Post

Oren Hadar
@futureis.la

In 2016, my neighbors and I won a grant for street upgrades on Pico Blvd. After talking to 1500+ people, the #1 ask was a signalized crosswalk at Pico/Masselin. It got installed in 2020, during the COVID lockdown, when signal coordination was turned off across LA to deter speeding on empty streets.

destinationpico.orgDestination: Pico
Oren Hadar
@futureis.la

The predictable result: impatient pedestrians started crossing before the signal turned red, which meant cars would show up later to a red light with no pedestrians to be seen. Everyone - peds and drivers - thought the signal was broken.

Oren Hadar
@futureis.la

Why is a crosswalk signal timed to coordinate with other lights? When we asked, an LADOT engineer said interrupting the free flow of traffic would cause drivers to run the crosswalk light and hit pedestrians. Translation: we have to design our crosswalk to avoid causing road rage.

Steve DeBretto
@sdebretto.bsky.social

And so many of the lights don'teven give a walk signal anymore unless you press the button. So you show up at a fresh green to a don't walk signal, press the button, and get nothing till the next cycle. Infuriating.

SuperMarina
@supermarina.bsky.social

I just watched a driver at a little-used crossing near my apartment. It is slow to change because the main street (Lincoln Blvd) is very busy. So the dummy kept pulling forward! As he was forward of all markings and sensors, the light’s logic circuit knew of no waiting car and he got no green light!