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Measure HLA is stuck. The ballot measure LA voters passed 2½ years ago said the city must install planned bike lanes when repaving. But the city stopped repaving, and new bike lane projects have slowed to a trickle. Exactly one HLA-compliant project has been installed. What comes next?

The problem is costs stacked on costs. City Council required bike lanes to only be installed on good pavement. Repaving adds $1M/mile. The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) says when repaving, curb ramps have to be fixed. Another $600k/mile.

The workaround: Large Asphalt Repair (LAR), a long patch the city calls maintenance - no need to fix curb ramps. Put LAR under the bike lanes, leave the rest of the asphalt untouched, and install the bike lanes cheaply. I was outraged by these patches at first. Now I think they’re an important tool.

HLA requires ALL Mobility Plan elements to be installed when repaving, including for pedestrians. The complete street. It’s like a restaurant set menu. Nice for a special occasion. But if my family had to order an appetizer and dessert every time we went to Olive Garden, we'd go a lot less often.

So what now? The ADA and HLA have raised costs, but they’re here to stay. I asked people on the city and advocacy sides how to get repaving and the Mobility Plan moving again. Click to read what they told me.

I would just add to your 3rd recommendation (which I support): repeal no-new-bikeways-except-where-pavement-is-good. LADOT already breaks this law - or I should say selectively enforces this law mainly to shoot down bike safety projects

Has anyone done a thorough investigation into the costs? Also has anyone done design reviews? Not to say anything would sway an antagonistic admin but there seem to be real issues even when the work is being done. I’m watching 1 crew do all the intersections on Los Feliz BLVD…