In news that should be welcome by those of us who identify as human beings, a vital stretch of Van Nuys Boulevard will receive safety upgrades this summer.

For the section between Laurel Canyon and San Fernando Road, not only will the street get a road diet, but also a protected bike lane heading southbound.

There’s a lot of places where Van Nuys Blvd. could use this type of treatment, but this 4/5ths of a mile is probably the most important.

Bike lanes on Van Nuys Blvd. wouldn’t be necessary if everyday was like this!

A lot of people use this street just to get to work and currently, the spacing is just awkward enough that a lot of riders take to the sidewalks. Plus, getting from Van Nuys proper out to the northeast valley has been tenuous with the lack of bike infrastructure.

It is also important for the area to have a strong link to the San Fernando Road Bike Path as that will be a more valuable spine as it extends.

This is great news for Pacoima as even before the recent CicLAvia, you could see businesses on the upswing.

 

With the leadership of Felipe Fuentes and the participation of Pacoima Beautiful, you know that these improvements are important to the community.

If there is a little grain of salt, it comes from the future implementation of the East Valley Transit Corridor.

With Measure R’s November passage too close to call, if this initiative does go through, either a rail line or BRT will be laid out over the length of Van Nuys Blvd.

Mona Lisa is about to get more company.

I’ve heard a lot of worries that such an addition would jeopardize the bike lanes.

True. But think about this: would it be harder to keep them if they weren’t already there?

I’m sad to see Fuentes not run for another term, as he’s my favorite Councilmember in the valley.

But I’m glad he’s leaving us with a legacy.