What to Expect at the Colorado Blvd. Vision Plan Launch Party

With bike lanes, additional crosswalks and other safety features currently being installed along Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock, the "Take Back the Boulevard" steering committee is getting ready to unveil its full 103-page vision plan on Sunday with a launch party at Center for the Arts Eagle Rock. 

Some steering committee members told Patch they are hoping that Eagle Rock residents will now take a closer look at parts of the vision plan that have yet to be implemented, and that Sunday will be the beginning of that new public discussion. 

"Much of the public focus and the debate has been on the things that are going to happen in the short term—the bike lanes, some of the crosswalks, and so the purpose of Sunday really is to talk about the broader vision and other aspects and other changes that we are proposing so people realize there are other elements to it to make Colorado Boulevard more of a main street for Eagle Rock," said Jeff Jacobberger, a planning and land use consultant and member of the steering committee.

TBTB, a community organization formed over two years ago with the goal of making Colorado Boulevard safer for cars and more friendly to pedestrians and bikers. The document is also now available online to be downloaded at this link. 

The plan includes the installation of bike lanes and crosswalks, which are currently becoming a reality in a large part due to TBTBs efforts. Bike lanes were by far the most controversial of the parts of TBTB's plan and dominated the discussion many of the public meetings.

"We’re on Sunday going to talk about how good it feels to have completed the document, that bike lanes are coming, crosswalks are coming and a variety of things that are very quickly going to make changes to the space in a transformative way, while at the same time saying we’re not done, and there are things to be addressed," said Alan Compton, a consultant to the steering committee. 

The launch party is scheduled for 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. It will also feature a short film about the plan directed by Anna Villianatos, a senior marketing and communications officer at Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

"A lot of our meetings were really a lot like a town hall, presenting a lot of information to people and gathering as much information as we could. This is really intended to be a celebration of the vision plan," Jacobberger said. "We will have some storyboards and presentation boards to summarize overall and give people a one-on-one opportunity to ask questions about details." 

Come back to Patch later this week for more from Compton, Jacobberger and Bob Gotham of The Eagle Rock Association about the details of the Colorado Boulevard Vision Plan.