Eyes on the Street: MyFigueroa Goes Green, Looks Nearly Ready

This story sponsored by Los Angeles Metro to remind readers of traffic pattern changes resulting from Purple Line Construction. Unless noted in the story, Metro is not consulted for the content or editorial direction of the sponsored content.

The city of L.A. Transportation Department appears to be nearing completing construction on the MyFigueroa complete streets project. Over the past week, the project received quite a bit of “fresh kermit” – new green paint to designate bike lanes. MyFig includes more than two miles of protected bike lanes, plus various features designed to improve walking and transit.

MyFigueroa has had a somewhat rocky history, weathering some compromises to settle a lawsuit. The project broke ground in October 2016, with completion then anticipated in 2017. It has been visibly under construction for more than a year.

The main portion of MyFigueroa extends along Figueroa Street from 8th Street downtown to Exposition Boulevard between Exposition Park and USC. Figueroa’s new green markings are intermittent, highlighting merging areas and other conflict zones.

Figueroa now has more than a dozen bicycle signals, which prevent conflict between cyclists and right-turning drivers. Figueroa is the second street in the city to have bicycle signals; the first was Los Angeles Street. The signals have already been installed, though they are currently covered.

Also similar to Los Angeles, My Figueroa features floating bus islands to minimize conflict between buses and bicyclists.

Though the parking-protected bike lane striping appears mostly complete, drivers are still parking along the curb, in the lane now designated for bicycling. There are signs posted explaining the new system. Hopefully as construction is completed, drivers will better understand and comply with the new system.