City announces $8 million project to make Hollywood Boulevard safer

An $8 million project aims to make Hollywood Boulevard safer for bicyclists and pedestrians while increasing road efficiency. 

"We're giving a makeover to Hollywood Boulevard," Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, who represents the district, said. 

The project, dubbed "Access to Hollywood," hopes to make the home of the iconic Walk of Fame an easier place for locals and tourists to traverse. It will help them get to places like East Hollywood and Thai Town safer and faster.

"People every day are literally dying on our streets, which was proven by last year's statistics that more people died from traffic collisions than homicides," Soto-Martinez said. 

The new street design will include improvements, such as expanded sidewalks, crosswalks, bus lanes, and bike lanes. The bike lanes will be the first parking-protected lanes in Soto-Martinez's district. They will run from La Brea Avenue near West Hollywood to Fountain Avenue in Silver Lake.

Bus lanes will be placed from Orange Drive to Gower Street, and a center turn lane will also be introduced along the majority of the stretch as part of the revitalization project. 

"We're also going to be expanding outdoor dining options to large parts of Hollywood Boulevard for the first time," Soto-Martinez said.

The project will break ground later this year and will be completed by early 2025.