City Council Mulls Easing Ban On Street Construction During Rush Hour
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles City Council is considering relaxing a ban that prohibits construction on city streets during rush hour.
KNX 1070's Margaret Carrero reports the easing of the 7-year-old ban could cut costs and speed up city projects - and also slow down traffic even more.
The proposal from City Councilman Joe Buscaino would initially target smaller side streets in order to gauge the impact on traffic by lifting current restrictions, which prohibit construction from 6-9 a.m and 3:30-7 p.m.
Former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa implemented the ban in 2005 to reduce gridlock, but the restrictions also ended up slashing construction productivity by 30 percent and increased the time - and funding - necessary to finish city projects, Buscaino told The Los Angeles Times.
Additional costs linked to the ban include about $20 million annually for the Department of Water & Power, according to The Times.
Mustafa, who has been driving a cab in LA for nearly a decade, said even early morning construction has a big impact on his business.
"At this time, I was trying to get off Wilshire, it was closed," he said. "So I have to go all the way around Sunset and come back here."
But the proposal has its fair share of skeptics such as Councilman Gil Cedillo, who told The Times there was "not enough data" to determine whether partially lifting the ban would ease costs while not adversely impacting traffic.