City Opens Closed Road to Traffic in Griffith Park

The City of Los Angeles recently opened a section of Mount Hollywood Drive that has been closed to traffic since 1991for a feasibility study on relieving traffic congestion around the Griffith Observatory. Part of the reason for the increase in traffic is due in part by the city trying to relieve traffic congestion (and soothe angry neighbors) in the Beachwood Canyon area. With Los Angeles seeing an uptick in tourism, out-of-towners have flooded the canyon to snap pictures of the fabled Hollywood Sign. City planners means of handling the situation was to simply redirect traffic to the eastern side of Griffith Park and anger homeowners in the Vermont Avenue Ferndell Avenue areas. Vermont Avenue already sees it fair share of traffic with access to both the observatory and the Greek Theatre. Shifting additional traffic there seems little more than a poke in the eye to the neighborhood residents. As a result, the city decided to turn 1.1 miles of the formerly closed Mount Hollywood Drive into a temporary parking lot. This has the double result of inviting more cars to enter the park through Vermont and Ferndell Avenues while reducing the 'wilderness' area of the nation's largest urban wilderness park. While the city is calling this a temporary decision and a feasibility study, outdoor enthusiasts are already rallying to prevent the situation from becoming permanent. A petition is already circulating on change.org asking for a ban on cars and trams on Mount Hollywood Drive. You can find the petition here. Sandi Hemmerlein has also written an informative article on the situation for KCET as shown below.