State funding could help the City of Los Angeles achieve an ambitious plan to add pedestrian safety features and active transportation infrastructure to Melrose Avenue.

Uplift Melrose, a project led by the City's Bureau of Street Services, is a proposed "complete streets" makeover for the 22 blocks of Melrose between Fairfax and Highland Avenues.  The approximately 1.3-mile corridor, famous for its array of boutique stores and restaurants, is also part of the City's "High Injury Network" - the roughly 6 percent of Los Angeles streets where 65 percent of traffic injuries and fatalities occur.  Melrose has seen 35 such collisions over the past decade, roughly half of which involved a pedestrian or a cyclist.

Melrose is already slated for separated bike lanes - built at sidewalk grade - as part of the City's Mobility Plan 2035.  The Uplift Melrose plan would add a more expansive suite of improvements, including curb extensions, new street trees, and raised east-west crosswalks.

Roadway reconfigurations could add upwards of seven acres of new pedestrian space along the corridor, creating more room for outdoor dining, landscaping, and other pedestrian amenities.  This would be achieved by restriping Melrose to include fewer vehicle travel lanes, while also limiting left turns to Fairfax, La Brea, and Highland Avenues.

The City hopes to fund Uplift Melrose through grant funding via the Caltrans Active Transportation Program.  Total project costs could range between $40 million and $50 million.  Grant applications are due on September 15.

For more information or to provide feedback, see the official project website.