Some Streetsblog readers are familiar with some of the sad history of the deadly intersection of 4th Street and New Hampshire Boulevard in L.A.’s Koreatown neighborhood.
Last year, after a driver killed a 9-year-old, and after volunteers painted guerilla crosswalks, the city of Los Angeles Transportation Department (LADOT) installed official crosswalks and a temporary traffic circle there.
The new circle wasn’t much, but appeared to somewhat calm car traffic.
In mid-November, LADOT installed this new mini-circle and official crosswalks at 4th/New Hampshire
LADOT is planning to install a long-delayed permanent circle there, with construction expected to get underway this year.
The battering of the temporary circle suggests it can’t come soon enough.
By early February, drivers had managed to loosen one of four speed bumps there. Another appeared damaged but remained affixed.
The 4th/New Hampshire circle in early February
This week – still less than four months after installation – three of the plastic bumps are loose and falling apart. Several reflectors are missing. It resembles a pile of debris that someone mistakenly forgot to clean up.
The 4th/New Hampshire circle this week
Perhaps LADOT (or another entity that actually cares about pedestrians’ lives – like the Crosswalks Collective L.A.) could put something there that drivers might take seriously: large rocks, granite or concrete blocks, jersey barriers, Toronto barriers, or maybe some kind of trap door with a deep pit lined with spikes?
Hopefully LADOT will begin construction on the permanent circle soon.