Streets For All is a non-profit organization building a transportation revolution in Los Angeles, fighting for bus lanes, bike lanes, and pedestrian improvements.
While I love Los Angeles, there are glaring problems that can't be ignored about the city — one of them being the sprawling, often unsafe car-centric infrastructure.
That's why I joined Streets for All as a volunteer graphic designer.
Credits:
Designers: Colin Kronholm & Jesse Woltal
Selected Project
Redesigning Washington Boulevard in Culver City
Streets for All was approached by a Culver City council member to being the initial process of redesigning Washington Boulevard, a main street in downtown Culver City.
Washington Boulevard is one of two major boulevards that cuts through the center of Culver City. In the spirit of transforming the downtown into a proper city center — one where people can more safely walk, bike, and access transit — we helped to create renderings of a new vision for Washington Boulevard.
Building upon past successes
Culver City has been a hotspot in Los Angeles over the past several years for its progressive and sometimes controversial urbanism projects.
In 2017, Culver City transformed part of a main boulevard into a public space — home to a park, movie theater, public seating, and retail spaces — called the Culver Steps. The project's success is underlined by its 100% retailer occupancy.
Additionally, in 2021, Culver City doubled-down on their mission to improve its transit options through MOVE Culver City, turning several travel lanes into dedicated bus lanes and separated bike lanes. The project also included curb-extensions, public art, and micro-mobility efforts through partnerships with e-scooter brands.
Washington Boulevard feeds into the Culver Steps and intersects with the improvements made by MOVE Culver, making it primed for improvement.
Painted curb extensions, bollards for pedestrian protection, and colorful crosswalks
Reallocating space for people
Right now, Washington Boulevard is a 4+ lane boulevard, not including street parking.
After conversations with a Culver City council member, we considered various layouts for Washington Boulevard that prioritize all modes of transit, including motorists, buses, pedestrians, and cyclists.
We used Streetmix to reimagine the space, creating multiple options for a potential path to redesign. Ultimately, we decided to pursue a one-way, single lane redesign across a small, retail-dense 0.2 mile segment, as well as a one-way, two-lane segment along a 0.5 mile stretch.
Washington & Culver Blvd Streetsmix
Along a dense 0.2 mile stretch, we reallocated travel lanes into sidewalk extensions, outdoor dining space, and protected bike lanes.
Washington & Culver Blvd Renderings
Here's a look at the area by the Washington and Culver Boulevard intersection, with new housing projects, retail space, and a movie theater on this 0.2 mile stretch.
Washington & Duquesne Renderings
This one-way segment would end at the corner of Washington and Duquesne, right by the Kirk Douglas Theatre.
I designed a rendering for this segment, showing a continuation of the previous Streetsmix.
Washington & Overland Renderings
We were asked to redesign the intersection at the end of the 0.7 mile one-way segment at Overland and Washington Boulevard.
Washington & Sepulveda Renderings
With the plan to extend protected cycling infrastructure to current bike lanes at Sepulveda Boulevard, we created renderings at this intersection for internal purposes
Outcomes
As of now, this project has not yet been presented to the City Council of Culver City. However, when the opportunity arises, the council member and Streets For All team have renderings and campaign imagery to garner support from their peers and constituents.
Designing a connected, protected bike network is very important for promoting ridership at all ages and demographics. With our renderings, we hoped to help people better imagine what an even more multimodal Culver City could look like.
In a city center that is becoming more dense each year, Washington Boulevard will inevitably be redesigned to better support all forms of transit in the near future. By partnering with a council member to create these renderings, we helped embark on the first step towards this future.
MORE WORK
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kronholmcolin@gmail.com
Los Angeles, California
Colin Kronholm © 2024