Some families in West Los Angeles are taking safety into their own hands as neighbors and volunteers in Sawtelle paint yellow cross walks at the intersections leading to Stoner Park.
They say they don’t want to wait for someone to get hurt for the city to get the job done.
Someone driving by or walking across might not even know that those crosswalks weren’t painted by the city.
They’re in that yellow traffic paint seen all over our roads and they’re in uniform rectangles.
The crosswalks were painted by neighbors at the four intersections leading here to Stoner Park.
There are many families who walk around that area and many children who use the park for their summer camp so they wanted the crosswalks to be another visible sign for drivers to slow down.
However, the city doesn’t seem pleased. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation says no crosswalks were requested for these intersections and they weren’t approved, either.
Only the city can install crosswalks to make sure they’re meeting the state’s safety standards.
The person who led the effort said he brought these safety concerns up to his neighborhood council but didn’t see anything change.
“The city spent time and money and effort painting over or removing crosswalks, including ones that I’ve painted in Hollywood. So I wouldn’t be surprised if the city removes these crosswalks, maybe even more so now that they know that they’re not sanctioned, because I don’t know if that was obvious,” Jonathan Hale said. “So, it is an act of civil disobedience, and I made my bed, and I’m prepared to lay it in if it comes to that.”
Hale said he’ll paint them again if they’re removed and he has the community’s support.
Other volunteers and neighbors have been helping him with this project.