Like many families, Rick Aguilar likes to take his grandchildren to a park to have some fun.
His spot, the Lemon Grove Recreation Center, is where people in the neighborhood bring their pets, play a round of basketball and let little ones rush down the slides before the after-school program.
It’s a busy park in East Hollywood where nearby cars, trucks and buses drive by, often at faster than legal speeds. Lemon Grove Avenue and Hobart Boulevard, the intersection closest to the park, used to only have stop signs. No crosswalks.
Crosswalk Collective LA, a small group of community members, decided to take street safety into their own hands by painting in crosswalks themselves, a DIY project they’ve run since March 2022.
VICTORY! Last year, we painted two crosswalks at a dangerous intersection near a park in East Hollywood.
We are delighted to share that LADOT replaced our crosswalks with FOUR longer crosswalks. Thank you all for your support 🙏 pic.twitter.com/acULHss7YK
— Crosswalk Collective LA (@CrosswalksLA) January 30, 2023
Why This Crosswalk Stands Out
LAist has reported on the collective since it started. Many of the crosswalks have been taken down by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), which called them “unauthorized.” But Lemon Grove and Hobart is one of the few that the city actually replaced.
And Aguilar is glad they did.
“[The crosswalk] makes me more conscious about the surrounding area with the children,” said Aguilar, who drove to the park. “I really feel that it modifies a neighborhood more securely for the children, which is important for me.”
When I visited the intersection,…
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