As Los Angeles voters gear up for the March 5 elections, a controversial measure is causing a stir. Measure HLA, a ballot proposal to revamp L.A.'s streets with transportation improvements like bike lanes and sidewalk upgrades, comes with a hefty $3.1 billion price tag over the next decade, according to City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo. The proposal, integral to the city's Mobility Plan, has stirred debate, pitting fiscal caution against the vision of safer, more accessible streets.
In his analysis, Szabo warns that approving Measure HLA will come with significant trade-offs, as the city would have to "make offsetting decisions, and potentially not fund other projects and priorities to meet the mandates of this measure," KTLA reports. The measure’s supporters, however, have slammed Szabo’s report, decrying it as misleading and a ploy to sway voters against the measure.
Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Bob Blumenfield, vocal proponents of the measure, have ripped into Szabo's calculations. Blumenfield criticized the "wholly artificial 10-year horizon, which seems to inflate the cost," as he views the deadline for the Mobility Plan’s completion by 2035 to be more flexible, while Hernandez focused on the report’s implications for public safety, noting to The Los Angeles Times that safe street infrastructure is a critical component of public safety, particularly when contrasted with other spending, such as police raises.
Yet, Szabo stands firm behind his conclusions, labeling them as "conservative estimates" and cautioning that the actual costs could climb even higher, potentially over $4 billion, due to rising construction costs not factored into the current projection. The advocacy group Streets for All, driving forward the Yes on HLA campaign, has called out Szabo's analysis as a "last-minute electioneering ploy" meant to politicize what they deem an essential safety and infrastructure issue.
Should Measure HLA pass, it would mandate the installation of transportation upgrades like bus and bike lanes on targeted corridors listed in the Mobility Plan, thus introducing a set of commitments that would reshape L.A.'s transit landscape. Proponents like Streets for All envision transformative changes such as protected bike lanes on Soto Street and Whittier Boulevard on the Eastside and a bolstering of bus and bike lane networks throughout the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood.
