CicLAvia on February 23, Waymo testing on L.A. freeways, and more

CicLAvia returns on Sunday, February 23 from 9 am to 3 pm with its 58th event - West Adams meets University Park. There will be 4.1 miles of open streets along Jefferson Boulevard between La Brea and Vermont Avenues, as well as along Vermont Avenue between Jefferson and Exposition Boulevard.

Once again, here's the rules: only people-powered vehicles allowed. That means no electric scooters, skateboards, hoverboards, unicycles, motorcycles and other non-people-powered vehicles are permitted. However, Class 1 e-bike pedal-assist is allowed, Class 2 e-bikes are allowed when throttle is powered off, and Class 3 e-bikes are allowed when pedal-assist is powered down. 

The California National Resources Agency has signed off on plans from Koreatown Youth and Community Center to upgrade the tree canopy on blocks surrounding Metro's Purple / D Line. The project calls for 250 15-gallon street trees to be planted in new, expanded, or existing tree wells throughout the Koreatown neighborhood, which an environmental notice somewhat generously defines as being bounded by Beverly Boulevard, Pico Boulevard, La Cienega Boulevard, and Vermont Avenue.

Here's what we're reading this week:

A world away from the Palisades and Altadena, landlords try to sell fire victims on living downtown "Downtown is outside the familiar haunts of most displaced people, district Executive Director Blair Besten acknowledged, but she said she hopes the availability and price of apartments there might tempt them to consider it." (LA Times)

Waymo begins testing robotaxis on LA freeways "The Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle technology company said Tuesday it will begin testing its fleet of robotaxis on the Los Angeles freeway system, including Interstates 10, 110, 405, and 90." (TechCrunch)

Traffic deaths in Los Angeles exceed murder total for second consecutive year "Auto fatalities, like homicides, decline; pedestrian-vehicle collisions remain perilously high" (Crosstown)

Eaton Fire disproportionately affected Black Altadena residents, UCLA study finds  "Data from the study indicates that over 60% of Black households in Altadena were located within the Eaton Fire perimeter, and nearly half of them were destroyed or severely damaged. Comparatively, half of the non-Black households in Altadena were located within the wildfire perimeter, and only 37% of the residences occupied by non-Black households were destroyed or severely damaged. " (KTLA)

L.A. County says state housing laws stand in way of rebuilding. Advocates disagree "A request by L.A. County officials to temporarily waive state housing laws as residents rebuild in fire-ravaged swaths of unincorporated areas drew the ire of housing advocates, who accused the officials of skirting efforts at boosting affordable housing." (LA Times)

Here's how climate change fueled the Los Angeles fires "New studies are finding the fingerprints of climate change in these wildfires, which made some of the extreme conditions worse. In particular, the hotter temperatures and a drier atmosphere can be linked to heat-trapping gases that largely come from burning fossil fuels, according to two different analyses from UCLA and World Weather Attribution, a collaboration of international scientists." (LAist)

New Barriers in Union Station as Metro Expands “Station Experience” Interventions "New Union Station barriers cost riders a couple of seconds, not a huge deal, but they contribute to stations feeling less welcoming" (Streetsblog LA)

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