LABJ FORUM – Stuck on the Streets
As summer really kicks into gear, it appears that street repairs around town are in overdrive. Bulldozers block traffic, streets are closed for resurfacing. Constant road repair is a fact of urban life. It translates into added time and stress. So the Business Journal asks:
How has ongoing road construction affected your commute?
Helen Watts
Senior Vice President and Managing Principal
Interior Space International
I live all of two miles from the office, but UCLA is doing their residential project on Veteran. It’s very high-density student housing, and there’s often delays of trucks moving materials. So I’m still affected by construction. In the morning if they have trucks coming in and loading it can take me twice as long. I can spend only 10 minutes driving but 10 minutes held up. So, when you look at percentages, that’s pretty high. Even so, for anybody else a 20 minute drive would be nothing.
Jason Elkin
Executive Recruiter
Kforce Inc.
There’s a lot of construction on the freeways. One of the things I’m going to do is rent the townhouse I own (in Chatsworth) and buy another in Sherman Oaks. I want to take myself off the freeway completely. We need to look at different types of processes for how Caltrans goes about designing the projects. A lot of these things seem like quick fixes, they’re not long term. There will just be more construction a couple years later.
David Rosenthal
Managing Director
Curtis-Rosenthal LLC
I live in Pacific Palisades. There’s one construction project going off the 405, exiting on La Tijera heading westbound. It seems to have been handled well and I’ve had no problems with the construction. The construction on Santa Monica Boulevard does make life difficult when I go to visit clients. I always have to schedule some extra time. I’m awfully glad I don’t have to deal with that on a daily basis.
James A. Nakaoka
President
J.T. Nakaoka Associates Architects
We are right on the corner of Santa Monica and Beverly Glen, near Avenue of the Stars. It’s probably the worst section of construction in L.A. We have been impacted for the whole year, but it has been particularly bad for the past two months. I’ve done everything possible to avoid it. I’ve taken Olympic, Westwood, Wilshire, everything. They are doing rerouting of the roads, so there are about six lanes coming together. You can’t get through the signal. And if you have to wait for a second light, it’s like “Oh my gosh, I want to shoot myself!”
Paola de Mari
Executive Director
Italy-America Chamber of Commerce West Inc.
Lately my commute has been longer because of construction. I come from Pacific Palisades to my office in Century City. When I leave work, the way back is 20 to 25 minutes. It used to be 10 minutes in the morning. Everyone gets out at 5 p.m., but in the morning some people go out at 8 or 9 or 10. There has been a lot of construction for two months close to my building. The whole Westside is under construction and that doesn’t help any of us.
Leon Blankstein
Executive Vice President
American Business Bank
As much as the projects are needed, I wish they could be conducted from nine in the evening until five in the morning. The city is already undergoing an obvious logjam, and the effect on commerce is probably incalculable. I drive 29 miles every day between home and work. So, time-wise I’m probably affected 10 or 15 minutes each day. I think that’s a lot, especially if you’re driving an hour because then if it’s an hour and 15 minutes it can really put a crimp in your day.
