Most policies coming out of Los Angeles make RedState readers’ (and writers’) heads spin. This one will too, but since we’re getting a glimpse into the logic train that is “progressive” policy it’s a tad more entertaining.

Some Angelenos on the city council thought (as summarized by me):

“Wow, it sure would be nice if more people rode their bikes to work, or walked, or took public transport. And it sure would be nice if people didn’t drive so fast. Hmm. How can we do this? Oh! Let’s take out some of the vehicle lanes and make them into bike lanes. Then people will want to ride their bikes because there’s more room. And because there are fewer lanes, people won’t drive so fast. Yes! Let’s do this. Problem solved!”

And thus, city workers and contractors began re-striping roads in the Playa del Rey, or Silicon Beach, area of Los Angeles, which is just north of LAX and just south of Santa Monica.

It’s all worked out just perfectly, right? Well…. read on.

Traffic on LA’s west side is notoriously horrific, no matter the time of day or night. That is partly because there is no north/south freeway except for the 405, and residents of the affluent west side neighborhoods loudly oppose mass transit proposals. So if one lives in the South Bay, south of LAX, where most of the defense industry tech jobs have been in the past, but commutes to the Silicon Beach area, north of LAX, where the tech industry is now booming, the only way to somewhat easily get there is on surface streets.

If at least one lane in each direction is taken away in a short period of time, and the number of vehicles needing to access that road is not sufficiently lowered, it leads to … a traffic jam! A massive traffic jam that some commuters say is adding an HOUR each way to their commute. Susanne Madden started a petition against the road diet, which has gathered about 3,000 signatures so far.

“It has caused a nightmare for everyone that commutes to their jobs,” Madden says. “It’s hurting families, punishing hard-working people who are just trying to get to work.”

Silicon Beach tech start-up founders are tweeting their thoughts about this stellar idea (language warning):

What in the actual fuck is this? Horrible idea. Surprised they aren't also promising to punch each driver in the face.

— Chris Sacca (@sacca) June 2, 2017

Ugh. Just drove Vista. Torture. Will keep me from going North.

— Chris Sacca (@sacca) June 2, 2017

Of course, if you look at the rest of the tweets these two men put out it’s standard Hollywood-resistance-lib speak, so they’re kind of getting what they deserve. As usual, they think these ideas to “save the environment” are wonderful until they have to live with the consequences.

Unfortunately, the consequences could affect average citizens and not just those two. In the Playa del Rey area, the fire department is complaining that the traffic is hindering their ability to respond to emergency calls. In response, the “road diet” has been scaled back, and one lane in each direction is being re-opened on one of the main arteries impacted, Vista del Mar. Laughably, city officials still hold out hope for using such measures to change the driving behavior of their constituents.