said he believes the neighborhood council rushed its vote because the deadline to submit public input to the city is March 4.

The L.A. City Council has the final vote on where bike lanes would end up.

The Mid-Town North Hollywood Neighborhood Council tabled its vote on whether to support bike lanes on Lankershim through the NoHo Arts District. A town hall to discuss the issue has yet to be set up as of Thursday.

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 tonight at 6 p.m. at the North Hollywood Regional Library - 5211 Tujunga Ave.