LA Council OKs 'Road Diet' Modifications In Silver Lake

SILVER LAKE, LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles City Council has approved a series of additional safety measures on a Silver Lake street that was already redesigned in an effort to protect bicyclists and pedestrians from vehicle traffic.

The new changes include extending the eastbound bike lane on Rowena Avenue to the intersection of Glendale Boulevard, adding safety striping at the intersection of Rowena Avenue and Glendale Boulevard and installing barriers to protect the bike lanes on Rowena.

Changes were initially made following the 2013 death of a pedestrian on Rowena Avenue. Back then, the roadway between Glendale Boulevard and Hyperion Avenue was reduced to one vehicle lane in each direction, with bike lanes added on both sides -- a process known as a ``road diet.''

Similar ``road diets'' have led to fierce opposition in other parts of L.A., most notably in Mar Vista, where residents angry about the loss of vehicle lanes and increased travel times on Venice Boulevard threatened lawsuits and launched an unsuccessful recall effort against Councilman Mike Bonin.

In Playa del Rey, road-diet lane reductions were ultimately removed in response to community outrage.

City News Service contributed to this report.