Section of road to be blocked to cars

To prevent cars from using it as a commuter cut-through, a three-quarter mile section of a main road through Griffith Park recently was closed to private vehicle traffic.

Pedestrian and bicycle safety groups, who’ve advocated for the change for nearly a decade, celebrated Saturday the closure of an L-shaped section of Griffith Park Drive roughly between Travel Town, near Zoo Drive, through the eastern rolling hills to the park’s composting facility.

By prohibiting cars along the section of a main park road, it allows pedestrians, hikers, bicyclists and equestrians to travel in safety while enjoying the park’s natural surroundings instead of looking over their shoulders for speeding traffic, advocates said.

“This is not a closure. It is an opening to everyone outside of a car,” said Michael Schneider, founder and executive director of Streets For All, speaking at the gathering at the closed section that attracted about 100 people, mostly cyclists.

Though still a pilot program, Damian Kevitt, founder and executive director of Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE), said the closed portion will be transformed into a path for active users, connecting with Mount Hollywood Drive, which already is car-free.

During peak times, motorists would exit from Forest Lawn Drive off the 134 Freeway onto Griffith Park Drive and cut through the park, avoiding the congested 5 Freeway.

“It is a park. This is not a community corridor. It was never meant to have corridors for cars that are dangerous for bicyclists, pedestrians and families,” Kevitt said Friday in an interview.

Griffith Park is the largest park in the United States that still allows cars to drive through it, he said.

On April 16, cyclist Andrew Jelmert, 77, was hit and killed by a driver allegedly driving while intoxicated and going 80 mph on Crystal Springs Drive, another park road used as a cut-through for motorists often directed by GPS apps. The tragedy launched a petition drive and resulted in the closure on June 27 by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, led by City Council Member Nithya Raman.

The no-car ban is a pilot program. Advocates are hoping it becomes permanent, Kevitt and Schneider said. They support other changes that would make the park less dangerous to cyclists and equestrians, such as barriers between car lanes and cyclists and better walking and cycling access to the park.

“My long-term vision is to close off all of the park to cars,” said André Goeritz of Silverlake, who was Jelmert’s husband and attended the rally on his bicycle. The two men were married in 2008 and had been together for 28 years, he said.

Jelmert was finishing a 67mile training ride in preparation for the 545-mile AIDS Ride from San Francisco to L.A., benefiting the SanFrancisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Jelmert had completed five rides in his life and was just 0.3 miles from finishing the training ride when he was killed, his husband said.

Cyclists, pedestrians and equestrians all have stories of near-misses and some have been hit by vehicles while riding or walking. They let out a holler when the inaugural ride began shortly after 9:30 a.m.

One rider came through the closed-off section early Saturday, exclaiming: “Good morning! I didn’t get killed by a car today!”

Diane Bernert, of Culver City, and her horse, Sage, were looking forward to riding the no-car section.

“It is so fantastic,” she said.