City of Los Angeles to consider #lasidewalks policies on Monday November 16th 2pm

On November 16th at 2pm will the City of Los Angeles take steps to rebuild its 11,500 miles of sidewalks with a strategic, data informed vision prioritizing social equity, public health, accessibility and stakeholder engagement? As the city rolls out a policy plan for a $1.4 Billion dollar infrastructure program, let’s ensure it is a visionary strategy linking together the many goals and opportunities to support a rollable, walkable, accessible and safer City of Los Angeles – especially for the city’s most vulnerable travelers: individuals with disabilities and those traveling on foot.

Will the City’s sidewalk policy be a part of bringing together key goals from existing city policies such as Great Streets, Vision Zero, City Plants, Green streets and the recently adopted Mobility and Sustainability plans?  Will it align public investments with adopted policies for mobility and livability?

Join partners in supporting that vision and celebrating #lasidewalks as the wonderful public realm and key transportation network they need to be in order to support and keep safe all travelers in the City of Los Angeles.

Background: The City of Los Angeles has not had a comprehensive repair program since the 1970’s. It’s estimated that over half the City’s 11,500 miles of sidewalk are broken. In April 2015, the City of LA settled a $1.4B ADA sidewalk lawsuit (background on the Willits ADA sidewalk case). That lawsuit settlement has been finalized and now moves toward a policies and a prioritization and funding plan to fix these sidewalks in the next few months.

On Monday November 16th at 2pm in City Hall the Chief Administrative Offices (CAO) will present their sidewalk policy recommendation to a joint meeting of the public works and gang reduction and budget and finance committees. After discussion and action at the joint committee meeting, the recommendations will go to the full city council for approval.

How to get involved:

• Attend our open working group meeting on 11/4 at 2:30 in downtown Los Angeles (email jessica@investinginplace.org for agenda, meeting location and more)
• Save the date and time and plan to attend the Joint Policy Committee on Monday November 16th at 2pm in City Hall
• Email jessica@investinginplace.org to find out more.
• Share your vision for #lasidewalks on twitter and instagram

Investing in Place is working with partners to advocate for policies that:

• Establishes sidewalks as a core foundation of the City’s transportation network.
• Requires the City to commit to developing an inventory of existing and missing sidewalks and creates a citywide sidewalk strategic plan.
• Utilizes the City’s Vision zero high injury network, social equity, public health metrics, pedestrian volume and transit use data to establish a prioritization plan for repairs.
• Leverages the potential 2016 Los Angeles County transportation sales tax revenue to accelerate the repair program to fix the City’s sidewalks in 10 years, not the proposed 30 years.
• Leveraged existing City infrastructure grants to achieve multiple benefits including, but not limited to; implementing pedestrian safety improvements, stormwater capture, and tree preservation/replanting.
• Supports meaningful community participation.

See our meeting notes from previous working group meetings:

• October 5th Working Group Conference Call
• October 21 Working Group Meeting
• Next Working Group Meeting: Nov 4th 2:30