The Bureau of Street Services expects a significant drop in road resurfacing this fiscal year due to underinvestment, rising liability costs, and strict ADA compliance requirements for curb ramps.
The Bureau of Street Services estimates it can only resurface 60 lane miles this fiscal year, compared to more than 300 lane miles the prior year.
This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, Los Angeles city streets will worsen and repairing them will become more expensive unless the city overhauls its approach to maintenance,“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. If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report.
Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less. LA’s liability costs have been growing for years. The City Council is seeking a solutionThe issues surround poor bookkeeping and accounting of taxpayer money at the agency — which spent over $800 million in public funds last fiscal year.resurfacing, which treats a street from curb to curb.
While some resurfacing has since resumed, the Bureau of Street Servicesits current budget will only allow 60 lane miles of resurfacing this fiscal year compared to more than 300 lane miles the prior year.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 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. 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.
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.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. 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.
”Los Angeles mayor: Who's running in the June 2 primary and why it matters 13 candidates are running against incumbent Karen Bass for L.A. mayor, a position that will face questions around policing, homelessness and the 2028 Olympic Games. 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.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.
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