Sorry this is so wordy, but let that be a testament to the depth of my confusion.

So last Friday, I stopped to take some pics of some street art in downtown LA before walking over to Union Station to catch a bus to LAX to fly up to SF. The distance from where I ended up in Little Tokyo to Union Station was five blocks and a straight shot up Alameda Street. Or so I thought.

Headed up Alameda, I cross 1st Street to find that there is some construction going on that makes it necessary for the sidewalk to be closed and fenced off.



So I try to continue forward and go around the construction by treading just barely into the street (I have this habit walking in the road and ignoring cars anyway). BUT just as I begin, a construction worker starts whistling at me (not in THAT way) and yells at me, vehemently, not to walk in the street. I'm confused. How do I get to my destination?

The construction worker points behind me. That's when I turn to see that there are signs indicating a pedestrian detour route, about 10 yards back from the street.



Okay - I follow the signs. This leads about 20 yards in the direction I want to go and reaches a driveway, where I once again try to get onto my sidewalk. No luck. This section of sidewalk is also fenced off, with more signs.



I'm confused. Behind me there's only a big parking lot, and in front of me, signs that give me no options.



Then ANOTHER construction worker starts whistling at me. He gets my attention and I point in the direction I want to go, thinking he'll understand my dilemma. He points in the direction from whence I came. I'm confused. I point towards Union Station again, he points the opposite way. I raise my hands in a gesture of helplessness. Finally he yells at me to go through the big parking lot. Okay.

So I go back into the parking lot, now about 30 yards away from my street. Thankfully, there are more pedestrian detour signs, which I follow roughly in the direction I wish to go.



There is an exit from this parking lot at the end of this block, and I'm happy that now I'll get a chance to get back to my street. No go. The exit, now about 50 yards from Alameda, has a sign directing pedestrian traffic AWAY from Alameda.



I ignore the detour and go back to Alameda. Sidewalk still closed.



Not wanting to risk another futile attempt to get back to the street I'd like to walk on, I trust the signs. And the signs are blatantly pointing me away from my destination, putting me further and further off course.



I'm now headed down some strange street in an industrial zone, looking for another pedestrian detour sign. But said signs seem to have disappeared. And there isn't another street headed in the direction I want to go for several hundred feet.



And to make matters even worse, the sidewalk is closed off on THIS street as well.



Fuck it - I'm walking in the street this time. Now another three blocks away from Alameda, I come to an intersection and look down every which way, finding no guidance for my confused pedestrian self. I keep going, further away, trusting that a sign will come.

On the next block, there is a very old and battered detour sign pointing in the direction of Union Station.



Hooray! I'm back on track, even if it appears that this detour sign has been where it is for years and was never meant for pedestrians.

Moving in the right direction now, only four blocks off my chosen path, two curious things happen. First, there is a large city vehicle parked on the sidewalk on which I'm attempting to walk. They just don't want to make this easy for me.



Then, after walking two blocks toward Union Station, I hit another obstacle - the Hollywood Freeway.



The street I'm on does not cross the Hollywood Freeway. Luckily, however, as I look out over the freeway, I see my beloved Alameda Street a mere three blocks away, calling to me with its promise of safe passage over the river of sluggish cars.



Finally, I reach Alameda again. Now I'm just two blocks from Union Station. Huzzah! Wait - WTF?!



Yet again, a sign tells me that the sidewalk I want to take is closed! But since I can clearly cross the street and continue in the right direction, I do. Then...

One block later, the last straw of confusion, frustration, and torment. Another sidewalk, this time one that appears to have no obstruction on it whatsoever, is closed.



I cross BACK over Alameda, and trundle the last few steps to the station, about 30 minutes after I starting my little odyssey.

I was exhausted (because I was carrying my luggage the whole time) and confused about how Los Angeles city planners keep their jobs.