Traffic jam: South Bay lobbying forces L.A. to take Vista Del Mar off its ‘road diet,’ but congestion solutions remain elusive
Illustration by Tim Teebken First in a series Anna Prus showed up toward the end of the public participation period of a Hermosa Beach City Council meeting last month. Mayor Justin Massey was preparing to close public comment when Prus hurried toward the dais. Although she apologized for showing up late, her tardiness had everything to do with her appearance at the meeting. Prus works at UCLA and, like many South Bay residents who commute to the Westside, took Vista Del Mar to work. So when recent lane closures on the road began prolonging her commute, Prus turned to local officials for help. “I’ve been working at UCLA for nine years. It used to take me 40 minutes to get home. Tonight I left at 6 p.m. and got here at 7:42. So the quality of life is severely down,” she said. Prus was one of about a dozen residents to address the council about Vista Del Mar that night. They urged the council to lobby the City of Los Angeles to eliminate the lane closures. They said the road reconfigurations had added 30 to 45 minutes to their daily commute. After extensive pressure from South Bay cities — and a still-active campaign to recall Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin, in whose…
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