Navigating Los Angeles traffic can be a life or death situation. We live in the second-deadliest city for pedestrians – after New York – and it’s only gotten worse. This, despite efforts (and talk) to bring the number of fatalities down.
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Over the years, streets have been redesigned, bike lanes and crosswalks put in and more lights and traffic signs installed. But for one group, change did not happen fast enough and, as my colleague Caitlin Hernández reported, they’ve been taking matters into their own hands and making their own crosswalks for pedestrians.
The Crosswalk Collective is a small group of community members who take part in guerrilla painting streets at intersections to make them safer to cross. On the website it states in big white letters: “The city of Los Angeles doesn't keep us safe, so we keep us safe.”
Often their crosswalks are removed as they are not sanctioned by the city. A spokesperson for the L.A. Department of Transportation told Caitlin that they’re illegal and making them could result in “citations, fines and fees charged to cover the city’s cost of removal.”
But recently, as Caitlin reports in their latest story, two of Crosswalk Collective’s "unauthorized'' crosswalks became official in East Hollywood. The city then added two more at the same intersection.
It’s not clear why LADOT replaced these crosswalks with its own, but the Crosswalk Collective considers it a win. The group told Caitlin that the replacement doesn’t matter. What does matter is the fact that they installed a crosswalk for pedestrian and cyclist safety.
“When LADOT installs a new crosswalk in the place of one of ours, it’s a direct response to our action, as well as a tacit acknowledgment of the city's failure to be proactive in building out this infrastructure,” the Collective said in a statement to LAist.
Read the rest of Caitlin’s story to learn more about the DIY crosswalks that have been removed and/or replaced around the city.
As always, stay happy and healthy, folks. There’s more news below — just keep reading.
(After you stop hitting snooze)
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February is a time of honoring Blackness in all of its beauty as well as a time for love. There’s a ton of events this weekend where you can do both. If you get mushy for vampire-esque macabre and you love the movie Queen of the Damned, check out the Bloody Valentines Series at the Million Dollar Theatre. The prices start at $25.
Calling all of my film lovers? If you fit the bill, make sure you attend the Pan African Film Festival at the Cinemark in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza. The festival features more than 150 films from 40 countries. Costs start at just $6.
Looking for something that’s FREE.99? Let’s chat about audio-themed events. Watch the Go Fact Yourself LIVE podcast recording on Saturday at The Crawford Family Forum in Pasadena, or jam and grub tonight with the KCRW crew during an open house at the California African American Museum.
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