The City of West Hollywood has an important election coming up this November, one that will determine if the city continues to be a beacon of progressive thought on transportation, or takes a step backwards.

Mayor John Erickson — a champion of things like bike lanes, micro mobility and pedestrian safety — is running for re-election, and current Councilmember Sepi Shyne has decided not to run for re-election, leaving an open seat.

Whoever fills Sepi’s seat will either tilt the council 3-2 towards progress, or be part of a 2-3 minority, threatening the progress that has been made.

Streets For All has been active in West Hollywood since 2020, endorsing candidates, and pushing for things like protected bike lanes on Fountain and the La Brea bus lane, among others.

Here are the things we feel are critical for a candidate running for West Hollywood City Council to support:

Protected bike lanes and pedestrian safety on Fountain. Back in November of 2022, we rallied and helped get Council to support installing protected bike lanes and pedestrian improvements on Fountain for the entire stretch of the city. However, staff has been slow to implement Council’s wishes, and it will be up to the next Council to get staff to move on this critical safety improvement for Fountain.
Protected bike lanes on Santa Monica Bl. Despite Council directing staff to move forward with upgrading the existing Santa Monica Bl bike lanes to protected in early 2023, staff has also been slow to move on implementation. These bike lanes are persistently blocked by valet, delivery drivers, and private vehicles. Upgrading the lanes to protected and extending them to La Brea will provide a key East-West bike route and link to Beverly Hills’ existing bike lanes.
The San Vicente Streetscape Plan. Council considered the San Vicente Streetscape Plan recently, and it’s a great opportunity to mostly pedestrianize San Vicente between Melrose and Santa Monica, as well as upgrade the existing bike lanes to protected through this stretch. Implementation will require political will and likely finding outside money to fund construction.
Protected bike lanes on Beverly Bl. The City of Beverly Hills recently installed protected bike lanes between Doheny and Santa Monica, and the City of West Hollywood has existing bike lanes planned for Beverly Bl from Doheny to San Vicente (city border) that Council recently directed them to upgrade to protected. It will be up to the next Council to push this forward.
Upgrade the San Vicente bike lanes to protected. With the City of Los Angeles is slowly upgrading their bike lanes on San Vicente to protected, and the City of Beverly Hills recently installing bike lanes on their portion, the City of West Hollywood should follow suit and upgrade existing bike lanes between Beverly Bl and Santa Monica Bl to protected, and then add new protected bike lanes between on San Vicente Santa Monica Bl and Sunset Bl.
Implement bike lanes on Doheny. The City of Beverly Hills recently added bike lanes on their section of Doheny, and the City of Los Angeles has plans to do the same between Burton Way and Beverly Bl. The City of West Hollywood should add bike lanes between Beverly Bl and Santa Monica Bl, working with the City of Beverly Hills (who has the West side of the street).
Improve Robertson Bl. In 2021, the City experimented with a pedestrian plaza on Robertson that they later took down. We should make pedestrianization of Robertson Bl between Santa Monica and Melrose permanent, which would connect nicely to the recently redone West Hollywood Park and be a boon to local businesses. South of Melrose, the City should add protected bike lanes between Melrose and Beverly Bl (city border), and also add curb bump outs to increase pedestrian safety.
Implement bus lanes on La Cienega. La Cienega is a priority route for Metro, and the City of Los Angeles has rush hour only bus lanes on its Mobility Plan 2035. The City of West Hollywood should add rush hour bus lanes on La Cienega, restricting parking during peak morning and afternoon rush hours, and making the lanes exclusive to buses and bikes.
Add bike lanes to Melrose. The City of Los Angeles has protected bike lanes on the Mobility Plan 2035 on Melrose for the entire stretch, between Orlando (city border) and Hoover. The City of West Hollywood should follow suit, and add protected bike lanes between Orlando and Doheny. This can be easily accomplished converting the existing diagonal parking between Huntley and Doheny to parallel, and getting rid of the center turn lane (and restricting left turns) between Huntley and Knoll Dr.
Expand Metro Bike Share. With the demise of WeHo Pedals bike share, the city currently has no bike share system. Expanding Metro Bike Share into the city would be a boon to residents, helping them get around for shorter trips without a car. This would also dovetail nicely into a future anticipated Crenshaw Line Northern Extension into the city.
Crenshaw (K) Line Northern Extension. The City of West Hollywood has been pushing hard to extend the K line north from the Expo line into the city; continuing to find funding to accelerate the project and providing Metro with the political support they need, is crucial.

We encourage anyone running for council to embrace these ideas — which have been shown to be politically popular across the region — and work towards a safer, more sustainable City where residents have the option to take most local trips safely without having to use a car.