Honolulu Avenue Will Have a Road Diet Test

It's time to tune your bicycle and dust off your helmet: Montrose and La Crescenta will have a test road diet running along Honolulu Avenue following Glendale City Council's approval of the plan Wednesday. 

The route starts at one end of Montrose Shopping Park at Las Palmas Avenue and moves west to Ramsdell Avenue, Erik Yesayan of Walk Bike Glendale told Patch. The plan could extend further west depending on city funding and varied from the original seven options that were presented, he said. 

City council members and locals discussed the benefits and drawbacks of a road diet test and overwhelmingly passed the test case, with only council member Dave Weaver opposing the road diet.

The road diet case was discussion since a . Since then, Glendale’s Public Works Department has worked to research the potential benefits pedestrians and bikers could receive from a road diet. After a recent meeting, Glendale’s Public Works Department decided to add a seventh option to the for the test case program. The road diet would be implemented over a year along with extensive community outreach.

Jano Baghdanian, the Traffic and Transport Administrator of Glendale, was the first to address the issue and detailed the recommended options for the test case program. Baghdanian explained that the estimated cost of the road diet ranged from $35,000 to $125,000 and would be allocated from Transportation Development Act funds.

Many people who asked to speak were members or supporters of the pedestrian, biking community. 

“Our café has become somewhat of stopover for a lot of the cyclists, especially in the morning during rush hour and we want to help out,” said Daniel Richardson, who represented Leon Café and Bakery. “We do want to support our patrons and the community by providing safe access to the roads for all local transportation in Glendale.”

Ryan Burg, a Montrose resident, mentioned his support of the road diet and pointed out that a successful test case was the Montrose Shopping Park that originally had four lanes and now has two.

“It’s a very popular to go shop and have dinner [in Montrose],” remarked Burg, who bikes to work and for recreation. “It’d be great if what’s in Montrose Shopping Park continues and it’s not the exact configuration that’s there, but I’d really support it.”

Those who disliked the road diet argued that the test case program would increase traffic congestion and that it was a questionable use of public funds.

“I, myself, think it’s ridiculous. You’re not taking into account the inconvenience to people,” commented Glendale resident Margaret Hammond. “Has the Homeowners Association been notified? I don’t think so, I don’t think people would approve.”

Glendale City Council voted to have the road diet to increase safety, to promote healthy living, to support a bike master plan set out by the County of Los Angeles, and to provide an alternative form of transportation.

Mayor Laura Friedman proposed the Public Works Department look into the Honolulu Avenue option that goes from Ramsdale Avenue to Pennsylvania Avenue, creating a two-foot wide buffer between motorists and bicyclists as well as a five-foot wide bicycle lane. 

People at the council meeting represented all of the Glendale community, not just bikers, but also business owners came out to support it, Yesayan said. 

"We were just really excited, it’s going to set a good example," Yesayan said.

Yesayan and other members of Walk Bike Glendale, a Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and Glendale advocacy group, hope this will set examples for other streets. Officials will see if more biking happens, or if it increases congestion. This Montrose road diet could lead to more road diets in Glendale, he said. 

"It’s a good first road diet test and street to test the road diet on because it’s used by a lot of people," Yesayan said. "I think it’s a good street to see the real benefits of it, because it’s mostly flat. I think a lot of people are going to be excited about using it."