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Gnarly Photo: This Buckled Street In Mid-Wilshire Is 16 Inches Off The Ground
While we've seen our fair share of potholes and uprooted sidewalks in Los Angeles, this one really takes the cake. There's a buckled street in Mid-Wilshire that's so damaged the asphalt is raised 16 inches off the ground.
Redditor toliveandliveinLA posted a photo of the buckled street near Olympic Boulevard and Hudson Avenue. The damage is caused by the roots from a tree on the sidewalk. It started at the end of April, and it only keeps getting worse. The person contacted the L.A. Bureau of Street Services immediately when it was first spotted, however, reports that nothing has been done by the department. toliveandliveinLA writes on Reddit:
The City and Street Services have been aware of this and done nothing about it for three months. They keep saying they are working on it. Cars bottom out on this everyday. Residents cannot drive down their own street. City refuses to place temporary no parking on opposite side so that cars can at least drive around it. They also refuse to put cones as an indicator. Huge hazard. Someone is going to get hurt. This is three blocks south of Hancock Park. If this was Hancock Park this would have probably been fixed months ago. A Street Services rep agreed with me when I suggested that. What can we do?
LAist reached out to the L.A. Bureau of Street Services, Councilman Herb J. Wesson, Jr. (who represents the district that includes Mid-Wilshire) and Mayor Eric Garcetti, but have not heard back yet.
An audit was released last year on the L.A. Bureau of Street Services, looking into its activities from 2010 to 2013. The report found that the bureau wasn't doing such a great job doing what it was supposed to do, and found that its basic problems involved collecting or properly spending money, poor record keeping, and not fixing the most damaged roads first.
Update 8/5, 9:40 a.m.: Richard Lee, the rep for City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works told LAist that this buckled street was fixed on July 26. He said that the L.A. Bureau of Street Services responded immediately and assessed the repairs they would need to do. However, it took them some time because they had to schedule the repairs based on their "existing backlog and available resources."
The Bureau of Street Services "responds within 3 days to potholes reported through the City's 311 system, the scope of work required at this location (S. Hudson Ave) necessitated specialized equipment and staff beyond the capabilities of a pothole crew," Lee added.
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He said that the repairs had nothing to do with the Reddit post because the bureau already completed temporary repairs before the post went up, and that the permanent repairs were scheduled for late July or early August.
Eds. note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the district that Councilman David Ryu's represents includes the area where the buckled street is located. We have made a correction. LAist regrets this error.
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