The pilot program intends to create job opportunities, job training and fix aged infrastructure.
The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday approved a $2.3 million pilot program to repair sidewalks in northeast San Fernando Valley neighborhoods.
The 13-0 vote authorized the Economic and Workforce Development Department to contract with Laborers' International Union of North America Local 300 (LIUNA Local 300), which will spearhead the new program.
Councilmembers Ysabel Juardo and Bob Blumenfield were absent during the vote.
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The funding will repair sidewalks across the Seventh District including the Pacoima, Sylmar, Mission Hills, Lake View Terrace, La Tuna Canyon, Sunland-Tujunga, North Hills and Shadow Hills neighborhoods.
The motion was originally introduced on Feb. 18 by Councilmembers Monica Rodriguez and Imelda Padilla, who represent the San Fernando Valley districts.
Rodriguez said the project is part of a long committed promise dating back to her election in 2017. After her appointment Rodriguez kicked off discussions with the union to "create job opportunities, job training and fix aged infrastructure" the statement said.
“This is work and a concept that is basically seven years in the making,'' Rodriguez said. “I hope it then becomes a model of something that we can help introduce and launch citywide.''
Broken and neglected sidewalks have plagued Los Angeles for years. In 2022, the NBLCA I-Team found the city had a backlog of 50,000 complaints concerning broken sidewalks.
Since 2015 the city has agreed to spend $31 million annually for the next three decades on repairing sidewalks after a lawsuit brought by disability advocates.
In 2021, former LA City Controller Ron Galperin noted it would take nearly 500 years to fix all of LA's buckled and cracked sidewalks at the current pace of the city's repair program.
