Los Angeles Residents Take Safety into Their Own Hands
Frustrated by unsafe streets, residents of Los Angeles have started painting their own crosswalks. One such effort was led by Jonathan Hale, a resident of Sawtel, who spent around $200 on paint and rallied his neighbors to create a makeshift crossing near Stoner Park, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. However, city workers removed the improvised crossing about two months later, citing Federal Government Accessibility Rules that require official markings to meet specific standards.
City Councilor Traci Park expressed a somewhat hopeful outlook, stating that she had urged transportation officials to consider the DIY crosswalk. “What is the worst possible situation?” she pondered. “This intersection is at least a little safer while we figure out what we’re going to do next.”
The city’s Department of Transportation reportedly claimed it had not received an official request for a crosswalk near Stoner Park. In contrast, the mayor’s office indicated that there had been multiple accessibility requests for sidewalks in that area recorded between 2017 and 2018.
Dan Halden, a spokesperson for StreetsLA, noted, “The Street Services Bureau primarily relies on our annual resurfacing program to determine access lamp locations for design and installation. We don’t operate on a request-based system.”
In an attempt to tackle traffic deaths, the city launched its Vision Zero Initiative, aiming to eliminate fatalities and severe injuries caused by traffic, which claimed over 75 lives annually on unintegrated county roads in 2019. Yet, progress has been slow. The city reported 303 traffic-related deaths in 2024, indicating a troubling rise since the initiative commenced, as detailed by local reports.
Crosswalk Request: “We’ve been asking for crosswalks here for years. I have a 311 service request to prove it. There’s no mark on the pavement. We’re a block away from an elementary school!”
Hale expressed his frustration, stating, “We don’t need years of research to say that there should be a street or a slow street near parks or schools. These are obvious. If you’re at these corners for a while, you see kids running around and close calls… I thought the crosswalk was something that benefited people and didn’t hurt anyone.”
Tragically, just recently, a nine-year-old boy was struck and killed by a driver near South New Hampshire Avenue and 4th Avenue. The Ministry of Transportation noted that this intersection was flagged in 2021 for safety improvements, including a promised roundabout, which has yet to materialize.
As residents increasingly resort to DIY solutions, many feel a lack of national leadership. In fact, over half of California residents believe that Governor Gavin Newsom is more focused on his 2028 presidential ambitions than addressing state issues, according to a poll conducted in Berkeley.
