The Avenue Plan aims to reduce traffic violence which has for too long been an issue on Hyperion and Fountain Avenues. Stakeholders are asking for life-saving improvements including new traffic signals to pulse vehicular traffic, high visibility crosswalks, and accessible curb cuts at five priority locations:
- Hyperion/Evans
- Hyperion/Scotland
- Hyperion/Delongpre
- Hyperion/Fountain
- Fountain/Bates
Community members also identified the need for more shade trees, planted parkways, wider and continuously accessible sidewalks, and pedestrian level lighting to encourage active mobility within a 1-mile radius or 20-minute walk zone. These short trips are often enough to get from home to school, offices, grocery shopping or restaurants without necessitating a car.
By Taking Action you support public investment in The Avenue Plan and its mission of reducing traffic violence on Hyperion, building Safe Routes to School, promoting businesses, and forging regional linkages to destinations beyond Los Feliz and Silver Lake.
Regional Connections
graphics by Corsini Stark Architects and Lyric Design & Planning
The Avenue is uniquely poised for prioritization as a Complete Street because of its connections to Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Atwater Village, Griffith, Elysian Park, Echo Park, Glendale and Hollywood. Furthermore, it has the potential to link neighborhoods utilizing Metro bus, Metro Micro, and DASH lines. This is a stretch of road that has been transitioning from a very auto-centric artery to one that has seen much more pedestrian activity due to the increase in restaurants, retail, and creative office spaces over the years.
Destinations within 1/2-mile of The Avenue include the Silver Lake Reservoir, The Los Angeles River Greenway, Griffith Park, Barnsdall Park, and Rowena Reservoir – all active social spaces that could be easily accessed through a safe street corridor. On top of this list, at least a dozen schools are within the 10-minute walking radius of The Avenue.
Given that over 50% of vehicular trips are less than 3 miles*, we believe transforming The Avenue into a pleasant and easy to navigate street would increase the desire to walk, bike, and roll to schools, shops, and restaurants within a short radius. If that happens, the number of overall vehicular trips could be reduced.
In the long term, we envision The Avenue Plan as a catalyst for expanding DASH and Metro Bus to conveniently bring neighborhood fans to Dodger Stadium and commuters to the Glendale Metrolink Rail Station with a direct route – all leading to fewer cars on the road.
The high-level physical improvements in this proposal dovetail with LA’s Vision Zero, Green New Deal, Safe Routes to School, and Mobility Plan 2035. Intersecting neighborhood mobility plans by Sunset 4 All and Silver Lake Forward work in concert with Hyperion Street Safety to build great health and social equity for our community.
Safety Now
On January 16, 2019, Cristina Garcia, mother of three, was killed when a car hit her on a Hyperion sidewalk near Delongpre. On June 24, 2008, a mail carrier was killed in a car crash at Hyperion and Lyric.
Our team conducted a collision analysis that revealed a troubling amount of car crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists. Most of these occurred during the day, with clear weather, on dry streets, and under no unusual road conditions, which suggests that the infrastructure of The Avenue does not provide sufficient protection to pedestrians or cyclists.
In addition to fatalities that have occurred in the past ten years, several business storefronts and sidewalk zones have experienced crashes over the years. These dangers can be mitigated with physical improvements.
It’s time for safety now.
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