Council should implement the road diet

I ask that the City Council not give up on the Honolulu Avenue road diet project. My wife and I and our 2 1/2-year-old son moved into the La Crescenta/Montrose area this past November. Our house is off of Ramsdell Avenue, just a few short blocks up from Honolulu and the proposed road diet.

Since the signs went up and the information letters went out we’ve been quietly anticipating the road improvements. The idea that we soon could be able to safely ride our bikes down to Trader Joe’s to get our groceries, and over to the farmers market for fresh produce, made us feel like we really made the right decision to call La Crescenta home.

As is, we’ve ridden our bikes along Honolulu only on rare occasions because there simply is not enough room to safely travel the road on a bike and trailer carrying our toddler. We’ve been honked at, swerved around and forced onto the sidewalk. It’s simply not safe enough for us to ride our bikes as a family and enjoy our neighborhood.

But the proposed road diet gave us such hope. We can’t wait to be able to enjoy our community as a family in a healthy, eco-friendly, and most importantly, safe way.

Don’t get me wrong, we drive a lot around our city too, and as drivers, we’re more than willing to make the change. Honolulu might be a busy thoroughfare, but it’s not a freeway, and traffic flows smoothly along through Montrose without a problem.

The proposed road diet is a thoughtful, cost-efficient way to improve our roads, our community and our quality of life. Please don’t give up on it now, before it’s even been implemented. Please do the right thing to help make our community even better.

Alex Guthman

La Crescenta