STUDIO CITY : Residents’ Reactions to Traffic Plan Mixed

A compromise proposal by Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky to reduce traffic in a Studio City neighborhood known as “The Triangle” was met with mixed emotions by more than 100 residents gathered at special meeting to discuss traffic problems in the area.

On Wednesday at Osaka Sangyo University, Yaroslavsky unveiled his plan to install a left-turn lane and arrow on Laurel Canyon Boulevard at Laurel Terrace Avenue and to post signs prohibiting northbound motorists from turning left onto Viewcrest and Maxwellton roads during the afternoon commute.

The restrictions would be effective weekdays beginning either at 3 or 4 p.m. through 7 p.m. Also, Yaroslavsky said a new timing cycle would be installed on the light to make longer green lights for cars traveling north, while allowing fewer cars to turn left onto Laurel Terrace during the peak travel time of 5 to 6 p.m. The improvements would cost an estimated $30,000.

The plan is the second attempt to address concerns of residents who say speeding motorists on their streets have created a nuisance and safety hazard. The first plan, which sought to bar left turns from northbound Laurel Canyon Boulevard onto all three streets, was assailed by some neighbors, who said it would make it difficult for them to drive home after work and would add to congestion on the boulevard.

Telling the audience that he had tried to be “as Solomon-like as possible” in solving the problem, Yaroslavsky said the new plan would reduce commuter traffic in the neighborhood without forcing residents to take a circuitous route home.

“It really is not a popularity contest,” he told the crowd, which was split between those supporting a plan to block left turns between 4 and 7 p.m. on all three streets, and those who favored no restrictions. “It is a problem-solving contest.”

Response to the proposed plan was tepid.

“This has been politics at its best,” said John De Pascale, who led a group of residents in opposition to Yaroslavsky’s first proposal. “We don’t like it, but we’ll have to live with it.”

“I think people on both sides are ready to give it a chance,” said Tony Lucente, president of the Studio City Residents Assn.

If approved, the plan would not go into effect until February. In the meantime, Yaroslavsky said transportation officials would monitor traffic on the stretch once work to widen the intersection of Laurel Canyon and Ventura boulevards is completed next month.