Sunday, March 19th, is the 21st Annual L.A. Marathon. For the last twenty years, it has caused some traffic snarls, but none like we'll see on Sunday. See, in years past, the marathon route has been monitored in the field by Traffic Engineers and remotely, by computer, by engineers in the City's ATSAC control room 4 stories below City Hall East. This has helped keep traffic flowing via cameras as well as the road closures to a minimum with a rolling closure.This year may be different. All the engineers, who volunteer for overtime to work the event, have decided not to come in on Sunday. These engineers are members of the disgruntled EAA Union and are drawing attention to the fact that they feel they deserve equal pay to DWP employees in the same classification. Mayor Villariagosa has declined to address their concern except by saying there is no money to address their needs.
So, traffic will be handled on sit, without technical monitoring through ATSAC, and the street closures will be handled by sign-posters, LADOT Traffic Officers, & LAPD.
Good luck out there. My suggestion: stay on the freeways!!
5 comments:
The almost daily closing of public thoroughfares for nonsense like a road race -- or for premieres, cocktail parties, arcade rides, etc., all of which describe the situation with Sunset, Hollywood, and other major streets these days -- is nothing short of an outrage....and a real threat to public safety (try getting an ambulance in the middle of a marathon, or during the EIGHT DAYS Hollywood Blvd. is closed each year to erect the Oscars red carpet and bleachers). The main villains are the councilmen in the area, Eric Garcetti and Tom LaBonge, who seem to care not at all for the right of average citizens to use public streets. Impeachment anyone?
Signed,
Elaine in L.A.
Average citizens also benefit from the Marathon, the Oscars, and parades - economically, and through recreation.
We all benefit from all businesses in LA. But no business should be allowed to block the streets we all depond upon, simply for its own convenience or self-agrandizement, when other venues exist. The sheer arrogance of these marathon promoters is astonishing.
Where should marathons be run? In olympic stadiums where the repetitive act of moving about in a circle only draws a diehard following? OR, instead, every once in a while, allow events to take over the streets and show that, yes, people can lead healthy lives not dependent on cars. Don't cry about it if you don't realize it's average citizens that do things other than drive from point a to point b and whine about the traffic that themselves create.
I say we make the marathon on he freeways, so there's no need for street closures.
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