Materials are being added to pavement on Lexington Avenue in Hollywood to reduce the amount of heat that is absorbed into the roadway. (photo by Edwin Folven)

Amid sweltering late summer temperatures, the city of Los Angeles is helping residents beat the heat on Lexington Avenue with a “Cool Street” being installed in Hollywood.

Los Angeles City Council President Pro Tempore Mitch O’Farrell, 13th District, is launching the project today, Sept. 8, at Lexington Avenue and Berendo Street, helping to combat extreme heat and address climate change, he said. The project is part of Los Angeles’ Cool Streets program, and is the third location in the 13th Council District. It is part of the city’s goal of using 100% carbon-free, renewable energy by 2035.

“The cool pavement program is part of an overall effort to reduce the heat island effect,” O’Farrell said. “We know with cool pavement, it reflects the sun away. For many vulnerable neighborhoods, reducing the heat island effect is very necessary. A pilot program was implemented right before the pandemic and this takes it to the next level.”

The Cool Streets program uses pavement coating materials that reflect sunlight better than regular asphalt. O’Farrell said it has been shown to reduce surface temperatures by as much as 10 degrees in the surrounding community. It also reduces residual heat that dissipates during the evening from concrete and asphalt after it has been exposed to the sun all day, increasing temperatures in urban neighborhoods. O’Farrell added that one block of the cool pavement materials will be installed in Hollywood as a start, and new trees will be planted around the intersection at Lexington and Berendo.

“Paired with new trees, it has the greatest impact,” O’Farrell added. “StreetsLA has been working with the mayor on the Cool Streets program roll out.”

Mayor Eric Garcetti announced in October 2021 that the Cool Streets program will be coming to more locations throughout the city.

“The skyrocketing temperatures on our streets is an equity issue that puts local communities on the front line of the climate crisis,” Garcetti said when the second phase of the project was launched. “Our hottest and most vulnerable neighborhoods are our top priority when it comes to climate action, and this program is about taking action in ways that will make a direct impact on people’s daily lives.”

During the pilot phase of the project, cool pavement was installed in the 13th District on Coronado Street in Silver Lake and at Selma and Laurel avenues, and in the 5th District on Woodbine Street in the Castle Heights neighborhood of West Los Angeles.

The Cool Streets program dates to 2014, when StreetsLA partnered with Climate Resolve and the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab to test cool pavement coatings on public streets, according to Paul Gomez, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Public Works. Funds were allocated in the city’s 2022-23 budget for projects in nine neighborhoods. They include the Cool Streets project on Lexington Avenue, as well others in Palms, Pico Union, Westlake South, North Hollywood, Canoga Park, Sylmar, Vermont Square, South Central Los Angeles and Boyle Heights.