Traffic solution in motion at Pico and Olympic

I heard murmurings of the Pico/Olympic plan to ameliorate traffic at the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley’s summit on transportation held at the Burbank Holiday Inn. At the time, I wondered whether anything substantial would come out of gathering – hoping for less talk and a lot more action. Luckily, such a meeting of the minds and officials seems to get the juices flowing, propelling ideals to come from off the table and onto the streets. When ideas are shared in a summit or conference and is covered by the news (like I did – for the Sun Community newspapapers – http://speechspeech.net/EconomicAllianceSummit_Article.jpg) people get interested and the idea acquires more momentum. I bet this is especially true when those city officials meet with outspoken and interested community and business members who are itching for change.

I don’t know how long the Pico/ Olympic plan was in the works, but it’s a breath of fresh air. The article in the Los Angeles Times yesterday quotes a Westside neighborhood council chairwomam who wished the city took more steps in working with locals before moving forth on the project. On a past one-way street proposal, she proclaimed that it “was unacceptable because she could not have gotten ‘to my house anymore.’" With that kind of individualistic thinking, I’m glad that she wasn’t involved this time around.

If neighborhood councils and community representatives oppose and speak out about traffic solutions that can benefit drivers, workers and residents all at once, then their interests should be placed on the backburner. It seems obvious to say it, but the interest of the community on the whole should be valued more than local homeowners who like things the way they are, thank you very much.

Kudos to Villaraigosa, Jack Weiss, Yaroslavsky and those involved in the transportation committees for taking measures to improve traffic. I was very impressed with all the intelligent and dedicated civil servants, committee members and researchers who have devoted themselves to better incorporate feasible transportation solutions into our daily routines. I hope the Pico/Olympic plan is just one step in many to improve the current abysmal situation of gridlock.