As pedestrian safety is a major concern throughout the city of Los Angeles, a city council committee approved a volunteer sidewalk painting motion on Tuesday, a pilot program to be considered by the city council.
The original motion, presented last month by Councilmembers Katy Yaroslavsky and Eunisses Hernandez, asks that residents and neighborhood organizations be allowed to assist the city with crosswalk upkeep.
“Recent community-led crosswalk-painting efforts have highlighted both the public’s desire for safer streets and the need to improve crosswalk maintenance practices,” the Oct. 28 motion stated.
Last year, a Los Angeles man was arrested for what he called volunteer vigilantism by painting his own crosswalks at busy intersections. He said he was inspired by the Los Angeles nonprofit, Crosswalk Collective, which similarly paints crosswalks in high-traffic areas. Criminal charges for the crosswalk vigilante were dropped.
The official motion, approved by the Public Works Committee, asks that members of the public be allowed to participate by repainting existing city-approved crosswalks.
It also asks for a citywide crosswalk inventory and current inspection and repainting practices.
“Report back (in 90 days) on the options for establishing a pilot program that could accommodate the repainting of existing, City-approved crosswalks by community organizations and volunteers, including whether the program could operate under an existing City program such as Adopt-A-Median,” the motion states.