Everything is not coming up roses these days for the prominent florist and former School Board member Mike Eskridge.
The proprietor of the Culver City Flower Shop,10801 Washington Blvd., is the latest entrepreneur to be vexed that the bicycling spectacular known as CicLAvia will force the shut down of Washington Boulevard to car traffic in front of his business on two days next month.
Early Saturday evening, Aug. 8, and virtually all day Sunday, Aug. 9, the commercial section of Washington will be off limits to cars.
“Here is my beef,” said Mr. Eskridge. “I am not usually open on Sundays, but I do I have work that day.
“How am I going to get here from home?”
As the crow flies, the Eskridge family home in the Vets Park neighborhood is a convenient distance from his Culver Center location.
The crow is not airborne this season.
Mr. Eskridge does have a travel plan that will be a boon to gas dealers.
“I can go down Culver Boulevard,” he said, “get on the freeway, get off at the Venice exit and come down Sepulveda to Venice…and it just makes a nightmare for those of us who have businesses.
“This is kind of the same beef I have with the city because I live around Vets Park. The city never informs us when events are happening at the park and our parking suddenly disappears,” said Mr. Eskridge.
There isn’t anyone to file a complaint with, says the businessman first elected to multiple terms on the School Board almost 25 years ago.
Feeling defeated, Mr. Eskridge shrugged this morning. “We just feel it is the city, and they don’t really care,” he said.
Since Washington Blvd will be shut down for auto traffic that day, I would suggest a healthy walk or taking an easy bike ride as most other people on Washington will.