Crystal Springs Drive used to be four lanes of traffic heading north from Los Feliz Boulevard. Since spring it has been two. The last rigid barriers went in around the end of summer, so this October is the first season the main Los Feliz entrance to Griffith Park runs as its designers drew it. The finished part is the road itself. Most of the old reasons to stop along the way are still closed, and this fall's events sit at the north end of the route, along Zoo Drive.
Two Years Late, Finished in Pieces
The project is officially Phase III of the Griffith Park Safety & Active Transportation Improvement Project. Its schedule slipped long enough that it helps to lay the dates out in order.
- 2024. This was the original groundbreaking year for what the city labeled a "quickbuild" project, according to Councilmember Nithya Raman's March 2026 newsletter.
- Before groundbreaking. The Eastsider reported that construction was now expected to start by the end of the year and take one to three months, citing a spokesperson for the council office.
- Early March 2026. The council office announced that construction had "officially began," and acknowledged the project was "two years late and more expensive than it needed to be."
- March 9, 2026. Streetsblog Los Angeles reported LADOT crews installing striping that cut part of Crystal Springs from four travel lanes to two. A March 7 site visit found the work about half done.
- After July 2026. Streetsblog's September 15 review of city bikeway mileage noted that protection on Crystal Springs was not completed until after July.
- Late summer 2026. New rigid plastic barriers appeared along the protected lanes, as Streetsblog reported on September 1.
That last step is the one most people will notice from the saddle or the sidewalk. In the same Streetsblog piece, Mehmet Berker, transportation deputy to Councilmember Raman, explained that the barriers were the Bike Lane Defender product and that "their installation will close out the initial install of the project." He added that the product "comes from the UK and came in two shipments, delaying installation." "Initial install" is the accurate phrase. The sources available as of mid-October describe the main protection as in place. They do not declare every element of Phase III complete.
The design itself is simple. The council office describes one auto lane per direction, a protected active transportation lane along the curb, and a buffer marked by bollards and rubberized curbs. The target operating speed is 25 mph, which was already the posted limit on Crystal Springs Drive. Funding came from $4 million in state money secured by then-Assemblymember Laura Friedman. Per the same newsletter, that money also enabled speed humps on Zoo Drive near the Ferraro Soccer Fields and a new signalized crosswalk at Harvard and Franklin.
What the Curb Lane Actually Connects
The council office calls Crystal Springs the "sole entry point into one of the most beloved sections of the park." Here is the route north from Los Feliz Boulevard, with what is open along it this fall:
- Griffith Park Visitor Center, 4730 Crystal Springs Drive. The permit office keeps Tuesday through Saturday hours, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Shane's Inspiration, the playground listed at the same address. It is open daily from 5 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., the standard hours for city parks.
- Park Center, the playground area on Crystal Springs near the Merry-Go-Round. The city's jogging routes run through it toward the zoo.
- Zoo Drive, where the same state funding was earmarked for speed humps near the Ferraro Soccer Fields and where the city's suggested routes continue toward Travel Town.
- The car-free stretch of Griffith Park Drive. Phase I permanently closed nearly a mile of it, from Travel Town to Mt. Hollywood Drive, to personal vehicles. It stays open for walking, cycling and horseback riding.
Read together, the corridor now has a protected lane leading from the Los Feliz edge to a road with no private cars at the far end. That connection is the practical change. A family can travel from Los Feliz Boulevard to Travel Town with a buffer between them and traffic for much of the way, where before they shared four lanes with drivers headed to the 5.
The Old Reasons to Stop Are Still Dark
The middle of the route is where the new lane runs past two closed landmarks.
The Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round was built in 1926 and has stood in the park since 1937. In September 2025, the Los Angeles Times reported that the city had bought it for $1 million and that it still needed significant repairs before it could reopen. A Recreation and Parks board report from August 2025 called the revival a "multi-year effort," with fundraising and an operating and maintenance RFP still ahead. As of mid-October 2026, no reopening date has been announced.
The latest firsthand account comes from the preservation tour company Esotouric. Its September 18, 2026 newsletter found the carousel "neat as a pin, though not presently spinning pending a full historical assessment and restoration." It also noted that the horses are missing their real horse tails because park squirrels have been taking them for nests. The same newsletter points readers to the griffithmerrygoroundproject account on Instagram for announcements of Saturday mid-day open houses, where visitors can see the horses up close and learn about donor opportunities to adopt one and fund its restoration. No fixed schedule has been published for those visits, so the account itself is the place to check.
Farther along, the former Pony Rides site has been closed since its concession contract expired in December 2022 and was not extended. The city's Pony Ride page describes a future-use planning process and says any new use still needs direction from the Board and a process to select and carry it out. City directories still list both attractions among the park's offerings, but neither one is operating this fall.
Where the Season Sits Now
With the carousel and the pony ring both dark, this fall's scheduled reasons to make the trip have moved to the north end, along Zoo Drive. The calendar through early January:
| What | Where | Dates | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| I-Spy Halloween train ride | Griffith Park & Southern Railroad | Oct. 17–18, Oct. 24–25, Oct. 31–Nov. 1 | Trains 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; activity area closes 3:30 p.m. |
| Boo at the L.A. Zoo | Los Angeles Zoo | Oct. 24–25, Oct. 31–Nov. 1 | Trick-or-treat stations 10 a.m.–3 p.m. |
| L.A. Zoo Lights | Los Angeles Zoo | Select evenings, Nov. 20–Jan. 10 | Box office 5:45–8:45 p.m. on event nights |
| Travel Town Museum | Zoo Drive end of the park | Tuesday–Sunday | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. |
A few details change how a day plays out. The railroad bills its Halloween event as family-friendly rather than haunted. The zoo's regular daytime hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., but animals start going in for the night at 4 p.m., so an afternoon visit ends earlier than the posted closing time suggests. Zoo Lights is dark on several nights: November 26 and 30; December 1, 7, 14 through 16, 24, 25 and 31; and January 4 through 7. The train operator's own pages disagree about which day its rides close. The city's Travel Town Museum hours, closed Mondays, Thanksgiving and Christmas, are the more reliable reference for the museum itself.
Every one of those destinations sits past the carousel and the pony ring, at the Zoo Drive end of the new lane.
What the Plan Calls for Next
Phase III came out of a 2023 report by the engineering consultants Kimley-Horn, which set out six phases after a fatal April 2022 collision involving a cyclist on Crystal Springs Drive. As The Eastsider described them, the remaining phases are recommendations. None of them has a construction date.
- Phase IV would add bike lanes on Griffith Park Drive between Crystal Springs Drive and the Compost Center, narrow car lanes to 11 or possibly 10 feet, and make the road a no-passing zone with double solid yellow lines.
- Phase V would bring raised crosswalks, better signage and striping to the northern segment of Crystal Springs Drive, turning its six-foot shoulders into bike lanes.
- Phase VI would extend the changes north to Western Heritage Way and Zoo Drive. There, walkers, cyclists and equestrians could get one side of the road to themselves, an option most members of the public in the study preferred over protected lanes on both sides.
Phase III was funded and designed and still took two extra years to break ground. For now, the protected lane on Crystal Springs Drive ends near the zoo and Travel Town.
Local knowledge in Los Feliz includes the same things this post follows, including how the entrance to Griffith Park works, what is open along it, and what the city has scheduled versus only proposed. If you would like a clear read on how changes like these shape daily life in the neighborhood, The Di Prizito Group, Inc. is glad to talk it through. Contact Us.
