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Why isn't LA repaving streets?

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Re: Why isn't LA repaving streets?

#71

Post by bradchris »

bahmboo wrote: post #15

Good infrastructure costs money. Citizens don't want to pay for it. The city workers have to figure out how to solve problems. Another fun one is talking about how much was accomplished decades ago when the streets were...decades newer. Go ahead and say it's mismanagement.

I’m pretty sure Los Angeles is a city in which residents would _gladly_ vote to tax themselves for better streets if they’d actually get done, like Orange County has.

In 2024, when Measure HLA passed via ballot measure (basically, legally requiring that the city must adhere to its own already decade-old repaving and mobility plan that had only been 3% implemented), the city tried to spook the public by saying it could ultimately increase taxes and cost $2bn over 10 years. That only increased support, with almost 66% of the city voting for it in the end. It’s worthwhile to note, measure HLA did not actually mandate anything new, just saying that the city must follow its own street plan, because for a decade the city has been pulling stuff like this rather than actually building ADA ramps or repaving.

People want their sidewalks and streets and will gladly pay for them, not to mention the city already lost a Federal ADA lawsuit requiring this too. The city just won’t do it. I’m hoping this is the year the city finally gets sued under HLA (which carries a bounty award for any litigant who lives on a street ignored by the mobility plan if they do a faux repaving and don’t adhere to the law), now that the 2-year grace period is up.

Re: Why isn't LA repaving streets?

#72

Post by smetj »

t1234s wrote: post #55

I think they built the majority of the Eisenhower Interstate System in 15 years. Now we cant figure out how to pave roads.

red tape, regulations, corruption, low pay, inflated prices, a gamed system. Although the topic is unrelated, I came across this the other day ... makes one think https://youtu.be/JTEJH-tKv9Q?t=910

Re: Why isn't LA repaving streets?

#73

Post by kgwgk »

Freedom2 wrote: post #54
atleastoptimal wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People buy SUV's because they want to avoid being injured in crashes (at the detriment of the other driver)

Yet per capita, US vehicle occupants are more likely to be injured in general while on the road than Europeans. Perhaps the driving standards are just far too different.

They also travel twice as much.

Re: Why isn't LA repaving streets?

#74

Post by crazygringo »

The vast majority of the comments here seem to be completely missing the actual reason. I see people claiming this is about heavier SUV's, about people moving to the suburbs, governmental incompetence, that we "can't figure out how to pave roads", that this is corruption...

...just no. What this is, is that the federal ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) has required wheelchair access (curb ramps) along roads since 1990. To comply, "Measure HLA" is a citizen initiative passed in 2025, which forces the city to build curb ramps WHENEVER it resurfaces a road.

But here's the kicker -- as the "Measure HLA" site explains [1], it promises "No New Taxes or Fees", claiming "improvements would be made during routine street maintenance".

But because it DIDN'T raise additional funds, but is a much more expensive process, and the city doesn't have the money, the city is getting around it by doing "large asphalt repair" which is lower-quality but avoids having to spend the extra money and time (which they don't have) to implement the curb ramps and other requirements.

All of this seems like an entirely predictable outcome when a law is passed that requires more work but doesn't pay for it. And in this case you can't blame a short-sighted legislature or a corrupt process -- it was a citizens' initiative. That promised voters they could have something for free, which isn't free. See this key quote:

> Per Mozee, “there’s approximately 14 ramps in a mile.” So for “one crew to build out those 14 ramps will take approximately three months.” In contrast, he said, “a paving crew on a good day … could pave that same mile in a weekend or one week, at most.”

So what exactly did people expect?

I'm all for accessibility, but demanding it without paying for it is not the way.

[1] https://yesonhla.com/

Re: Why isn't LA repaving streets?

#75

Post by baggy_trough »

atleastoptimal wrote: post #13

US cities over the past decade seem to be in a competition to see who can be the least competently run.

Governments at all levels have accreted increasingly ravenous parasites who are on the verge of killing any effective functions of the host.

Re: Why isn't LA repaving streets?

#76

Post by trollbridge »

stock_toaster wrote: post #38

Maybe roads would last longer if we weren't all being forced to buy super heavy SUVs just so automakers can skirt emissions and fuel economy requirements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPm4de6-eTg

People in cities generally want deliveries of goods, which requires heavy trucks.

Re: Why isn't LA repaving streets?

#78

Post by trollbridge »

johnnyanmac wrote: post #23
themafia wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Citizens don't want to pay for it. Yes. We do. We're literally screaming for it.

Sorry, gotta go to companies pocketing the money while pretending they are building homeless shelters.

There’s a lot of money to be had in not building things.

Re: Why isn't LA repaving streets?

#79

Post by SimianSci »

csto12 wrote: post #46
stock_toaster wrote: post #38

Maybe roads would last longer if we weren't all being forced to buy super heavy SUVs just so automakers can skirt emissions and fuel economy requirements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPm4de6-eTg

The average American wants a big SUV/Truck

This is not supported by good data, Car manufacturers are pushing to make bigger larger vehicles because they require very little additional manufacturing overhead over smaller vehicles and the manufacturers are able to sell them at higher prices.

What people want are Inexpensive vehicles, not necessarily larger ones. American car manufacturers have been actively suppressing cheaper smaller vehicles for their own benefit.

Re: Why isn't LA repaving streets?

#80

Post by atleastoptimal »

Freedom2 wrote: post #54
atleastoptimal wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People buy SUV's because they want to avoid being injured in crashes (at the detriment of the other driver)

Yet per capita, US vehicle occupants are more likely to be injured in general while on the road than Europeans. Perhaps the driving standards are just far too different.

Because US roads traffic control systems suck ALSO licenses are much easier to get, there is more of a tacit tolerance of drunk driving, and the lower rate of public transport makes more people forced to drive despite preferring not to, leading to less of a selective effect of drivers.

We've consequentially paved over the issues (no pun intended) via creating a socioeconomic hierarchy of insulation from traffic injuries. Giant SUV's have become the mainstay of the upwardly mobile 30s suburbanite, who is immunized from the road hazards, collisions and dangers that would cripple sedans.

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