WEST HOLLYWOOD—The city of West Hollywood will be installing various safety treatments on Fountain Avenue as part of a coordinated plan to heighten pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular safety.
According to a press release from the city of West Hollywood, in October 2018, the City’s Department of Public Works added five new high-visibility striped crosswalks to Fountain Avenue at: N. Harper Avenue; Havenhurst Drive; N. Hayworth Avenue; N. Formosa Avenue; and N. Detroit Street. The crosswalks include small refuge islands in the center of the road to reduce the exposure of pedestrians crossing and increase motorist awareness of pedestrians crossing. The islands have noticeable bright yellow paddle signs, which face lanes of traffic.
Other safety treatments include bulb-outs at intersection corners to decrease crossing distances and boost pedestrian safety, as well as selected right-turn-only signs in order to reduce potential conflict points. In the coming weeks, pavement-embedded lights will be added to the edges of the new crosswalks in order to increase visibility.
The continuous movement of dense vehicular traffic and pedestrians in close proximity is a consistent challenge in the region and in cities across the nation. West Hollywood is continuously exploring a variety of measures to address safety. In October 2014, the West Hollywood’s City Council approved a plan with three unique aims to improve pedestrian safety: Engineering, Enforcement, and Education.
The city installed several new signalized pedestrian crosswalks along Santa Monica Boulevard and added bicycle lanes on Fairfax Avenue. West Hollywood installed solar-powered radar speed indicator signs along Fountain Avenue and on N. San Vicente Boulevard in order to remind motorists to drive within the speed limit, and additional radar speed indicator signs will be installed on N. Doheny Drive in the coming weeks. The trailer-mounted Electronic Variable Message Signs were placed at key locations within the area to urge drivers to slow down and abide by posted speed limits.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies from the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station regularly issue citations for speeding, handheld phone calls, texting while driving, throwing waste out of moving vehicles, driving without headlights, illegal turns, not stopping for pedestrians in the crosswalk, and jaywalking, among other infractions.
In relation to education efforts, the city of West Hollywood has produced Alice in WeHoLand, as a humorous West Hollywood-themed parody of Taylor Swift’s song “Shake It Off” conceived by YouTube sensation Todrick Hall. The public service announcement received close to two-million views and is posted on YouTube at https://youtu.be/4OCPSYRfT6o.
For more details, call West Hollywood’s Department of Public Works at (323) 848-6375 or Public Safety Department at (323) 848-6414. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, call TTY (323) 848-6496. For up-to-date news and events, follow the city of West Hollywood on social media @WeHoCity and sign up for news updates at www.weho.org/email.
