Any time out-of-town visitors say they want to see the Walk of Fame, Angelenos start rattling off a dozen reasons why they shouldn’t. But a new city initiative is trying to turn Hollywood Boulevard into the type of destination you’d actually want to show off.
The “Access to Hollywood” project will introduce bus and bike lanes to Hollywood Boulevard, as well as widen sidewalks and improve pedestrian safety; it’ll also eliminate a lane of car traffic in each direction and slightly reduce on-street parking. Construction is set to begin by the end of the year and a temporary version could debut by early 2025; a still-in-design permanent implementation will follow.
If your memory can penetrate the fog of 2020, this might all sound familiar: The City of Los Angeles first unveiled concepts early that year for a similar makeover, with more details released in 2022 and work that was supposed to kick off in 2023. “Access to Hollywood” continues these same plans (under a slightly delayed timeline now) and unites it with an adjacent pedestrian safety initiative to the east. The result: a 3.6-mile span of Hollywood Boulevard, from La Brea Avenue to the intersection of Fountain Avenue and Sunset Boulevard, with protected bike lanes, as well as bus lanes from Orange Drive to Gower Street.
“This project is about making our community safer and transforming how residents, workers and visitors use Hollywood Boulevard,” said city councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, whose district the project falls within. “We know that if people come here, they will eat here, they will shop here and they will spend their money here. By building Hollywood around people instead of cars, we can revitalize this iconic destination.”
We’ll focus first on the 1.3-mile-long western section formerly known as the “Heart of Hollywood Concept Plan” or “Walk of Fame Master Plan.” Between Orange and Gower, a so-called “quick-build” implementation of the project will add bus-only lanes, boarding platforms and bus shelters. About four parking spaces per block (216 in total) will be eliminated to expand the sidewalk for pedestrians, with space for seating, bike racks, trash cans and landscaping. In most areas, bikes will be given a dedicated lane between buses and the sidewalk; near stations and pedestrian-packed areas, bikes will share the bus lane. Funded by Metro’s Active Transportation Program, this “quick-build” phase will include a mix of temporary and permanent elements, while the future full build-out will make all of these details permanent in segments, starting with the stretch from Wilcox to Gower.
To the east, the 2.3-mile “Vision Zero Project Area” will continue the bike lane through East Hollywood and into Silver Lake. The Bureau of Engineering-led project will also add bus lanes and expand sidewalks in spots.
A center turning lane will be added to the entire project area, as will three new crosswalks that allow pedestrians to stop traffic at the push of a button. The city estimates that drivers should expect to see one to five minutes of travel time added per mile, while bus times will be “greatly improved.”
For the city, safety underpins much of the entire $8 million project. This span of Hollywood Boulevard resides in what it dubs a “High Injury Network,” part of the 6% of L.A. streets that account for 70% of pedestrian deaths and severe injuries. Along the eastern side, between Gower Street and Lyman Place (that’s about a block over from the Vista Theatre), 56 people were killed or severely injured in 53 crashes between 2010 and 2019.
In addition to the traffic-related aims, the city notes that “Access to Hollywood” is part of a broader, more long-term plan to address homelessness in Hollywood (via more shelter beds, public bathrooms and improvements to the CIRCLE unarmed response program) as well as an initiative to attract new businesses.