'Road Diet' Causes Tempers To Flare In Silver Lake, Resident Says

SILVER LAKE (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles City Council recently approved a plan to add hundreds of miles of bike and bus lanes.

But things haven't gone as smoothly in Silver Lake where the idea is being tested.

Cellphone video shot by Betsy Isroelite captured a heated exchange between drivers during rush-hour traffic on Tuesday night.

One driver is heard in the clip repeatedly yelling, "Just go," while another responds, "I can't go."

The incident happened in front of her Silver Lake home and isn't the first of its kind.

When asked how often she sees tempers flaring in front of her home, Isroelite says, "It happens several times a month."

The reason, she says, has to do with nearby Rowena Avenue, which was put on a "road diet" two years ago by reducing it from four lanes to two and adding bicycle lanes on each side.

The idea was to slow cars down.

"The commuters, when the traffic slowed down, started cutting through to these side residential streets," she said.

Isroelite says people will speed through the area because of apps like Waze.

But David Ede, who lives on Rowena Avenue, says the "road diet" has been effective.

"There was no left turn lane before so any left turn in either direction would bring it down to one lane anyway," he said.

But Tamara Bencivenga, who works as a nanny, says she's seen accidents in front of two schools because impatient drivers jump into the bike lanes when traffic slows down.

"People always are getting injured. It's really scary to have kids in this area," Bencivenga said.

Isroelite says the intention behind the "road diet" was good, but it wasn't thought out.

"These streets were built in the 1920s. They weren't intended to handle hundreds of cars racing to get to work," she said.

Isroelite says the Department of Transportation has been meeting with the neighborhood after complaints were filed. She hopes it leads to some changes.