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L.A.’s Big Plans for Biking and Walking Spark Fears of Gridlock

Mayor Eric Garcetti says the city needs to promote neighborhoods accessible by bike, bus or public transit.

Change is not coming easy to the car-dominated streets of Los Angeles. Ian Lovett reports for the New York Times that a sweeping municipal plan to create hundreds of miles of lanes reserved for bikes, walkers and buses has sparked gridlock fears. That’s because some streets would become off-limits to cars.
Mayor Eric Garcetti and the City Council aim to transform one of America’s most car-loving cities into a pedestrian paradise. The Mobility Plan 2035, as the initiative is called, is designed to encourage motorists to consider cleaner alternatives, the article says.

Some residents fear the worst: total meltdown on the streets. This is, after all, a city already known for miles-long traffic jams. Lawsuits aimed at blocking the plan are in the works, the Times notes.

Garcetti counters that the car-centric days of old, when L. A. could be quickly traversed by automobile, are over. He’s encouraging “self-contained” neighborhood development that offers residents a wide selection of shopping and entertainment without straying far from home. 


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This article originally appeared on Citiscope. Citiscope is a nonprofit news outlet that covers innovations in cities around the world. More at Citiscope.org.