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The initial web of slow-speed streets in the South Bay is officially underway.
The South Bay Cities Council of Governments launched the first phase of the South Bay Local Travel Network, in El Segundo, this week during a ribbon-cutting ceremony and zero-emissions vehicle parade.
The El Segundo portion comprises seven miles of streets. But the full South Bay network will ultimately connect 243 miles of roads from Inglewood to San Pedro. Drivers of neighborhood electric vehicles — as well as street-ready golf carts, electric and pedal bicycles, e-scooters and similar vehicles — will be encouraged to use those streets rather than busier thoroughfares.
The goal is to safely steer folks across intersections along Pacific Coast Highway.
Currently, “rolling turtle” street signs direct drivers to safely cross busy intersections, such as the ones along Main Street or Grand Avenue, onto smaller, low-speed roads that’ll get them to their destination and back without typical vehicle traffic.
Map of the growing South Bay Local Travel Network, a web of slow-speed streets that will eventually span from Inglewood to San Pedro. Phase one of the project, which includes El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach, launched Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023 in El Segundo. (Courtesy Colleen Farrell, South Bay Cities Council of Governments)
Map of El Segundo’s portion of the South Bay Local Travel Network, a web of slow-speed streets that will eventually span from Inglewood to San Pedro. Phase one of the project, which includes El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach, launched Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023 in El Segundo. (Courtesy Colleen Farrell, South Bay Cities Council of Governments)
“Rolling turtle” signs in El Segundo let zero-emission vehicle drivers know they’re entering the South Bay Local Travel Network, a web of slow-speed streets that will eventually span from Inglewood to San Pedro. Phase one of the project, which includes El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach, launched Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023 in El Segundo. (Courtesy Colleen Farrell, South Bay Cities Council of Governments)
“Rolling turtle” signs in El Segundo let zero-emission vehicle drivers know they’re entering the South Bay Local Travel Network, a web of slow-speed streets that will eventually span from Inglewood to San Pedro. Phase one of the project, which includes El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach, launched Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023 in El Segundo. (Courtesy Colleen Farrell, South Bay Cities Council of Governments)
Eventually, lanes on several roads with 25 mph speed limits will be repurposed and restriped to more safely accommodate zero-emission modes of transportation.
El Segundo, Los Angeles County and state leaders gathered for the launch on Thursday, Nov. 2.
El Segundo Mayor Drew Boyles, who drives his “neighborhood electric vehicle” to City Hall and to the beach when he goes surfing, led the low-speed parade Thursday around the growing travel network.
“I hope this network will encourage others to ‘right-size’ their vehicles for local trips,” Boyles said in a Thursday press release.
The SBCCOG started working on plans for the Local Travel Network in earnest in 2019. Sign installation in El Segundo began earlier this year.
Lightweight, compact, low-speed vehicles will help reduce road maintenance costs and traffic compared to traditional cars, according to the SBCCOG.
The rest of phase one includes Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach. Phase two will extend the network to Hawthorne, Lawndale, Gardena, Inglewood, Carson, Lomita, Torrance, areas of unincorporated Los Angeles County, Wilmington, Harbor City and San Pedro.
Before launching in the rest of the phase one cities and putting paint on the roads, SBCCOG spokesperson Colleen Farrell said Thursday, the intergovernmental panel will evaluate how users resonate with the El Segundo pilot.
Golf Cart Car But ultimately, according to the SBCCOG website, Local Travel Network streets will be marked by “sharrows,” or shared lane markings commonly seen to signify bike lanes, to indicate to cars that slower moving vehicles may share the right-of-way on the respective roads.