Recently installed audible crosswalk devices are music to one Burbank resident’s ears
Rosie Lobrutto, 56, of Burbank, has been blind for six years because of Benson’s syndrome.
There is nothing sweeter to Rosie Lobrutto’s ears than chirping — not from a bird, but from an audible crosswalk device.
City public works employees recently installed the pedestrian signals at each corner of the intersection of Olive Avenue and Victory Boulevard after a conversation Lobrutto, 56, of Burbank, had with a local politician earlier this month.
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“It’s changed my whole life and means the whole world to me,” Lobrutto said. “I met one of the workers who was working on it and I gave him a big hug and then he walked me around the entire intersection.”
Lobrutto has been blind for the past six years after suffering from Benson’s syndrome, a condition that deteriorates the brain cells around a person’s optic nerves.
She had to quit her job with the Burbank Animal Shelter, operated by the police department, when she discovered that she could not distinguish letters and numbers. Additionally, she became color blind and began losing her depth perception, which forced her to get around town by walking.
“We walk a lot because it’s a lot slower for her,” said Lobrutto’s husband, Ed, 69, adding that she does not like driving anymore.
However, Rosie Lobrutto received a phone call from Glendale Councilwoman and state Assembly candidate Laura Friedman earlier in the month and was asked what could be done to make her life better.
“I told her I’ve been having terrible trouble trying to cross the streets,” said Rosie Lobrutto, who walks with a cane. “Every time I try to cross the street, it’s like a crap shoot. I have [motorists] trying to cross and I’m in the middle of the intersection, and I’ve almost been hit numerous times. Some people have gotten out of their car and helped me to cross the street after seeing how much trouble I’m having. Then [Friedman] told me that she would take care of this right now.”
Bonnie Teaford, Burbank’s public works director, said Friedman contacted Burbank Councilwoman Emily Gabel-Luddy and told her about Rosie Lobrutto’s needs at Olive and Victory.
Gabel-Luddy then reached out to interim City Manager Ron Davis about the issue and asked if anything could be done, Teaford said.
Gabel-Luddy and Friedman were unavailable for comments.
After getting clearance to install the devices, which cost about $2,000 to set up all four corners of an intersection, a city public works crew rolled out to Olive and Victory and brought the chirps to Rosie Lobrutto and other pedestrians, Teaford said.
Burbank currently has five to seven intersections in the downtown area with the audible devices, Teaford said.
Rosie Lobrutto’s excitement for the new equipment has yet to wane and recently was surprised when she found another pedestrian crosswalk aid near the Burbank Town Center.
For her, the installation of the chirping intersection devices was one of the best things that Burbank has done for her and her husband.
“Whoever was a part of this, I can’t thank them enough,” she said. “It changed everything.”
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Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
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