Mulholland Plan Ignores Traffic, Residents Say

Angry Encino residents on Thursday attacked a plan designating Mulholland Drive as a scenic parkway because they said it failed to address whether a portion of the 22-mile stretch of the roadway should be paved to alleviate traffic congestion.

The residents, most of them members of the Encino Hillside Traffic Safety Organization, said their neighborhood streets were becoming increasingly crowded with motorists attempting to use them as alternatives to the clogged San Diego Freeway. They said paving Mulholland Drive from Encino Hills Drive to Reseda Boulevard would help ease some of the traffic on their streets.

The Los Angeles Planning Commission last year approved a plan designating Mulholland Drive as a scenic parkway. The plan imposes strict development controls to preserve scenic views along the roadway, which stretches from the Cahuenga Pass to Woodland Hills. But the scenic parkway plan does not deal with the issue of whether the road should be paved.

The Encino homeowners called the meeting to urge city officials to address the paving issue when the scenic parkway plan comes before the Planning and Land Use Committee of the Los Angeles City Council. The plan is being reviewed by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office and will come before the council committee in early March.

“Mulholland Drive is the only east-west artery we have left that can help us, because we’re being choked with the existing traffic,” said Madelaine De Antonio, a resident of Encino and president of the organization.