NCVV and the office of Councilmember Paul Krekorian hosted a community Traffic Safety Summit on Wednesday, March 23.  Well over 100 people packed the Colfax School auditorium to hear about efforts of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) and LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division to increase safety for everyone in the San Fernando Valley – those in cars, those who walk and those on bikes.

The meeting began with comments by Mr. Krekorian about the city’s plans to better coordinate transportation and address alarming statistics related to speeding and unsafe driving.  Joining Mr. Krekorian were LADOT General Manager Seleta Reynolds who presented VISION ZERO – a project that plans to eliminate traffic fatalities by 2025, Officer Troy Williams who showed the audience the dangers of high speed driving and a plan to enforce speed limits, and Traffic Engineer Brian Gallagher who reviewed ways that communities can take steps to “calm traffic” in their neighborhood.

At the conclusion of the presentations, NCVV President Tony Braswell hosted at 45 minute panel discussion which allowed stakeholders to ask questions of the presenters.  Over 40 questions were submitted, and 15 were addressed by the panelists.  Topics discussed included cut through traffic in Valley Village, the need for master planning of transportation, requests for speed enforcement, pedestrian safety around schools, safety for cyclists, loud cars and drag racing, how to get better street lighting, and requests for traffic calming measures such as stop signs and speed humps.  Mr. Krekorian’s staff committed to work with NCVV to answer any questions that weren’t answered directly during the meeting.   The LADOT staff were onsite to open “cases” for stakeholders who brought specific requests to the meeting.

“Traffic concerns are one of the top issues we deal with on our NCVV Board” said Jeffrey Walker, Chair of NCVV’s City Services Committee.  “We were pleased to facilitate this meeting and give our stakeholders a chance to present their questions directly to the departments who can address them.”