You've seen those clusters of L.A. parking signs that take a lawyer to decipher.

They're a nightmare.

Los Angeles city Councilman Paul Krekorian seemed to agree with that assessment. Late last year he proposed a new, easy-to-read design for parking signs that would quickly give you a grid-like view of when you can and can't cool your wheels. 

Times when you're good to park will be represented by green blocks. No-parking times will be shown in red. The international symbols for don't go there and we'll tow your ass will be included.

An example is above.

Today the first batch of those signs will be installed downtown as part of a pilot program. Mayor Eric Garcetti will officially unveil the signs at 1:15 p.m. at 600 S. Spring St., according to a statement from his office:

L.A. will be the first city in the country to test these innovative grid-style signs meant to reduce the number of parking citations due to drivers misunderstanding signs. 

About 100 signs are eventually slated to go up on Main and Spring streets between Second and Ninth streets. The program could expand to Hollywood, West L.A. and the San Fernando Valley.

The first of those 100 signs will go up tomorrow, but not all of them will be installed immediately, a spokesman for Krekorian told us.

Under the councilman's plan, the signs could be modified by the L.A. Department of Transportation if it turns out folks are still having a hard time deciphering them.


Last year, Krekorian had this to say about improving our parking signs:

Everyone who drives in this city has had to deal with deciphering our confusing and complex parking signs. I don't want parking to be a guessing game where people worry about getting ticketed because they can't easily tell what the restrictions are and when they are in effect. You shouldn't need the Rosetta Stone to park in Los Angeles. My motion proposes that the city create new, grid-style parking signs that provide more useful information that is both simple and obvious to everyone.

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