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SB 194 puts politics ahead of safety and jeopardizes long-planned improvements to one of Los Angeles’ dangerous roads
SACRAMENTO, CA — Streets For All today condemned SB 194, a legislative proposal that threatens critical safety improvements planned for Forest Lawn Drive in Los Angeles.
After years of planning, LADOT developed the Forest Lawn Drive Safety & Mobility Project to address dangerous speeding and unsafe lane changes and provide safer infrastructure for people biking along the corridor.
The need is clear. Between 2013 and 2023, Forest Lawn Drive saw 95 crashes, three of which resulted in someone being severely injured or killed, including a deadly car crash just two weeks ago in front of Mt. Sinai Cemetery. Nearly three-quarters of motorists exceed the speed limit, with vehicles traveling an average of 44 mph.
Last minute language added to a budget trailer bill in SB 194
Yet after opposition from cemeteries along the corridor, SB 194 would have the State Legislature intervene in this local safety project, putting years of work to make Forest Lawn Drive safer at risk.
“The cemetery has enough customers. California lawmakers shouldn’t help send it more,” said Michael Schneider, CEO of Streets For All. “People have already been seriously injured and killed on Forest Lawn Drive. After years of work to finally make this street safer, Sacramento is threatening that progress because powerful interests objected. Politics should never come before human lives.”
The legislation would establish a troubling precedent far beyond Forest Lawn Drive. Rather than allowing transportation professionals and local governments to respond to documented safety problems, Sacramento would be intervening in the design of an individual Los Angeles street after opponents of the project objected.
“Imagine if every powerful property owner who disliked a bike lane, bus lane, crosswalk, or traffic-calming project could turn to Sacramento to threaten it,” Schneider continued. “California cannot achieve its safety, climate, or transportation goals if political intervention can jeopardize meaningful street-safety improvements after years of local planning.”
Forest Lawn Drive is an important connection to Griffith Park for people walking, running, and biking. The planned project is intended to discourage excessive speeding and dangerous lane changes and provide greater protection for vulnerable road users.
Streets For All is calling on members of the California Legislature to reject SB 194, stop putting politics ahead of road safety, and protect the Forest Lawn Drive Safety & Mobility Project.
“We know this road is dangerous. We know people have been seriously hurt and killed. We know how to make it safer,” Schneider said. “The question for Sacramento is simple: when human lives are at stake, are you going to choose safety or politics?”
“Forest Lawn Drive should be a road that passes a cemetery—not a road that sends people to one.”