30-year plan aims to repair Los Angeles' crumbling sidewalks

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Four Los Angeles city councilmembers are proposing a plan to fix the city's cracked and crumbling sidewalks - all of them.

"The city has failed its residents. Our sidewalks are a disaster, and every time folks go out in our streets in the city of Los Angeles, we see crumbled sidewalks," said Councilmember Joe Buscaino. "So today collectively with my committee, the public works, and the budget and finance committee, we are coming together to offer a comprehensive sidewalk repair program."

The 30-year sidewalk repair plan will include the following:

• A comprehensive one-time repair, meaning every damaged sidewalk will be repaired.
• A 20-year warranty for future damage on residential property and a five-year warranty for commercial property.
• Property owners could have their sidewalk repaired in as little as three years if they decide to cover half of the cost.

"There are a lot of people in this city that want to fix their sidewalks, and they don't want to wait 30 years. So if they want to fix their sidewalks, we're going to be able to give them the opportunity to pay for half and at the same time today, we're going to waive any fees associated with pulling permits to fix their sidewalks," Buscaino said.

Los Angeles has nearly 11,000 miles of public sidewalks, and it is believed that 40 percent need some type of improvement.

Lupe Alcala, a Los Angeles resident who has fallen due to broken sidewalks while walking her dogs, says she's hesitant to believe anything will be done.

"It will be nice if it happens, it truly would be very nice especially because this is a residential area and there is a lot of homeowners and homeowners with pets," Alcala said.

Los Angeles city officials say the repair plan would cost $30 million a year. The proposal will go to the full City Council for vote in the next couple of weeks.