LA says bike lanes on Pico will improve safety. Sellers are afraid of falling

On a recent weekday afternoon, cars were already parked to bump into each other on the residential streets along Pico Boulevard. On the road itself, parking lots were full as drivers were injured on the busy road.

The corridor is full of small businesses: neighborhood markets and nail salons, repair shops, sign makers and restaurants.

Business owners say they realize Pico Boulevard has a speed problem and can be dangerous for pedestrians.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation wants to make the corridor safer for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers. But that will come at the cost of 228 parking spaces, which are already hard to come by in the area.

LADOT will realign 3.5 miles of Pico Boulevard between Crenshaw Boulevard and Figueroa Street to reduce high speeds and unsafe turns and lane changes. The agency says the project is intended to improve safety by adding a left turn lane and emergency vehicles, protected bike lanes and “dual crossing” traffic signals at Manhattan Place and New Hampshire Avenue. The Department of Transportation will also repair sidewalks and intersections.

To make room, the city will remove parking on the north side of the street and reduce the travel lanes from two to one in each direction. Construction is scheduled to begin by the end of the year.

City officials say the changes are needed after years of serious accidents. Between 2014 and 2023, 75 crashes in this Pico episode resulted in serious injuries or deaths. About three-quarters involved people walking or riding bicycles, and all 11 of the fatalities were pedestrians, according to LADOT.

Jose Gonzalez, owner of Jagarhaus, a gallery and event space that has been in the area for six years, supports many of the proposed developments downtown. But removing a full side of parking on small commercial streets doesn’t make sense to him

Joey Bang, who has operated Sign Art in Pico for two decades, said parking is already a struggle for both businesses and nearby residents.

“There is already enough parking,” said Bang. “Even the residents of the park that is next to here before because there is not enough parking space, if they finish this parking lot, the number of cars will decrease significantly.

Bang said he had not been contacted by LADOT before a visit last month by department representatives who told him about the project.

Bang said he would be riding if Pico was a wider road. He is also worried about how the construction will affect his business.

“Small businesses are struggling,” he said. “If this happens, Pico as we know it will end.”

The city’s Department of Transportation began contacting the public in May 2025 and spent about a year gathering responses from businesses and residents, according to spokesman Colin Sweeney. The organization said it went door-to-door, sent notices to 1,842 nearby addresses, distributed door hangers, met with the Byzantine Latino Quarter Business Improvement District, emailed stakeholders, conducted research and shared information online. Communication services were available in English, Spanish, Korean and K’iche’.

LADOT said it reached more than 2,500 people, and 75% of survey respondents favored a design that included protected bike lanes.

The construction will be completed in phases over a period of one year. Sweeney said the city will notify residents and businesses before work begins, and LADOT will provide traffic control and detour assistance during construction.

The project is one of the largest street realignment projects moving forward as Los Angeles implements Measure HLA.

Lorenzo Martinez, owner of Olympic Tools, learned about the project in June when someone brought him a plane. Martinez has a few parking spots behind his business, but he said trucks still need to stop in front to make deliveries.

“If the trucks can’t park in front, that will affect me,” said Martinez. “I like the way it’s going now. I don’t really see many bikes here. I want it to stay the way it is.”

Sweeney said LADOT continues to make changes to the project, including adding loading bays, creating more parking on the south side of Pico and nearby streets, relocating some bus stops and identifying additional ADA-accessible parking spaces. Peak hour parking restrictions will also be lifted.

Fashion designer Galadriel Mattei owns a brick-and-mortar clothing store on the same long block between Union Avenue and Bonnie Brae Street.

He said the lack of lanes and crosswalks makes it difficult for customers to reach his business, especially the elderly and the disabled who need to park nearby.

He also worries that customers will end up parking deep in the lot, adding pressure to busy streets.

“With areas like this that have a lot of people, it’s always a fine line of how businesses interact with the people who live here,” Mattei said.

A bicyclist himself, Mattei said he’s not opposed to bike lanes or other safety improvements. He admits that drivers often speed on Pico and that the road can be dangerous for pedestrians. But what worries him is that the city’s design doesn’t account for how the block actually works.

During the school year, parking on the north side of Pico is restricted for a few hours each day to students dropping off from a nearby school, he said, forcing drivers into his side of the road.

Hanna Kang writes for LA Local, a nonprofit newsroom serving the communities of Los Angeles.