New Griffith Park Plan to Impact Hikers and Cyclists

The fury has returned. After all the uproar last year about opening up Mt. Hollywood Drive to cars last year, this Wednesday GriffithPlan03night the Department of Recreation and Parks along with Council Member David Ryu’s office will be presenting their proposal for a new parking and traffic plan for Griffith Plan.

To summarize, the future doesn’t look so bright. Here are some of the lowlights:

  • Parking fees at the Observatory and Western Canyon. While Mr. CiclaValley isn’t normally too opposed to parking fees, this will hurt locals who use the park regularly. Also, somewhere in the park’s charter it was stated that the land should be free to patrons.
  • Shuttles up to the “Hollywood Sign Viewing Area”. There will be stops on both sides of the road(see below) on a tight bend that just spells disaster. Couple downhill cyclists with unaware tourists crossing the road at a poor vantage point and what’s going to happen? You could argue this is a set up to make cyclists look bad and a reason to close off the road!GriffithPlan01a
  • Oh, the shuttles won’t just stop there. They will continue up another half a mile to 3 Mile Tree where they’ll have another stop for people wanting to get out and hike. In other words, if you’re used to strolling up this section going for your daily walk, you’ll now be pushed off the road for these shuttles. Think the park isn’t that fragile? look at these trees that were removed just months ago:GriffithPlan02

There’s a lot more to this plan that needs investigation and you’re welcome to go through it in depth.

What I urge you to do is one of three things(or all):

  1. Attend the Griffith Park Traffic & Parking Plan Presentation Wednesday night(20th) at 7:00pm in the Friendship Auditorium on 3201 Riverside Drive(just south of Los Feliz Blvd.)
  2. Email the statement below to the addresses at the bottom(don’t forget to fill in “your name“).
  3. Forward the email to friends, family and your whole contact box

Email:

As a cyclist and hiker who regularly hikes and rides Mt. Hollywood I urge you all to not open the Mt Hollywood gates to city shuttle traffic. It will create a hazard for equestrians, hikers and cyclists on the Mt. Hollywood Drive, will disturb the serenity of one of the most popular trails and areas of Griffith Park, harm the environment and needlessly congest a wild area.

Thank you,

(your name)

General Manager, Michael Shull: Michael.A.Shull@lacity.org
Superintendent of Griffith Park, Joe Salaices: joe.salaices@lacity.org
Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners: RAP.Commissioners@LACity.org
LA City Council Member David Ryu: cd4.issues@lacity.org