2 Freeway Terminus EIR is Coming!

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 9, 2008. Typical morning commute on the 2 Freeway at the Rosebud Ave. overcrossing and Corralitas Drive, shot from the top of the Corralitas Staircase. The Semi-Tropic Spiritualists' Tract is the hillside across the freeway. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) sent out word the State Route 2 Terminus Improvement Project's Draft Environmental Impact Report would be released in mid-October and the public would have 45 days to review it.

To mark the EIR draft release, we'll look at the history of the neighborhood surrounding the 2 Freeway in October on the Corralitas Red Car Property Blog, illustrated with lots of photos from neighbors dating back to 1922.

The MTA and CalTrans have been talking about redesigning the 2 Terminus at Glendale Blvd. for years. The Silver Lake and Echo Park communities overwhelmingly prefer "Alternative D," which would create an additional 5 acres of public park at Lasorda Field of Dreams.

When questioned directly regarding the impact of all the proposed designs, including the "do nothing" option, MTA and CalTrans officials admitted we would see an increase in southbound traffic on our section of the 2 Freeway, no matter which alternative was chosen. So support Alternative D, at least we get something in return for increased air and noise pollution in our neighborhood.

Review all of the alternatives on the MTA's website.

Earl Street Staircase

Photo: Futterer, Holyland Exhibition, 1934. The Earl Street Staircase zig-zags down the hillside behind the Holyland Exhibition's building. The Holyland Exhibition is on the corner of Lake View Ave. and Allesandro Way. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

While the Earl Street Staircase does not connect directly to the Red Car Property, it was another link in the neighborhood to the Edendale and Glendale Lines of the Red Car Trolley. The trolley stopped nearby at the corner of Whitmore Ave. and Allesandro St.

Dan Koeppel, writer and Silver Lake resident, mapped an 18-mile route of supposedly all the staircases in Silver Lake and Echo Park. The route is complete with directions, number of stairs in each staircase, and includes the Earl St. and Loma Vista staircases in our neighborhood. However, he left out all of the staircases connecting to the Red Car Property. Nonetheless, it is an impressive hike and worth exploring the staircases in person.

The Echo Park Historical Society gives their next Echo Park Staircase Tour on Oct 25.

Hidden Staircases of the Red Car Property*

*October 18, 2010: One photo was removed as it's been confirmed to NOT be a public staircase.

Throughout the neighborhood, hidden public staircases connect adjacent streets to the Red Car Property. Unlike the Corralitas and Silver Lake Ave. staircases, the hidden staircases are often in better condition than the well-used public staircases.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2008. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

In some cases, neighbors fenced off hidden staircases to prevent adventurous and criminal activity. Neighbors taking stewardship over the staircases, while leaving them open to the public, seems to help prevent some of the problems once associated with the hidden staircases.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2008. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Some of the hidden staircases end abruptly into a 16-foot drop to the canyon floor below, because countless tons of earth were removed from the Red Car Property when they built the nearby freeways.

Not a Public Staircase

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 18, 2008. Riverside Dr. just south of Clearwater Ave. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

A wonderful staircase curves up the hillside on Riverside Drive near Warren Animal Hospital. It is not a public staircase. It must have been built for a home long since gone on a Red Car Property adjacent lot. Throughout the neighborhood, people built staircases on private property so residents could more easily access the Red Car Trolley, rather than walking further to a public staircase.

Trivia: there is an original concrete property line marker at the rear of this lot marking the Red Car Property line.

"Corralitas Walk"

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 9, 2008. Corralitas Walk is adjacent to the 2 Freeway and the Red Car Property. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Corralitas Walk is a public walkway created in 1962 with the completion of the 2 Freeway in our neighborhood. Prior to the construction of the 2 Freeway, Corralitas Drive terminated at Allesandro Ave. to the south.

Via eminent domain for freeway construction, the State of California took our secondary means of vehicle access to Corralitas Drive, as well as many homes in the neighborhood. As mitigation, the City gave us Corralitas Walk: an unmarked, yet public walkway between Corralitas Drive and Allesandro Way at the south end of the Red Car Property. The walkway forms a vital pedestrian link to the Red Car Property and the rest of the neighborhood.

