Climate activists, local cyclists and pedestrians are planing a rally on April 10, 2023 at 6 pm to support expansion of the MOVE project, the protected bus and bike lanes that wend through Culver City’s downtown district and through the east end of town. Organized by Bike Culver City, Bike LA and Culver City for More Homes, the gathering at Syd Kronenthal Park will conclude with a bike ride to City Hall to promote attendance to the April 10 City Council meeting.
Bubba Fish, of Bike Culver City, offered “Our city leaders could be celebrating MOVE for instigating a massive mode shift toward transit and cycling along the corridor. They could be publicly taking transit/cycling to encourage others and duplicating MOVE’s success across the city.”
The transportation project, which debuted in Culver City in November of 2020, has already been studied internationally as a model for how to shift traffic laden roads to lighten the carbon output from cars, and increase multiple modes of transportation.
The recent city-funded survey that asked how residents felt about the MOVE project came up with only single digit support for removing it. The survey found that 47% of those asked wanted the MOVE project to remain, “with improvements.”
While the unofficial word has been that MOVE is not friendly to businesses, recent numbers show that business has never been better. Independent economic data (the city has not released sales tax numbers, but will need to do that for the budget meetings coming next month) shows that municipal income from sales tax is higher than it has ever been, and is continuing to grow.
The public reaction to the rumors of council’s inclination to tear it all out and bring back the previous lane for auto traffic has been growing. What that will look like at the upcoming City Council meeting?
Judith Martin-Straw
