Hello, and Goodbye

Hello traffic, goodbye tranquility. It will be the only outcome, yet the City of Los Angeles Parks Department seems dead set on putting in motion a plan that will lead to just that - increased traffic, and a lot less serenity, in the city's largest public park, Griffith. 

Interestingly, or not, this is not the first time the same agency has sold out to the automobile. I made mention of this at the CLR Effect's predecessor blog, the Claremont Cyclist. I always had a fondness for the park, having lived outside its boundary in Burbank for a number of years, its twisty, quiet, and crumbly roads were long a retreat from more hectic streets. Then, when my son was younger, I took the family back there for a ride, but promised myself that we would never come back - Riverside Drive and other auto-permitted roads were just to unsettling, dominated by speed crazed and bike lane encroaching idiots. That is a promise I have kept, though I have been back myself, never with the family. Each of those times back have included a required ride up and along Mt. Hollywood Drive, and the iconic Trash Truck Hill, both long closed to motor vehicles. Now the park wants to open these and one of the few paved car-free areas will be lost. Lost to cyclists. Lost to runners. Lost to hikers and walkers. Lost to equestrians. 

There have been some rumors that homeowners fed up with tourist traffic destined for the Hollywood sign are behind this mistaken effort (quite frankly, why anyone would wish to see, close up, a bunch of tall letters on a hillside is beyond my comprehension anyway), but shuttling the problem off to another area is hardly the answer. 

Anyway, if you go to CiclaValley, there is an email you can copy, paste, and send to concerned parties and decision makers. Let them know how wrong-headed the idea is. Apparently there is also a ride tomorrow, and you can check out the information at the Facebook event page. The ride will end up at the meeting where the proposed change will be discussed. Lets get to it, time is running out.