Council Recap: Sidewalk repairs to be expanded
Published on February 15, 2023
At a study session that was part of their Tuesday evening meeting, Lakewood City Council Members did an in-depth review of the city’s sidewalk repair program along with a proposal to switch Lakewood’s contract for overhead street light maintenance from City Light & Power to the L.A. County Department of Public Works.
Lakewood has typically spent $400,000 a year on sidewalk repairs. However, with inflation and the aging of city sidewalks and trees, additional funds are needed to keep up with sidewalks that are in need of repair.
Because of the good shape of Lakewood’s roads, the city is fortunate to have a surplus of L.A. County transportation funds that can be used for sidewalk repairs in addition to road and other transportation projects. At the conclusion of their study session, the City Council approved a plan to use $1.2 million of Lakewood’s county transportation allotment to repair over 300 sidewalk sites in the city. In addition, the city will use $139,000 of the county funds for a comprehensive study of all of Lakewood’s sidewalks to determine their condition and identify additional areas in need of repair. After the study, the city will create a priority schedule with the goal of addressing all sidewalks in need of repair as soon as possible consistent with available funding.
Lakewood’s long-standing overhead street light contractor, City Light & Power, recently announced that it is leaving the Southern California area, requiring Lakewood to seek another contractor for this service. After reviewing the various options and available contractors, the City Council voted to contract with the Los Angeles County Public Works Department for street light service.
Lakewood has had a long-term, high quality service relationship with the county Public Works Department for traffic signal maintenance, and Lakewood staff are optimistic that the positive relationship and quality service will carry over to street lights as well.
Lakewood residents can continue to contact City Hall as they have in the past via phone, email or the Lakewood Connect app with street light service needs. City staff will forward those service requests to the county Public Works Department (for city-owned street lights) and to Southern California Edison (for lights owned by Edison).