Part of La Brea Avenue in Baldwin Hills has been closed for more than a year after landslides caused by storms in 2023 soaked the Los Angeles neighborhood.
During that time, the right side of the northbound road has become a space where large trash and debris is accumulating.
Residents in the area wonder why it has taken so long to repair this part of the street.
Regina de Jesus, who lives in the area, says that she drives through the area to go to work.
“During the time I use La Brea there is traffic, and it is very heavy. Before it was a little bit easier, because La Brea has the three lanes that worked very well,” she said, adding that the situation is now different. “When the traffic light becomes green, you don’t have three lanes to go through La Brea. The first lane was closed a long time ago.”
Just after the traffic light on Don Lorenzo Drive, one of the lanes begins directing drivers to the middle lane. A few feet later, there is a barricade where one of the landslides occurred. In recent weeks, the closed area has become littered with trash.
The first time one of the lanes of La Brea Avenue closed was on March 15, 2023, when a landslide trapped at least two cars on that street, and another debris flow blocked a street after a tree and mud crumbled from a hillside beneath a home.
“Now people started putting trash in that empty space,” de Jesus said. “A mattress, some kind of chairs,” she added.
Who should repair La Brea Avenue?
The heavy rain in the last two years have caused damage in different areas of California. Other stretches that were damaged during the 2023 storms, and even in the early 2024 rainstorms, have already been repaired, including in areas such as Woodland Hills, the Pacific Coast Highway and Chatsworth.
Topanga Canyon Boulevard, for example, reopened on June 2, three months ahead of schedule, and the opening was celebrated by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
However, people who live or work close to other damaged streets have been waiting for them to be repaired.
La Brea Avenue is one of the streets that connects South Los Angeles residents with other parts of the city. The mudslides that affected the area in 2023 and 2024 not only caused landslides that obstructed the streets, but also affected the houses that are in the hills in that neighborhood.
The affected stretch of La Brea Avenue is located right on the border between LA County and the city of Los Angeles.
Telemundo 52 Los Angeles contacted the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, and in a statement they responded, “We serve the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. The location indicated in your query is under the jurisdiction of the city of Los Angeles.”
Telemundo 52 also reached out to the City of Los Angeles Department of Works and Public Affairs, but so far has not received a response as to when repairs to the road can be expected to begin, or if it will remain closed indefinitely.
In the meantime, residents are still waiting for answers.