It’s really happening: The bike- and pedestrian-friendly street improvements known as MyFigueroa is finally getting underway this summer. The website for LADOT’s Bike Program (via Urbanize LA) reports that construction will begin this summer to transform a four-mile stretch of Figueroa between Seventh Street in Downtown’s Financial District and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Exposition Park, with two offshoots along the way.
The makeover will include:
- A protected bike lane, totally separated from cars by physical barriers like raised curbs or a bus platform;
- Bike signals
- A dedicated lane for express buses like the Silver Line to use during rush hours
- Bus platforms
- Better street
- Wider sidewalks
(plus that dedicated bus lane).MyFigueroa has had its share of false starts, so some might be skeptical about the new construction start date.
LADOT transportation engineer and MyFigueroa project manager Tim Fremaux says while a precise start date hasn't been finalized, MyFig will definitely start this summer. He adds that a possible extension of the project's funding deadline (funding was set to expire in March 2017, says Los Angeles magazine) won’t affect the project’s timeline. It’s already planned to be done by early 2017.
At its northern point, MyFigueroa will join up with some people-friendly street improvements on Seventh Street with the help (and money) of the developers of the Wilshire Grand. The Wilshire Grand is set to open in March 2017, right around the time the funding (if unextended) will expire for MyFig. It would be very cool indeed to see all three open together.