The Traffic Committee of the Palisades Residents Association was formed to assure that our community speaks with one voice advising the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LA DOT) what is needed to improve the traffic challenges caused by the recent landslide on Paseo Del Mar.
The document below describes our current recommendations.
If you have any comments, we would like to have them before we submit the final version to the DOT on Monday, October 24th. You can e-mail them to Michael Browne at: MBROWNE@TorranceCA.gov
Thanks for your interest and participation.
Sincerely yours,
Michael Browne
Chair, Traffic Committee
Palisades Residents Association
Paseo Del Mar | Closure
PRA Traffic and Signage Team
revised 17 October 2011
Objectives:
Minimize non-resident traffic flow with early, clear and frequent notification of road closure
Concerns:
- Inadequate signage to notify non-residents as they are entering the neighborhood regarding the closure of Paseo Del Mar.
- Unsafe U-turn movements at the dead end of Paseo Del Mar and Weymouth.
- Unsafe traffic flow onto Weymouth from excessive non-resident traffic.
- Increased non-resident traffic on other neighborhood streets (i.e. Walker, Alma, Patton and 37th Street.)
Initial Recommendations:
- Increase Signage
– Large ‘ Road Closed Ahead’ / ‘Local Access Only’ / ‘No Thru Traffic’ signs on Paseo del Mar at Gaffey, Roxbury and Barbara; and at 25th Street and Western.
– ‘Local Access Only ‘ signs on 25th street at Patton and Alma
– ‘Dead End’ sign on Paseo Del Mar at Jackstadt and Barbara
– Large ‘No Coastal Access’, ‘No Access to Western’ and No access to Royal Palms’ signs on Paseo Del Mar at Gaffey, Roxbury and Barbara
– Place ‘Detour’ signs at Gaffey and 25th offering a route to Western and Royal Palms via 25th”
– Do NOT place ‘Detour’ signs on Paseo Del Mar offering an alternative route.
- Barricades / K-rails
– Place barricades or K-rails and planters at Paseo Del Mar and Weymouth so vehicles can’t make an unsafe U-turn on Paseo, but still allowing access on northbound Weymouth– Convert the intersection at Paseo Del Mar and Barbara into a round-about allowing traffic to make a safe u-turn. The round-about would also slow down traffic sufficiently to allow for the elimination of the stop signs on Paseo Del Mar at Barbara.
Long Term Recommendations:
- Declassify Paseo Del Mar as a secondary highway
- Remove bike lanes along the length of Paseo Del Mar from Roxbury to Weymouth
- Contact GPS mapping providers (i.e. Google / Yahoo) and advise of closure on Paseo Del Mar
- Mark the entrance to the neighborhood at Roxbury and Paseo Del Mar with distinctive road striping and enriched paving strips
Filed under: Construction, Landslide, Royal Palms, Streets and Traffic
Let’s hope that the LA DOT responds quickly, thoroughly and aggressively to the community’s reasonable and well articulated concerns!
These are all excellent suggestions. The only one I question is why remove the bicycle lanes? These lanes encourage commuting and exercise by bicycle – both really good things.
The bike lane recommendation by the Traffic Committee was a long term plan, if Paseo Del Mar was never reopened. It would be better stated as rerouted rather than removed. Currently the bank lanes and signs give bicyclists erroneous information. We have all seen large groups of bicyclists on Paseo. The current condition of the street does not safely accommodate them.
Mike Browne
I live on 37th Street, a few doors east of Weymouth. It is my understanding that some residents of Paseo Del Mar have been positioning barricades and cones in such a way as to prevent u-turns and divert traffic up Weymouth. The volume of traffic being diverted onto Weymouth and 37th Street is unacceptable. Weymouth is too narrow and has somewhat of a blind curve where it joins 37th Street. It is just a matter of time before there is an accident at this intersection. In addition some motorists feel the need to make up for lost time and speed down 37th Street in excess of 25 mph. I have also seen cars frequently run the stop signs. It is apparent that Paseo Del Mar will not re-open anytime soon, if ever. For the safety of all involved, the City of LA needs to install a more permanent u-turn area at the end of Paseo Del Mar and implement a number of the other traffic control recommendations shown above. As residents, we can also help the situation. Whenever possible, travel down Paseo Del Mar directly to Gaffey and Pacific Avenues. Out of courtesy to our neighbors, we should avoid the use of Walker, Barbara, Patton and Alma whenever possible. Please don’t reposition barricades and add to the problem!
Thank you,
Richard Keller