You read the headline right. Last night at a well attended meeting at Chevy Chase, the announcement was made with

the Superintendent of Griffith Park, Joe Salaices, Department of Recreation and Parks General Manager, Michael Shull, and Councilmember David Ryu, on hand that Mount Hollywood Drive would be closed to shuttles.

In the face of handling the great influx of tourists, this is great news for cyclists and hikers seeking to find space where they can venture free of fear of cars.

Of course, there is more to the Griffith Park Circulation & Traffic Enhancement Plan. Additional shuttle service will be provided to visitors south of Los Feliz Blvd. and connected to the Metro Red Line which will start on Saturday, March 19th. So soon…

In addition, Observatory Drive will turn to metered parking which will include congestion pricing to help fund the shuttles.

I arrived late and had to leave early(whole family fighting the flu), so I missed some of the other details, but I did arrive in time for public comment. Clearly, not everyone was expecting this outcome, but there was still some dissatisfaction with the plan.

Gerry Hans, President of Friends of Griffith Park, along with a number of appointees from the Griffith Park Advisory Board, shared their concerns about protecting the park’s environment and preserving the fragile Western Canyon area with even more visitors expected to visit.

You can call this a victory, in the sense that we expected such doom, but there will be a number of details that will have to be addressed to retain the park’s character.

If you still want to comment about the plan, you have until Friday to share your views. Please email all the contacts below.

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

Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks: paul.j.davis@lacity.com