Playa Del Rey Task Force Created For Street Safety

PLAYA DEL REY, CA – A task force has been named by Councilmember Mike Bonin Friday to evaluate road safety projects in Playa del Rey, as well as for the 20 members to make recommendations to the City on how best to improve safety on the streets of the neighborhood.

Members will begin meeting next week, assisted by a professional facilitator, and will have 90 days to make recommendations to the public, to Bonin and to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) on whether to keep, remove or alter changes made to several local roads in recent months, according to the press release. The panel's recommendations will be featured at an open house and online, where the public will be able to comment.

“Since the City made changes to the configuration of Culver Boulevard, Jefferson Boulevard, Pershing Drive and Vista Del Mar a few months ago, my constituents have made abundantly clear the need for further public participation and evaluation of all options for improving the neighborhood’s streets,” Bonin said in a statement. “We are fixing that. This panel will make recommendations—and the public will weigh in—on how best to make our streets safer and reduce dangerous collisions.”

The panel is composed of a range of stakeholders, according to Bonin, with different backgrounds, perspectives, and differing viewpoints on the road reconfigurations, which reduced lanes in order to slow speeds and improve safety. The panel includes some of the earliest champions of the City projects and some of those same projects’ fiercest critics.

“The task force will analyze data, community feedback and available financial resources to make short-term and long-term recommendations to reduce speeding and improve safety on Playa del Rey streets,” Bonin said in the press release. “All proposals to improve safety will be on the table, with the goal of making the neighborhood safer, more walkable and more livable while reducing traffic congestion.”

A full list of members of the Task Force:

• John Russo, a Playa del Rey resident and leader in Keep PDR Moving.
• Julie Ross, a longtime Playa del Rey resident and early champion of the road safety projects.
• Jim McCafferty, a Playa del Rey resident opposed to the lane reductions.
• Mike Monaghan, a Playa del Rey resident who supports the city projects.
• Nancy Brown, a resident of the Breakers at Westport Condominium Homeowners Association, which has filed suit against the lane reductions.
• Katie Clarke, a young mother from Playa del Rey who supports the lane reductions.
• Brooke Eaton, a Playa Vista resident active with Keep LA Moving, which has sued the City over the projects.
• Marcia Hanscom, an environmental activist and Playa del Rey resident who supports the lane reductions.
• Lisa Schwab, owner of Cantalini's Salerno Beach Restaurant on Culver Boulevard, and outspoken critic of the lane changes.
• Ryan Wewers, a Playa del Rey resident and advocate for the projects.
• Kevin White, a Playa del Rey resident opposed to the projects.
• Jennifer Dakoske, a Playa del Rey resident and former head of ARSAC, who has been supportive of efforts to slow and curb traffic.
• Liz Hall, owner of the Inn at Playa del Rey and Chairman of the Board of the LAX Coastal Chamber of Commerce.
• Pamela Mayer, of the Prince O' Whales, a Playa del Rey business owned and operated by the Mayer family since 1972.
• Michele Cooley-Strickland, a Playa del Rey resident and member of the Neighborhood Council of Westchester-Playa.
• Greg Dina-Pham, a Westchester resident, graduate of Loyola Marymount University, and organizer of the Westchester Arts & Music Festival.
• Todd DiPaola, a Westside business owner and Manhattan Beach resident who has objected to the changes.
• Emilia Crotty, a pedestrian safety activist from LA Walks.
• Peter Flax, a cyclist from Manhattan Beach who has supported the lane reductions.
• Dave Pedersen, a former engineer with LA County Public Works and Manhattan Beach resident.

Bonin is hopeful that the task force will be an opportunity for neighbors with varying perspectives to find common ground, and is confident that there will be consensus towards making safety a top priority.

Photo via Andrew Hayward/Flickr