The Los Angeles Department of Transportation is making some changes for drivers and pedestrians in response to the impact stay at home orders have had on the city’s streets.
Officials say a decrease in traffic has led to more drivers speeding through intersections that had been synced to ease traffic congestion during daylight hours and allow a “green wave” of signals.
To combat this, LADOT says it has ordered all signals be set to “nighttime mode,” which will cause more signals to change to red when traffic volumes are really low.
Officials have also deactivated some of the city’s pedestrian push buttons in hopes of fighting the spread of coronavirus.
The intersections, which would normally require the pedestrian to touch a possibly contaminated button, now feature automatic walk cycles.
The automated buttons were initially rolled out in downtown L.A., but have now been implemented at intersections with high volumes of pedestrians in Hollywood, Westlake, MacArthur Park, Chinatown and Koreatown.
LADOT says it is working to convert additional pedestrian signals in the following areas:
- East Hollywood/Little Armenia
- Highland Park
- Miracle Mile
- Pico-Union/University Park
- South LA
- Studio City
- Van Nuys
