LA streets face ‘dire future,’ according to a new report, and the long-term solution will be costly

Los Angeles city streets will worsen and repairing them will become more expensive unless the city overhauls its approach to maintenance, according to a report from transportation advocacy group Streets For All.

“We’re looking towards a dire future for the streets of Los Angeles if we continue on the status quo,” said Josh Vredevoogd, who heads creative and research for the organization that spearheaded Measure HLA and co-authored the report published in late April.

The critical condition that L.A.’s streets could find themselves in is the result of underinvestment, opting for smaller-scale treatments and delaying compliance with long-standing federal accessibility laws, according to the report.

One of the potential solutions the report names is changing the city’s charter to mandate a five-year infrastructure plan, and that’s the option local leaders have recently angled toward too.

The context behind the report

The Streets For All report picks up on questions that surfaced late last year when transportation advocates noticed the city had halted resurfacing, which treats a street from curb to curb. While some resurfacing has since resumed, the Bureau of Street Services estimates its current budget will only allow 60 lane miles of resurfacing this fiscal year compared to more than 300 lane miles the prior year.

Part of the reason, city officials have said, is the high price of installing curb ramps. According to federal guidelines, curb ramps must be installed in compliance with ADA standards before a road is resurfaced. They come with a high price tag at $50,000 per curb ramp, according to Streets For All.

The city has instead prioritized “large asphalt repairs” this year. That’s a method of patching when there are structural failures like potholes or extensive cracking, "but the entire street doesn't yet need full resurfacing,” said Dan Halden, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Street Services.

By opting for large asphalt repairs, “City lawyers believe ADA repair requirements are not triggered,” Streets For All’s report says.

The report’s findings 

The group's report says that large asphalt repairs end up costing more per square foot than resurfacing, lead to more expensive repairs later and don’t result in any meaningful improvement to street condition.

Halden said large asphalt repairs are a “standard practice in pavement management.”

The report estimates that by not keeping up with curb ramp standards, L.A. will need to spend $4 billion to address its estimated 80,000 ramp backlog.

How does charter reform fit into this?

For years, advocates, namely Jessica Meaney of Investing in Place, have called on the city to create a long-term infrastructure development and maintenance plan, something major cities throughout the U.S. already have.

Vredevoogd said such a plan, known officially as a Capital Infrastructure Program, could include a streamlined method of street maintenance.

“They repave the street. They fix all the curb ramps. They put in new trees. They add Vision Zero improvements,” he said. “That’s what you see happening with more functional Public Works programs in other cities.”

Earlier this week, Mayor Karen Bass released a Capital Infrastructure Program focused on projects for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic games. Bass’ plan is a one-off, though, and long-term infrastructure planning and budgeting isn’t part of the regular course of city business.

One of the recommendations that came out of the Charter Reform Committee earlier this year is to codify the creation of a five-year-long Capital Infrastructure Program in the city charter. If it succeeds, that recommendation would make a plan similar to what Bass released as part of the regular process of planning and budgeting.

The commission also recommended creating a director of Public Works position that would oversee and implement infrastructure planning.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez is the head of the city’s Public Works committee.

Her spokesperson, Chelsea Lucktenberg, said the councilmember sees charter reform “as a key part of the solution” to address the problems identified in Streets For All’s report, including how “our system is set up to prioritize short-term fixes over long-term maintenance.”

What’s happening in the shorter term?

Bass’ office said the mayor’s proposed budget for next fiscal year increases funding for the city’s pavement preservation program by 21% and includes a 45% increase specifically for access ramps.

Councilmembers Hernandez and Katy Yaroslavsky put forward a motion at the end of March asking city departments for an analysis of curb ramp construction, including a comparison with comparable jurisdictions.

Halden, the Bureau of Street Services spokesperson, said the city is “on track” to install 300 curb ramps by this summer, when the current fiscal year ends.