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L.A. may ease rush-hour construction ban for smaller streets

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power workers survey construction along Coldwater Canyon Boulevard in Studio City last year.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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More rush-hour construction projects could be permitted on Los Angeles’ smaller side streets, under a plan being considered by City Council members.

The easing of the 7-year-old ban on rush-hour street work would affect about a third of the projects that the ban currently restricts and is intended to speed up construction work and save city agencies millions of dollars annually.

Former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed an executive order in 2005 prohibiting construction on city streets during peak traffic hours in an attempt to reduce gridlock. Though it’s been effective in cutting down on bottlenecks, the ban “took a good idea a little too far,” said L.A. City Councilman Joe Buscaino.

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The restrictions, which prohibit construction from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., reduce construction productivity 30% and increase the time needed to complete projects, Buscaino said.

He wants to test removing the ban for one year on so-called “collector streets,” which connect residential neighborhoods to major thoroughfares.

Michael Kantor, deputy city engineer, told a City Council committee Wednesday that it is “common sense” to lift the ban for those streets.

The rush-hour restriction cuts into working schedules, and often creates extra costs for agencies, according to officials from the Department of Water and Power. A recent agency report estimated that the prohibition costs the DWP an additional $20 million annually. Agency supervisors have been cited up to $2,000 for violating the construction restriction, according to the report.

Mark Hollister, interim director of DWP’s Power System Transmission and Distribution Division, added that crews look lazy when they sit around and wait for rush hour to end so they can begin their work.

The “public image is awful,” Hollister said.

Councilman Gil Cedillo was skeptical that partially lifting the ban would have the intended effect and not increase gridlock. He requested more information on how the ban has affected traffic flow.

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“There’s not enough data here,” Cedillosaid.

Selwyn Hollins, assistant general manager of the city transportation department, said the ban has been very effective on major streets. He said his agency could closely monitor the effects of temporarily easing the rush-hour construction ban.

The proposal now moves to the full City Council for consideration.

Follow @skarlamangla on Twitter for more L.A. politics news.

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