Despite five years of community outreach, surveys and traffic studies, residents of Coldwater Canon Drive are still divided as to the best ways to improve pedestrian safety on the busy, winding road.
Staff have proposed installing three new crosswalks as part of an ongoing roadway rehabilitation and water main replacement project. But during a discussion at the Aug. 6 City Council Study Session, residents provided clashing opinions, and the council agreed to send the plan back to the drawing board one more time.
Though the councilmembers largely agreed it would be best to install only one crosswalk, they were split on the best location, and they directed staff to study the most suitable intersection for a crosswalk and stoplight.
“I’d like to move forward with that …so that we get the process moving with the comments that we’ve all made,” Mayor Lester Friedman said.
Community outreach on the Coldwater rehabilitation project dates to January 2020, when staff met with residents to discuss a potential roadway reconfiguration as part of the water main replacement, according to a staff report.
At a community meeting two years later, residents provided a petition asking the city to study the feasibility of implementing at least two crosswalks between Beverly Drive and Heather Road. In July 2023, consulting firm Fehr and Peers published a study that identified the intersections at Monte Cielo Drive, Lindacrest Drive and Loma Linda Drive as the best three options.
According to a staff report, the crosswalks would have high-visibility “continental” markings, Americans with Disabilities Act compliant curb ramps and pedestrian-activated Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons—yellow LED lights that flash when activated. Crews would also install a pedestrian refuge island at the Lindacrest crosswalk.
These proposed locations are consistent with findings from a separate citywide 2023 study supported by the Traffic and Parking Commission and with national best practices to discourage people from jaywalking, according to the staff report.
But during the Aug. 6 meeting, many residents said the crosswalks would do more harm than good.
“There has never been a need for crosswalks [on Coldwater Canon],” said David Cohen, a resident of 28 years. “It is going to change the aesthetic of the street; when people moved into Coldwater, they knew what they were getting into.”
Cohen said the crosswalks would pose safety risks as well. Drivers frequently speed down the curvy street and drunk drivers residents provided a petition asking the city to study the feasibility of implementing at least two crosswalks between Beverly Drive and Heather Road. In July 2023, consulting firm Fehr and Peers published a study that identified the intersections at Monte Cielo Drive, Lindacrest Drive and Loma Linda Drive as the best three options.
According to a staff report, the crosswalks would have high-visibility “continental” markings, Americans with Disabilities Act compliant curb ramps and pedestrian-activated Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons—yellow LED lights that flash when activated. Crews would also install a pedestrian refuge island at the Lindacrest crosswalk.
These proposed locations are consistent with findings from a separate citywide 2023 study supported by the Traffic and Parking Commission and with national best practices to discourage people from jaywalking, according to the staff report.
But during the Aug. 6 meeting, many residents said the crosswalks would do more harm than good.
“There has never been a need for crosswalks [on Coldwater Canon],” said David Cohen, a resident of 28 years. “It is going to change the aesthetic of the street; when people moved into Coldwater, they knew what they were getting into.”
Cohen said the crosswalks would pose safety risks as well. Drivers frequently speed down the curvy street and drunk drivers have hit his neighbor’s property, and Cohen thinks the crosswalks would create more opportunities for pedestrians to be hit by speeding cars.
Reading a summarized version of comments written by three people who have lived on Coldwater for more than a decade, City Clerk Huma Ahmed said that the flashing lights could also distract drivers at night, causing additional safety concerns.
Ellie Yadegar, who said she had received more than 30 signatures on a petition that calls for “raised crosswalks at two or more intersections,” said that Coldwater has been neglected even as other Beverly Hills streets get new safety features, and she encouraged the council to adopt staff’s recommendations.
“I don’t think that it’s really up to me or anyone else to determine what … is safe to do,” Yadegar said. “I think that’s something that we leave up to Darren and his team … and if he is recommending it and saying that it’s going to be safe, then I will 100% use it. Thank you.”
She noted that at least five people who signed her petition have since changed their positions.
Former Planning Commissioner Peter Ostroff also encouraged the council to accept the recommendations, even if they aren’t a perfect solution.
“Every idea has been rejected, and finally, we have a real proposal. It’s not perfect … [but] we can’t let perfect be the enemy of the good,” Ostroff said.
The council was also broadly supportive of the proposal, though they differed on the details. Vice Mayor Sharona Nazarian and Councilmember Craig Corman thought it made most sense to put a single crosswalk at the intersection of Loma Linda, and both were against installing a median
Many of the council’s questions centered on the advantages of installing stoplights instead of or in addition to the crosswalks, with Councilman John Mirisch saying he favored installing a stoplight and possibly several stop signs in addition to new crosswalks.
According to Grilley, however, the data is not encouraging.
Grilley said that requests for stoplights on Coldwater Canyon date back decades, but repeated studies have found that stoplights on Coldwater do not meet federal “warrants,” or criteria justifying the installation of a stoplight.
Friedman said that he also thinks a stoplight would slow down traffic, which residents identified as the biggest concern, though he would need to see data justifying a new traffic light before directing staff to put one in.
“When the data shows that you shouldn’t … put a device in a place, and then we go against the data, I think we’re asking ourselves for trouble,” Friedman said. “What I’m hearing from my colleagues, and I agree with, is that if there is a way to have the data support a traffic light … I’m fully supportive of that.”
