Hahn Puts Dent in L.A. Gridlock

Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn, who made improving the city’s gridlocked traffic one of the centerpieces of his campaign, announced Wednesday that he has fixed 25 of the city’s worst intersections and is working on another 25.

The first round of improvements, which the mayor promised to complete within a year, took eight months and involved adding left-turn arrows, new traffic signals and “smart crosswalks” that flash warning beacons when pedestrians step off the curb.

Another 25 intersections around the city will get similar improvements, along with better visibility, Hahn said.

“I’m thrilled to say that we’re keeping Los Angeles moving,” said the mayor, straining to be heard over the roar of traffic behind him on Victory Boulevard, which has a new left-turn signal.

“I got kidded a little bit in the campaign when I said I wanted to put in more left-turn lanes and left-turn signals,” he added. “But you know, if you drive in L.A., that’s something that you need.”

The mayor has been trying to highlight initiatives to improve city services as he fights movements in the San Fernando Valley, Hollywood and the harbor area to break away from Los Angeles.

Both rounds of intersection improvements will cost about $2 million altogether, and were accomplished by moving up some planned projects and reassigning city engineers who were working on other projects.

North Hollywood resident Garrett Duenes said he has noticed a change since the city added a left-turn arrow at the intersection of Saticoy Street and Whitsett Avenue.

“That helped a lot,” said Duenes, 26. “Everyone was running [the light] before. There was a lot of illegality going on.”