Building a simple crosswalk in Los Angeles has become a complex and protracted process, described as "Kafkaesque." This difficulty stems from the city's rigorous adherence to processes, especially concerning the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For instance, when a group of volunteers painted a crosswalk at Stoner Park, the city removed it three days later, citing the need for associated curb ramp installations to minimize legal risk, even though the work was otherwise well-done.
The city's approach means that any single improvement, like a crosswalk, must be accompanied by a holistic study of potential additional improvements such as lighting, signals, and speed limits, rather than being implemented in isolation. This comprehensive approach, while aiming for safety, creates significant delays and cost escalations. For example, a crosswalk requested by the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council took nine months to complete, and a newly painted crosswalk was criticized for not addressing underlying road cracks, leading to public outcry over the time and potential cost.
This bureaucratic burden extends to broader infrastructure. Los Angeles has reportedly stopped repaving its streets since June, with the latest budget practically eliminating funds for future repaving. This drastic measure is attributed to federal ADA regulations: when a street is altered, all associated pedestrian infrastructure, including curb ramps, must be brought into compliance. Each curb ramp costs approximately $50,000, totaling about $200,000 per intersection, which can add around $2 million per mile to repaving costs—often exceeding the cost of the asphalt itself.
Former Mayor Eric Garcetti's ambitious goals, such as building 28 public transit projects by the 2028 Olympics, eliminating all traffic fatalities by 2025, and ending street homelessness by 2028, have largely fallen short. Only four of the 28 transit projects are complete, traffic deaths increased from 186 in 2015 to 337 in 2023, and despite raising $1.2 billion for homeless housing, only 5,597 units were completed, while the unsheltered population increased by 17.8% to 26,972 since 2018. The extended wait times for crosswalks, sometimes up to 120 seconds, also lead to pedestrians ignoring signals, further highlighting the disconnect between city processes and practical outcomes.
