City Likely to Remove the Bundy/Mayfield Stop Signs

It's likely the heavily-debated all way stop signs could be removed from the intersection of Bundy Drive and Mayfield Avenue in Brentwood, the community council learned Tuesday night.

Joaquin Macias, field deputy for City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl, said after talking with the Department of Transportation, the accident counts did not warrant all-way stop signs.

"We're looking into speed feedback signs, maybe a delineator," he said. "There's smaller things we're looking to do."

Macias also received feedback from the community council and the South Brentwood Residents Association, and Patch's coverage showed a strong divide between commuters and residents who live near the intersection. Ultimately, the decision for the stop sign removal could come as early as next week.

"Bill's extremely interested to find out what we can do to mitigate speeds on Bundy," Macias added.

Bundy Drive is classified by Los Angeles as a "collector street" running north-south between the thoroughfares of Wilshire and San Vicente boulevards. No similar north-south streets south of Bundy Drive connecting those two boulevards have this designation.

"Because it is situated and that is the classification, DOT went out based on complaints about speeding," Macias said. "They did whatever studies they could do."

Macias noted DOT initially opted to install the stop signs because the city likes traffic controls every 2,000 feet, and the Bundy Drive stop signs are approximately 3,000 feet from the next traffic stops.

Here's the mixed responses from the Brentwood Patch Facebook page based on Tuesday's meeting:

Emily Chrietzberg Ditch them!

Joseph S. Montemarano Remove them. They really back up traffic on Bundy. If you want to keep people from driving too fast, put a cop on the corner.

Christine Caldwell The LAPD should not be used to just keep people from speeding. This big city of ours has bigger concerns. The stop signs haven't even been there for 3 months! People need to get accustomed to them. The stop sign on Ohio Ave. @ Butler Ave. was thought to cause traffic back-up, but it is a massively traveled street that allows pedestrians to cross more safely, and another alternative to cross Ohio Ave. & Santa Monica Blvd. without having to use Barrington Ave. or Bundy Dr. That is all we (the South Brentwood neighborhood) are asking for on Bundy Drive.

Lisa Reingold Keep!

Todd Nathanson Good riddance!

Allison Streuter Yea so people in their yoga pants and BMWs can't drive 50mph down Bundy anymore to get to their 9:30am spin class on time.

Josh Yaghoubzadeh These stop signs need to absolutely stay. It's a safety issue. I wasn't at this meeting but if the Councilman's representative said that, then it's premature at best. A delegation of Bundy residents including myself have been in talks with their office about our safety need for the stop signs. Like we have said in the meetings, any traffic backup is only at rush hour traffic periods when there was backup before the stop sign anyway. Plus, Ohio has a stop sign on Butler and that causes some traffic backup, we haven't removed that one and neither should we remove this one. We were told by the Councilman's representatives that we would hear the Councilman's feedback soon. To hear this before they even responded to the hundreds of Bundy and area residents that have said loud and clear they need the stop signs for safety, plain upsets me and tells me we're not being treated fairly and respectfully.

Arianne Hefling A stoplight would be much more efficient for traffic and pedestrian safety.

SoCal Life I live in that area, and definitely something needs to be done to mitigate huge traffic problems. That said, it seems the decision to put in a stop sign was not well researched; it's as though someone said, "We'll just put a stop sign there," without any real insight to the overall issues in that area. It's produced tremendous backup to Wilshire Boulevard.

A few thoughts:

(1) At Wilshire & Bundy (south side of intersection), the two lanes continue north on Bundy even though almost immediately the lane drops to one lane (big issues there, as you also have turn ins at that block to Literati Cafe and Ralph's Grocery Store). City should consider the right lane on the south side of the Wilshire-Bundy intersection being a right-turn only lane onto Wilshire.

(2) The stretch of Bundy from Wilshire north to Montana curves, and drivers continually exhibit an inability to stay within lines and continually speed through the area. Police issuing speeding tickets would help. Additionally, while it would be more of an investment than a stop sign, I believe the city should look at installing planted medians down the middle as a way to slow down traffic (rather than a stop sign), yet keep it flowing.

(3) There should be painted crosswalks at Mayfield and Bundy, as well as Bundy and the other residential streets that intersect Bundy on this stretch. Trying to cross as a pedestrian on that stretch of Bundy is a nightmare.

(4) The entrances to Ralph's grocery store s/b revisited. They pose safety/traffic issues, particularly at the one on Goshen nearest Bundy.

While we're on the issue, besides the new stop sign, the only investment I've seen the City do in this immediate area in 23 years is new bus benches. I'd like for them to replace the palm trees (on the Ralph's side of Bundy) that, if I recall correctly, were felled by lightning.

Related:

• VIDEO: Bundy Drive Resident Speaks Out About Stop Signs
• South Brentwood Residents Association Revisits Bundy/Mayfield Stop Signs [2 POLLS]
• Mixed Feelings Continue With the Bundy/Mayfield Stop Signs
• Are the Bundy/Mayfield Intersection Stop Signs Safer? [POLL]

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