The Forgotten Pedways: How LA’s Plan For Futuristic Walkways Went Unfinished

If you’re in downtown Los Angeles, near Figueroa and Flower Street, look up — and you may find yourself near a futuristic sky bridge.

No, this isn’t science fiction, but it may have been inspired by that. The downtown pedways — a more enticing way to say pedestrian walkway — are one of L.A.’s unfinished dreams.

They’re a bit out of place: elevated, concrete routes that connect only a few high-rises in downtown to each other. It’s the remnants of a lofty but failed idea of what pedestrian travel could have become.

A brief history of the pedways

A pedestrian walks across a pedway in downtown Los Angeles.

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Samanta Helou Hernandez

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LAist

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Think of the pedways as a shortcut for the yuppies and finance bros, a “glorified park-and-ride,” or a bit of Blade Runner futurism.

You can get around from above, without crossing traffic, and they're probably only useful if you have business in one of those high-rises or the Westin Bonaventure.

The pedways were designed by Calvin Hamilton, a former L.A. city planning director who served between 1964 and 1985. They were expensive, but federal funding covered a large portion of the costs.

Calvin Hamilton (at right), along with Walter J. Braunshweiger and Mayor Yorty, looking at a building model in 1964.

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Herald Examiner Collection/Los Angeles Public Library

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Hamilton’s “ambitious” plan was first presented in the 1970 report “Concept Los Angeles.” Among his ideas, Hamilton believed that L.A. should be divided into self-sufficient centers, full of rooftop plazas and rapid transit options where people of any income could live. It was a controversial plan that called for an overhaul of city zoning, but the city council did adopt it in 1974.

The pedways were Hamilton’s way of separating pedestrians from traffic to “enhance the convenience, safety and pleasantness” of the centers. They were part of a larger plan that would’ve put an LAX-esque people mover train in downtown.

“We planned for the rapid transit in each center going all the way around the city, and it would have made a big difference, because it meant that everybody didn’t have to have two or three cars,” Hamilton said in an oral history interview for UCLA. “That would have made a big difference in Los Angeles in terms of pollution.”

A concept drawing of part of Los Angeles with centers and suburbs.

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Courtesy Metro Transportation Research Library & Archive

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A concept drawing of a secondary transit area where people could connect to city centers.

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Courtesy Metro Transportation Research Library & Archive

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Hamilton, ever into aesthetic visuals, dreamed of these bridges being full of sculptures, food and kiosks — and importantly, people. He envisioned hundreds of pedestrian bridges at different building levels, but today there are only about 10 pedways in the Bunker Hill neighborhood. And if you walk on any of these paths now, you’ll likely be alone. The paths don’t get used much compared to the streets below.

A pedestrian walks across a pedway in downtown Los Angeles.

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Samanta Helou Hernandez

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LAist

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That may be for good reason. Pedways were popular in the 1970s as a way to separate people from cars, but that’s since fallen out of favor with designers.

So what happened? Hamilton’s plan came to a halt in 1981 after federal funding was eliminated and he stepped down as director shortly after over conflict of interest concerns. The city council moved away from his ideas toward planning options that it felt were more feasible to implement. Hamilton died in 1997.

Why designers don’t like pedways anymore

Pedways are largely seen as a design failure these days. There are two main reasons for that — some think they ruin the skyline and others think they zap a city’s energy. Some complained that it hurts the economy because people are routed away from shopping spots.

A pedway in downtown Los Angeles.

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Samanta Helou Hernandez

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LAist

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“The pedway sucked life from the streets below without creating sufficient traffic on its own,” architect Rex Lotery told the Los Angeles Times in 1990. Adding insult to injury, Lotery said the bridges tended to “look like hell from a distance.”

A far cry from the futuristic dream they were supposed to serve, but the Jetsonian idea for designers did catch on in a few places across the country.

The reason? Weather. Heated passageways do well in places like St. Paul and Atlanta, while Houston’s air-conditioned ones have been lauded too.

But in L.A., we’re a sunny haven. Our pedways don’t have those bells and whistles because our weather isn’t as harsh. They’re just a plain walking path, making it less essential for people to use.

Where you can find the pedways

A pedway in Downtown Los Angeles.

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Samanta Helou Hernandez

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LAist

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The pedways can still be used downtown.

If you want to visit them, expect little signage, and possibly, some closed-off exit points. These paths connect between buildings, so you’ll likely be going from the escalator to the lobby. People have documented the routes through each path, so be sure to check it out before you go.

Some sections require you to be on certain floors of the buildings or access from particular sides of the streets. Here’s where they are:

And when you’re there, don’t forget to pay homage to Hamilton’s dingy plaque on the northwest bridge, which was once stolen before.

A plaque honoring Calvin S. Hamilton, a former director of planning, on a the floor of a pedway in downtown Los Angeles.

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Samanta Helou Hernandez

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LAist

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