Crews hired by the city of Los Angeles have fixed about 19 miles of damaged sidewalks, with more than 300 projects still to go, city officials reported today.
City officials identified 442 sidewalk project sites located next to city facilities as needing repair, with another 67 yet to be assessed, city Bureau of Engineering manager Steve Chen told the City Council’s Public Works and Gang Reduction Committee.
So far, repairs at 129 city facilities have been done at a cost of $10.53 million, while another 28 projects costing about $2.1 million have been given construction approval, Chen said.
Chen told the committee that outside contractors typically do the projects, with some also completed by nonprofits. He said the bureau is compiling a list of smaller contractors who would qualify for projects costing less then $100,000.
Property owners are technically responsible for sidewalks, but about 40 years ago, the city took over responsibility for any damage caused by overgrown tree roots.
With federal funding disappearing for such projects, the backlogged of damaged sidewalks has grown, according to city officials.
The city is still debating how the city should shift the responsibility for private sidewalks back to property owners. The Bureau of Engineering is only focusing on projects next to city parks, libraries and other facilities in which there is no question the responsibility belongs to the city.
The city recently agreed to spend about $31 million a year for the next three decades to fix sidewalks as part of a lawsuit settlement with disability advocates.
