On April 9, 2024, the City of Glendale commenced the North Brand Boulevard Demonstration Project between Glenoaks Boulevard and Mountain Street on North Brand Boulevard as part of the Share Space and Place Quick Build projects, which consisted of:

• Implementing quick build demonstration elements on North Brand Boulevard to create a multi-modal corridor, which included parking realignment throughout the corridor, painted intersection bump outs, protected bicycle lane separated by landscape planters, high visibility and creative crosswalks and potential speed limit reductions, and
• Reduction of North Brand Boulevard from two north bound lanes and two south bound lanes with a center turn lane to one north bound lane and one south bound lane with a center turn lane.

We, the undersigned, strongly oppose the North Brand Boulevard Demonstration Project.  We DO NOT want the infrastructure to remain beyond the trial period and we are vehemently opposed to any plans by the City of Glendale to make this installation permanent.  The installation has been completely unsuccessful for a multitude of reasons, including, but not limited to the following:

• Economic Waste:  According to the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System ("SWITRS") Query Map, from January 1, 2012, through March 31, 2024, there has been one (1) bicycle crash north of Glendale Boulevard and south of Mountain Street on Brand Boulevard in Glendale, California.  It occurred on April 17, 2017, and the bicyclist was at fault.  To spend a significant amount of money to address bicycle safety and connectivity in an area of town that effectively has zero incidents of motor vehicles with bicycles is the definition of wasteful.  The City is seeking to solve a problem which does not exist and has led to other concerns.  In fact, photographs have been taken since the trial period started of the installation which shows bicyclists traveling in the lanes for vehicular traffic, NOT in the bicycle lane, which suggests that even bicyclists see the dangers of this installation.  There are unquestionably areas of town that have more numerous and serious accidents, but not this portion of Brand Boulevard.
• Bicycle Safety:  In the current installation, bicycle lanes are immediately adjacent to the curb.  Cars that are parked on Brand Boulevard in angled spaces completely block the view of drivers that are turning into driveways or onto W. Randolph Street, W. Stocker Street and W. Dryden Street.  There are 43 driveways on North Brand Boulevard from Glenoaks Boulevard to Mountain Street.  Whether one is traveling northbound or southbound on Brand Boulevard, if one makes a turn into any driveway or cross street, it is impossible to see a bicyclist behind parked cars or decorations at street intersections.  This is inescapably dangerous to bicyclists, which is likely the reason they are not using the bicycle lanes themselves, as being in the lane of traffic at least gives them line of sight to drivers on North Brand Boulevard.  Additionally, when cars turn right, if there is a bike in the bike lane trying to turn left this causes unnecessary risk to both.  Also, there is a fire station on the west side of Brand Boulevard.  When emergencies arise, the engines are hampered in their ability to efficiently and quickly traverse the route.  Often, if there is vehicle traffic both north and south on Brand, the engines have to wait as there are no longer any available lanes for them to access.
• Negative Impact on Surrounding Neighborhood:  In its effort to fix a problem which did not exist, the current installation has had a significant negative impact on the surrounding neighborhood, as the delays caused by only having one northbound lane and one southbound lane causes traffic congestion (which did not exist previously) at all times now, especially during rush hour.  The alternative is to for drivers to turn off Brand Boulevard onto  surrounding residential streets to find alternative north/south corridors in order to efficiently move through this area.  The increased traffic flow on these adjacent neighborhood streets has not only added traffic, but additional noise levels.  These neighborhood streets area only controlled by STOP signs, which has led to an increase of drivers failing to come to a complete stop, which has increased the safety to other drivers, in addition to pedestrians, especially children.
• Quality of Life:  The reduction of one northbound lane and one southbound lane of traffic has caused commuter times to increase, which has led to a negative impact on the lives of those that live in the area, commute through the area and/or work in the area.  Reducing the number of lanes for a major connection roadway from the 134 Freeway to North Glendale neighborhoods and businesses has created a negative impact that cannot be outweighed by any potential positives that the City believes exist.
• Additional Issues:  Previously, street parking was diagonal to the curb.  The installation repositioned diagonal parking into what used to be a lane of traffic, which now requires drivers to back up into oncoming traffic, which creates difficulty and significant dangers entering and exiting street parking.

For all these reasons alone, we the undersign believe the overall negative impact on the neighborhood, residents and visitors to North Brand Boulevard demands that the City of Glendale terminate this installation and return Brand Boulevard to its preexisting condition as soon as possible.  If the installation must run through the end of its trial period, we the undersigned unconditionally oppose the permanent installation of this installation.

We appreciate the Mayor and City Councilmembers understanding our concerns and complete opposition to this installation.