LA moves forward with plan to implement sweeping street safety enhancements

Street improvements that Los Angeles residents voted for last year are one step closer to happening after City Council committees on Wednesday approved a plan to implement Measure HLA.

“It’s still not done, but it’s a huge step forward in actually implementing Measure HLA,” Michael Schneider, founder and CEO of advocacy group Streets For All, told LAist.

The plan, which still needs to be adopted by the full City Council, outlines the agencies responsible for street improvement projects, establishes public reporting requirements and reaffirms L.A. residents’ ability to sue the city for noncompliance.

The City Council transportation and public works committees were initially scheduled to discuss the plan, which was drafted by the city attorney, two weeks ago.

Councilmembers Heather Hutt and Eunisses Hernandez were present for the discussion and voted to move the plan with their amendments forward. Councilmembers Traci Park, a critic of Measure HLA, and Imelda Padilla weren't there and therefore didn’t vote.

A quick refresher on HLA

In 2015, the City Council adopted Mobility Plan 2035, which identified networks of streets to improve with protected bike lanes, pedestrian signal enhancements, bus lanes and other enhancements.

Seven years later, frustrated with a lack of progress on the plan, Streets for All began campaigning for Healthy Streets L.A., or Measure HLA.

The initiative that voters overwhelmingly approved last year requires the city to implement Mobility Plan upgrades when it repaves at least one-eighth of a mile of a street specified in one of the networks.

What’s in the plan

Under the initiative voters approved, L.A. residents are able to file a lawsuit against the city if they believe it didn’t install a mobility upgrade when it should have. The initial version of the implementation plan drafted by the city attorney required complaints to first go through an appeals process. The amended version would make that appeals process optional.

Starting in April, the Department of Transportation will host an online dashboard detailing Mobility Plan projects. That’s when you’d start seeing how street enhancements could affect parking availability, street accessibility, as well as how the number of travelers along a corridor could change.

“It is in the final stages of development and will be online as required by the ordinance in April,” Laura Rubio-Cornejo, the general manager of the Department of Transportation, said at Wednesday's meeting.

The city’s transportation department would lead the “planning, initiation, scoping, and outreach” of street improvement projects. The scheduling and actual construction on the projects would be done in conjunction with the Bureau of Engineering and StreetsLA, which fall under the Public Works department.

L.A.'s fire and police departments would review the street improvement projects. During the campaign for Measure HLA last year, the union representing L.A.’s firefighters opposed the initiative and claimed it would worsen traffic and emergency response times.

What comes next

An outstanding and consequential question is how much money the city will allocate to StreetsLA and the Department of Transportation in the next budget cycle.

“ I don't think any of this matters if the budget doesn't get fixed,” Schneider said, adding that Streets For All and other organizations plan to send a letter to Mayor Karen Bass next week with budget and process recommendations that “would help move HLA forward.”

For now, the implementation ordinance will be sent back to the city attorney before going to the City Council for full adoption.