This morning, the city of Los Angeles officially broke ground on its Spring/Alameda Safety and Mobility Project, located in Downtown L.A.’s Chinatown. Construction has been underway for over a month. The $7.5 million 1.2-mile project is upgrading walk and bike access to Union Station, Chinatown Station, L.A. State Historic Park, El Pueblo, and more.
LADOT map of Spring/Alameda project – via project fact sheet
LADOT rendering of Spring Street improvements, including concrete-barrier-protected bike lanes
The project includes new protected bike lanes, two new signalized crosswalks (at Ann and Mesnager Streets), sidewalk repairs/upgrades, pedestrian head-start signals, partial street resurfacing, and more.
Via an existing short stretch of on-street protected bike lanes (on Avenue 19 and Broadway), this Alameda/Spring project will connect the ~7.5-mile long Glendale Narrows L.A. River bike path into downtown Los Angeles.
The project is mostly located in the first council district, represented by Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez.
L.A. City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez speaking at today’s groundbreaking
“For far too long we have designed our streets for moving cars, and asked everybody else to figure out how to survive around them” declared Hernandez. “The consequences have been deadly.” Hernandez noted that, over a ten year period, this part of Alameda and Spring saw drivers crash into 46 people walking or biking. “Traffic violence is a policy choice, and today we’re choosing differently.”
A few blocks of the project – at and near Union Station – are represented by City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado. Today Jurado celebrated the project for providing “reliable access to our central transit hub” by building “a more equitable transportation network across L.A.”
Mayor Karen Bass praised the Spring/Alameda project for making “one of our most important corridors… safer for everybody.” Bass emphasized that this project is part of the city’s nascent Capital Infrastructure Program, which Bass credited for reducing project delays and costs, and getting “all city departments working off of the same page.”
LADOT rendering of signalized crossing at Spring Street and Ann Street
City Engineer Crystal Lee observed how today people were having to sprint across Spring Street at Ann Street, where the project is adding a needed new signalized crosswalk. Lee emphasized that this project will “make our neighborhood safer for our residents.”
The Spring/Alameda improvements are funded by grants from Metro and the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG).
Construction got underway in July, and is expected to finish by early summer 2027.
L.A. City crew working on sidewalks today at Alameda and Main Street
New bus boarding island on Alameda Street – under construction in August