[The following mid-year update was written by the organization and then sent to us for further sharing.]

Streets For All is proud to share our progress implementing our Venice Boulevard For All initiative, which strives to make active and public transit more efficient, reliable, safe, and accessible for all people across Los Angeles. We have been hard at work organizing and advocating for the city to redesign the entirety of Venice Boulevard as a complete street - with dedicated bus lanes, better pedestrian infrastructure, and protected bicycle lanes. We have attended Neighborhood Council meetings across the city, collaborated with community members, local leaders, city officials, and transportation experts to advocate for these changes which would drastically improve the lives of thousands of Angelenos.

Launched in 2019, our Venice Blvd. For All initiative aims to make Venice Blvd. a complete street from the ocean to Downtown LA. Venice Boulevard is 13 miles long and is the only street fully within the City of Los Angeles that goes from the ocean to DTLA. From 2012-2022, 1,205 collisions occurred on the street and 58 people were killed or seriously injured. The street is more than 2x as wide as other major arterials; it has the capacity to accommodate multiple modes of transportation, but it is currently inefficient, dangerous, and inaccessible to most transit users who choose any mode of transportation other than a car.

After years of advocacy work, we were excited when LADOT and Metro opened nearly four miles of dedicated 24x7 bus lanes (the first outside of downtown!) and protected bike lanes.

Last year, we were fortunate enough to be awarded the LA2050 grant from the Goldhirsh Foundation. The purpose of the grant was to fund our work to extend Venice Blvd. For All to Downtown LA.

To that end, we got to work, spending the first months after receiving our grant talking to neighborhood councils, local community members, council offices, business improvement districts, LADOT and Metro. After giving presentations to their governing boards, we secured the support of the Pico Union Neighborhood Council, the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council, and the Downtown LA and Fashion District BIDS, which all complement our existing support from the other neighborhood councils along the boulevard’s route. On February 10th, we hosted a community bicycle ride in Mar Vista where over 60 attendees were able to ask questions, express community concerns, and gather together to learn more about our Venice Blvd. For All advocacy.

We discussed how to handle the need for both bike and bus infrastructure East of Arlington, where Venice Blvd. narrows significantly, and came up with a plan approved by both LADOT and Metro. You can view a map of the proposed treatment here.

As a next step, we are approaching the Olympic Park Neighborhood Council for support, and working with CD10 and CD1 to hopefully introduce a motion in the near future, directing LADOT to work with Metro and others to implement our plan. In addition to these concrete goals, we are excited to host two more in-person community pop-ups and a Zoom Q&A in the next three months to engage community members, share information about our initiative, answer questions, and organize support among local residents and transit-users.

You can learn more about Venice Boulevard For All and how to get involved with Streets For All on our website or dedicated Venice Blvd. For All campaign page. We are eager to keep folks posted about our continued progress and are grateful for the support from the LA2050 grant and the Goldhirsh Foundation.

At the CicLAvia on April 21st in Venice, our team set up a pop-up where we were able to answer community members’ questions, provide information about our Venice Blvd. For All initiative, and engage directly with local residents and transit-users.