Controversial Measure HLA in Los Angeles asked voters to spend up to $3 billion to reshape the city’s roads, a plan backed by bicyclist groups and other organizations who said that by taking away car lanes — known as a road diet — and widening sidewalks and adding bicycle lanes, traffic will be forced to slow down and fewer bicyclists and pedestrians will be killed.
The plan was opposed by firefighter organizations who said it would create dangerous situations by increasing emergency response times, affecting evacuations during major emergencies, and endangering the public by slowing down firefighter vehicles.
In early returns on Tuesday, March 5, at 8:35 p.m. from the county Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office, 65.16% of voters supported Measure HLA and 34.84% of voters opposed it.
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The ballot measure known as Healthy Streets LA calls for significant changes to streets citywide whenever the city makes a routine street improvement, such as paving, on a street that is at least 660 feet long.
Supporters of the measure say the initiative mandates the city to not merely pave the street, but to add new features such as enhanced crosswalks, automatic pedestrian signals, bicycle lanes, sidewalk widening, and public seating areas.
Critics warned that the initiative would strain the city’s budget just when its administration is dealing with pressing problems like a budget deficit, homelessness, affordable housing, and public safety — and at the same time, critics say HLA will needlessly make it harder for motorists to get where they are going.
The measure would cost the city nearly $3.1 billion over the next decade, according to City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo. “This ordinance may increase litigation costs against the city and does not identify a new funding source. Therefore, diversion of existing funds from other city services may be required,” Szabo warned in his report.
The measure follows the footprint of the Mobility Plan 2035 approved by the Los Angeles City Council in 2015. Supporters say it is necessary because the city has failed to curtail the number of traffic fatalities or make the roads safe. Last year 336 people were killed in traffic, an 8% increase from 2022, mostly involving pedestrians and cyclists, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Council members Eunisses Hernandez, Nithya Raman, Katy Yaroslavsky, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Heather Hutt, and Hugo Soto-Martínez backed the measure as did about 40 neighborhood councils including Arts District Little Tokyo, Boyle Heights, Canoga Park, Central Hollywood, Reseda, Silver Lake and Van Nuys.
The opposition, led by firefighters, argued the measure would remove parking on some neighborhood streets and force the city to create a network of road diets that would slow traffic — delaying emergency responses.
The most outspoken critics were the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, International Association of Fire Fighters, and California Professional Firefighters who urged voters to reject the measure. Billboards recently popped up sponsored by L.A. City firefighters that urged: “Vote no on HLA. Don’t slow us down.”
Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian and Councilmembers Traci Park and John Lee recently introduced a motion, calling to examine the total cost of the measure and its impact on the city’s street repair efforts.
Freddy Escobar, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, said at a recent press conference, “Each year our firefighters and paramedics respond to more than 500,000 calls for service — and in an emergency, every second counts. HLA will increase response times, impede evacuations during mass emergencies, and endanger the public by slowing us down.”
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