Wilshire Subway Watch: Screw You Cars! You Can't Use Wilshire Anymore!*

Citing high costs, length of time to build and other basic realities of building the "subway to the sea," Michael Balter calls for Wilshire Blvd. to be car free today in the LA Times opinion section:

First, ban all automobiles from the entire 15-mile length of the boulevard. Second, beginning at its Western Avenue station, bring the Metro Rail to street level and run it to and from the sea on two sets of rails in the center of Wilshire, which has four or more lanes down its entire length and is thus wide enough to accommodate the route. Third, create bus lanes running east and west for riders who want to make more frequent stops, leaving express service to the Metro Rail. Fourth, install protected bicycle lanes in each direction at the edges of the boulevard and provide inexpensive, self-service rent-a-bike stations every 300 yards (as in Paris) so riders can pick up a bike anywhere on Wilshire and drop it off where they like.

He might be dreaming like a Parisian (hey, he is a Paris-based journalist after all), but we like radical ideas. He should hook up with the 4th Street Bicycle Boulevard folks, who want 4th Street from Park La Brea to Hoover to be a dedicated bicycle boulevard.

*Update: Further bicycling thoughts from Paris in today's LA Times: Paris, the city of bikes?

Photo by Marshall Astor via Flickr