Westwood

Developers will be required to put money into an $11-million traffic reduction fund to help relieve street congestion expected from new projects in the Westwood area, according to Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky.

The money will be used for street widening, better traffic signals, public transit and other measures, a statement from Yaroslavsky’s office said.

The fund was established after the City Council turned down Yaroslavsky’s proposed six-month moratorium on all construction in the area bounded by Wilshire Boulevard and Lindbrook Drive on the north, Glendon and Malcolm avenues on the east, Ashton Avenue on the south and Veteran Avenue on the west. The council left a one-year moratorium in effect in Westwood Village.

“This fund will help us reduce the adverse impact of additional development in an already congested area,” Yaroslavsky said. “Using new planning techniques to more accurately predict the amount of additional traffic likely to occur, we can plan traffic management systems before gridlock prevents traffic movement.”

The amount paid by developers will be determined by the number of cars using their facilities during peak afternoon hours, with facilities such as banks estimated to generate 16.7 car trips per 1,000 square feet of office space and commercial offices estimated at 2.8 car trips per 1,000 square feet of space.

The fees will be computed at a rate of $5,600 per afternoon automobile traffic trip generated by their project, according to the statement.