The Purple Line subway construction on Wilshire Blvd. from Highland Avenue to LaBrea Blvd will require an extended closure of Wilshire Blvd. this coming year. Metro has provided residents and business owners with two options for this closure: 1) Seven full weeks; or 2) Sixteen weekends. Our new councilman, David Ryu, is asking his district to tell him what they think so he can represent us to Metro. The Association, along with our area schools, many of the surrounding neighborhood associations and many of the business owners on Wilshire, support the Sixteen Weekend Closure option.
The choice of sixteen weekend closures is the only option that keeps our streets safe for residents and everyone who lives, works and goes to school in Hancock Park. The traffic management plan Metro has proposed, after little true study, will be to divert traffic to Olympic Blvd. and 3rd Street. This represents an increase in commuter traffic of over 40% on our streets; streets already packed during rush hour. Metro will also do no traffic mitigation for interior residential streets, meaning that desperate drivers will be speeding down all of Hancock Park’s streets. Finally, Metro did not study the impact on the over 2,200 children who attend our neighborhood’s schools, many of whom are driven to school or take the bus.
On the bright side there is some good traffic news: The City has approved left-turn arrows in all four directions at the intersection of Melrose and Rossmore/Vine. The first two signals for Rossmore/Vine north and south are budgeted for this coming year. Thanks to our Councilman, David Ryu, and his staff for working on achieving this important milestone.
Don’t forget El Niño is just beginning so signup for Emergency Alerts – http://www.elninola.com/; check out the Emergency Management Website for the City – http://emergency.lacity.org/index.htm and the LA County Preparedness website – https://www.lacounty.gov/elnino.
The Association’s Committees are always looking for help, so visit the website, see if there is a committee that you’d like to work with and contact us. The HPOZ Preservation Plan -http://www.preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/hancock-park regulates our HPOZ. Contact our City Planner, Renata Dragland (renata.dragland@lacity.org), and use the online form (http://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/initial.screening.checklist) if you plan on making changes to the exterior of your house. Report graffiti sightings by calling 311 or at the City’s Anti-Graffiti Request System – http://anti-graffiti.lacity.org/welcome.cfm?CFID=1007&CFTOKEN=411CDB4F-0FC3-4EE1-89DE58DCCB435538 and by calling Hollywood Beautification, 323-463-5180.