Will Bauer, who calls himself Lou Catelli, stood at the corner of Elm Avenue and West 36th Street late Wednesday morning showing off his handiwork from the night before.

At the intersection were three freshly spray painted crosswalks and stop lines at the intersection Bauer painted himself. After Hampden residents and businesses grew tired of asking the city to repaint the street following repaving, Bauer decided to take matters into his own hands. At about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, armed with some Sambuca, a striper and four cans of white spray paint bought from a local hardware store, Bauer went to work making the intersection safer.

"It's for the children," Bauer said, only partially joking. Bauer described the intersection as "dangerous." Since the city has made it a four way stop, some drivers still don't realize they have to halt and just cruise through. A few minutes before, while standing at the intersection, a young woman in a black car drove through without even hitting her brakes.

Bauer views his actions with a kind libertarian philosophy. He said Hampden has a diverse group of residents with a lot of talents that can be pulled together to help address the neighborhood's problems, even if it means forgoing the traditional methods of going through city government. "The more [the neighborhood] can take care of itself the more Baltimore City will leave us alone," Bauer said.

Adrienne Barnes, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore City Department of Transportation, said the city agency took a dim view of the DIY street improvement.

"This is not something we're very happy about," Barnes said.

She said residents are not permitted to do work on city streets because of liability concerns. She said the department would have to investigate whether or not it would or could take civil or criminal action against those who participated in the painting. She said that the crosswalks are scheduled to be painted along with other lines along West 36th Street on Feb. 6, weather permitting.