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West Hollywood approves design for all-day bus and bike lanes on La Cienega, contingent on regional participation
Summary
The council approved staff recommendation to proceed with design of all-day bus-and-bike lanes on La Cienega (Santa Monica to Venice) as part of a Westside COG project, subject to Los Angeles and Beverly Hills participation and COG covering capital costs. Supporters said lanes would speed buses and improve first/last-mile access to Metro stations; opponents cited parking and traffic concerns.
The West Hollywood City Council voted 3-2 to direct staff to proceed with design of all-day bus-and-bike lanes on La Cienega Boulevard, contingent on participation by the City of Los Angeles, the Westside Cities Council of Governments absorbing capital construction costs, and traffic-calming measures on local street connections.
David Fenn, the city planner presenting the Westside COG project, said the consultant's recommendation would reallocate or remove one travel lane in each direction for dedicated bus-bike lanes, add transit-signal "queue jumps" at major intersections, and could save roughly nine minutes of travel time southbound and ten minutes northbound along the corridor in the modeled sections.
"The current segment under consideration on La Cienega is in West Hollywood, Los Angeles and Beverly Hills...the consultant recommendation is for all day bus bike lanes on both sides of La Cienega Boulevard," Fenn said, explaining alternatives analyzed and the intended benefits for transit reliability and first/last-mile access to the Wilshire/La Cienega D Line station.
Kevin Burton, president of the West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition, urged approval and suggested the lanes be designated for buses, bikes and emergency vehicles to keep them accessible to first responders. "This is gonna be good for bus riders...and for bicyclists," Burton said.
Opponents raised concerns about local traffic impacts, parking loss on short segments south of Melrose, and whether the city should prioritize a multi-block treatment that will affect a narrow West Hollywood segment and depends on contiguous buildout in neighboring jurisdictions. Mayor Heilman questioned survey sampling and public outreach and said he worried about impacts on drivers and local businesses.
Council members who supported the measure emphasized the regional nature of the proposal and the opportunity to improve transit reliability ahead of the 2028 games. The council added a staff contingency asking the Westside COG to evaluate a bike-only alternative if a 24/7 bus lane is infeasible in neighboring jurisdictions.
The vote authorizes staff to proceed with design subject to the listed contingencies and to continue coordination with Metro, Westside COG and adjacent cities. Staff said final construction would depend on interjurisdictional agreements and funding commitments.
