Los Angeles Struggles to Maintain Crumbling Streets Amid Legal Hurdles

City officials say voter-approved mandates have made basic road repairs too complicated and expensive to carry out.

Apr. 18, 2026 at 2:20am

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A vibrant, high-contrast silkscreen print featuring a repeated pattern of a single, iconic road maintenance object in neon colors, conceptually representing the challenges of urban infrastructure upkeep.As Los Angeles struggles to maintain its crumbling streets, the city's creative workarounds have transformed basic road repair tools into a bold, pop art statement.Los Angeles Today

Los Angeles has largely stopped repaving its streets over the past year, with the city resurfacing just 9 miles of roadway out of over 7,500 total miles. City officials say voter-approved measures like the Healthy Streets LA initiative, which requires additional safety features to be added during repaving projects, have made basic road repairs too complex and costly to undertake. As a result, the city has turned to 'large asphalt repairs' that patch small sections of roadway without triggering the full requirements, leaving many streets in a state of disrepair.

Why it matters

The situation in Los Angeles highlights the unintended consequences that can arise from well-meaning policies aimed at improving infrastructure and accessibility. While the goals of initiatives like Healthy Streets LA are laudable, the added requirements and costs have led the city to essentially stop repaving streets altogether, leaving drivers to navigate potholes and deteriorating pavement. This raises questions about how to balance infrastructure improvements with the practical realities of budgets and project management.

The details

According to the report, Los Angeles has resurfaced just 9 miles of its 7,500-mile street network in the past nine months. City officials say this is due to the requirements of Measure HLA, the Healthy Streets LA initiative approved by voters in 2024, which mandates the addition of bike lanes, bus lanes, crosswalks, and other safety features whenever a street is repaved. These add-ons can turn a routine resurfacing job into a multi-million dollar project, leading the city's Bureau of Street Services to simply avoid repaving altogether. The city has instead turned to 'large asphalt repairs' that patch small sections of roadway without triggering the full Measure HLA requirements, though this approach does not address the underlying damage to the streets.

  • In the past nine months, Los Angeles has resurfaced just 9 miles of roadway.
  • Measure HLA was approved by voters in 2024.

The players

Bureau of Street Services

The city department responsible for maintaining Los Angeles' streets, which has opted to avoid full repaving projects in favor of more limited 'large asphalt repairs' in order to sidestep the requirements of Measure HLA.

Measure HLA

The Healthy Streets LA initiative approved by Los Angeles voters in 2024, which requires the city to implement its mobility plan (adding bike lanes, bus lanes, crosswalks, etc.) whenever a street is repaved.

PROWAG

The Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines, a federal regulation that requires cities to upgrade curb ramps and other pedestrian infrastructure whenever streets are 'altered', adding significant costs to repaving projects.

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What’s next

The lawsuit filed this month will determine whether the city's 'large asphalt repairs' strategy is a legitimate workaround or an attempt to deliberately sidestep the requirements of Measure HLA.

The takeaway

The situation in Los Angeles highlights the unintended consequences that can arise when well-intentioned policies aimed at improving infrastructure and accessibility end up creating perverse incentives that actually discourage basic maintenance and repairs. As cities grapple with aging roads and streets, finding the right balance between mandates and practical realities will be crucial.