Residents of Boyle Heights Thursday celebrated the completion of two pedestrian safety projects along Olympic Boulevard, following years of pleas from the community to improve the busy thoroughfare.
Councilman Kevin de Leon, whose 15th District encompasses Boyle Heights, unveiled a traffic signal at Olympic Boulevard and Orme Avenue, alongside L.A. Bureau of Engineering leaders and community members.
The city also installed a flashing crosswalk and completed curb extensions along Olympic Boulevard at Camulos Street and at Dacotah Street.
The two projects totaled approximately $1.3 million, according to de Leon’s office, and will make it easier to cross to and from Wyverewood and Estrada Courts.
“Today, I’m here to celebrate the completion of a project we broke ground on last year for Boyle Heights residents to make our streets safer for everyone who uses them,” de Leon said during a news conference Thursday morning.
The councilman said 2021 was the “deadliest year on record for traffic collisions on the streets of L.A.”
An estimated 294 people were killed in traffic-related incidents that year, which was then surpassed in 2022 when the city reported 309 people died in traffic-related incidents.
“These untimely deaths translate into thousands of family members and friends who are left behind to grieve the irreplaceable loss of mothers, fathers, children and grandparents,” de Leon said in a statement.
“And to be clear, those fatalities don’t include the more than 1,500 people seriously injured in traffic collisions. That’s about four people each day, who are seriously injured.”
According to de Leon’s office, the city identified Olympic Boulevard in its High Injury Network — meaning it is one of many streets in the city where rates for pedestrian collisions are high.
In April, a few blocks away at Orme Avenue and Whittier Boulevard, 13-year-old Joshua Mora lost a leg in a hit-and-run crash while crossing in a designated, unprotected crosswalk.
“No one should have to risk their life to simply cross a street,” de Leon said. “For more than a decade, residents and business owners in this community have pleaded for officials to step forward with solutions along this corridor to mitigate the dangers to pedestrians, cyclists and motorists,” de Leon said in a statement.
The councilman recently announced he secured $37.7 million in grants to further support pedestrian and street improvements in Boyle Heights.
A $32 million grant from the California Transportation Commission’s Active Transportation Program will fund infrastructure additions to the southern part of the neighborhood, including hundreds of trees, pedestrian lights and expanded sidewalks.
A $5.7 million local city matching grant will contribute to the project.
Specifically, the grant will support accessibility and create pedestrian and cycling connections between Wyvernwood, Estrada Courts, Mariachi Plaza, Hollenbeck Park and the Sixth Street Viaduct.