Coldwater Canyon Turning-Lane Deletion Plan Gets Pushback From Residents

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Should the city remove turning lanes from Coldwater Canyon Drive to make way for more street parking? The consensus — a resounding "no."

The Traffic and Parking Commission on Thursday considered options for how Coldwater Canyon Drive should be permanently laid out once ongoing water-main repair work is completed. The body voted unanimously to recommend to the City Council a layout that maintains left-turn lanes and the installation of new crosswalks.

For decades, the busy road included travel lanes in each direction, a center section that was used for turns into driveways (but was not an actual turning lane), and left-turn lanes at intersections. The road was re-striped up to modern standards on a temporary basis this spring following resident feedback: The center section was removed in order to accommodate street parking and the left-turn lanes were retained.

The newlayout was meant to encourage drivers to follow the speed limit, discourage illegal passing, maintain emergency vehicle passage and provide resident parking where possible without requiring street widening, according to a city report.

Now, the city is exploring how the road should be laid out on a permanent basis. After some residents previously said they wanted more parking, officials studied the impact of removing left-turn lanes to accommodate more on-street parking. And that idea fell flat.

Instead, city staff recommended that the left-turn lanes be retained at all locations except at Cabrillo Drive, which only leads to two properties.

They also recommended that the city install crosswalks south of Monte Cielo Drive and at Lindacrest Drive and Loma Linda Drive.

That layout will allow for a total of more than 80 parking spaces along Coldwater Canyon Drive.

Those staff recommendations matched up with the overwhelming majority of public comments made at Thursday's meeting. "I know how dangerous it can be if we cannot take a safe left-hand turn," Loma Linda Drive resident Jack Nourafshan said.

The City Council has final say on the plan and will vote on the proposal at an upcoming meeting.