Yesterday, Los Angeles City voters approved the Healthy Streets L.A. ballot initiative - Measure HLA - seen as a referendum on the city's multimodal future.
The final vote count is still pending, and could take weeks as California continues to count late mail-in ballots. However, NBC4 and the L.A. Times are reporting that the measure has effectively been approved.
As of press time, Measure HLA has a commanding lead with 62.73 percent voting for, to 37.27 percent against. Early votes tend to skew somewhat conservative, so the yes percentage could grow.
HLA requires that, during street repaving, the city must implement bus, bike and walk improvements in the city's Mobility Plan, which was approved in 2015 and 2016 but remains predominantly unimplemented. In the Mobility Plan, the city adopted a Vision Zero policy to eliminate traffic deaths by 2035 - but in recent years traffic deaths have risen to their highest levels in decades, generating impetus for HLA's passage.
Streetsblog L.A. endorsed HLA, which assembled a broad range of endorsements, including six of fifteen L.A. City Councilmembers. The measure was opposed by the city firefighters union, alongside just one City Councilmember (Traci Park), and some marginal pro-car groups (some based outside the city).
HLA opponents were given ammunition by city staff - primarily the city's Chief Administrative Officer and Bureau of Street Services leadership - who generated unrealistic and misleadingly high cost estimates that were subsequently disproved.
Assuming current results hold - they almost certainly will - Measure HLA is a clear mandate for change in the way L.A. configures its streets. Voters have clearly spoken that they want a healthier multimodal city that will be safer for all road users: bicyclists, transit riders, pedestrians, people with disabilities, and yes, safer for drivers, too.
Update 5 p.m. Wednesday March 6: With later vote counts posted, HLA's yes percentage moved upwards from 62.73 percent this morning to 63.05 percent this afternoon. View latest results at County Clerk election page.