Corralitas Public Staircases, 1922

Map: Hunter Terrace, Elysian Gardens real estate brochure, 1922. (Click on map to enlarge.)

The Corralitas Public Staircase appeared in the original real estate brochure for the neighborhood. Corralitas Drive is the @-shaped street in the above map. Click on the map to see the two short spurs coming off the lower part of Corralitas, indicating the public staircases built for easy access to the Red Car Trolley.

Corralitas Public Staircase

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 9, 2008, Corralitas Staircase. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The Corralitas Staircase is an impressive six flights of steep concrete stairs between the bottom of Corralitas Drive at Rosebud Ave. and the top section of the hill. It appears on the 1922 map in the real estate brochure for the neighborhood. Like other City staircases, it was built for easy access to the Red Car Trolleys. Today, people come from all over the neighborhood to use the stairs for exercise, some even driving to get here.

Despite being a very well-used public staircase, the Corralitas Staircase is in a severe state of disrepair. The handrail is detached from the concrete at the second level and rust streams down the retaining wall. As with the Silver Lake Ave. Staircase, graffiti dots the stairs and weeds thrive in the cracks. The uppermost support wall detached from the stairs many years ago, when a neighbor accidentally backed his truck over the edge of the staircase.


Photo: Edwardson, March 12, 2008. Corralitas Staircase. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

A 2002 draft of the City of Los Angeles survey, "Stairway Task Force," placed our Corralitas Staircase in the top 18 public staircases needing repair out of more than 200 staircases citywide. Even then, the report recommended removal and replacement of 40 sq.ft of concrete.

After record rainfall in 2005, the support wall of the third level of stairs separated, shifting further when earth was removed for construction of the adjacent homes starting in 2006.

Photo: Edwardson, October 11, 2006.

Unfortunately, even when the City was flush with property tax dollars at the peak of the recent real estate boom, the City had no budget for staircase repair. The City treats the staircases like public streets, yet neglects repairs and the staircases become a liability.

Guerrilla Garden, Corralitas Staircase

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 9, 2008. Guerrilla Garden at Corralitas Drive and Rosebud Ave. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The guerrilla garden at the base of the Corralitas public staircase is not as impressive as the Silver Lake Ave. guerrilla garden. However, it manages to survive on annual rainfall and condensation on damp mornings. Iris and succulents culled from neighbors' gardens managed to survive intense sun, exhaust fumes and weed abatement. Late December through February is the best time to plant succulents in areas like this, so their roots can get established during the rainy season.

UPDATE: October 6, 2008. Over the weekend, someone stole three large succulents pictured above; not just a few cuttings, but three entire plants. Vandalizing a guerrilla garden is pretty low.

Silver Lake Ave. Public Staircase

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 8, 2008. Silver Lake Ave. staircase between the Red Car Property and Lake View Ave. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The Silver Lake Ave. public staircase is one of the most popular in the neighborhood. Originally built to serve the India St. Stop of the Pacific Electric Red Car Trolley, the staircase also links the community together. It provides pedestrian access between Silver Ridge Ave, Lake View Ave. and Allesandro Elementary School. The staircase also serves as a link in a vital recreational trail for the community.

As with the section of stairs just below the Red Car Property, neighbors planted the City owned right-of-way defensively and actively keep the staircase clean.

Guerrilla Garden, Silver Lake Ave.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 8, 2008. Silver Lake Ave. between the Red Car Property and Riverside Place. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

A mostly Mediterranean guerrilla garden grows on the 30' wide "paper street"* of Silver Lake Ave. A neighbor was fed up with the trash dumping, dog poop and graffiti in the City-owned and neglected slope next to his home. About ten years ago, he began planting the area defensively with plants that can hurt you. The same neighbor routinely paints out the graffiti on the Silver Lake Ave. staircase, tends the garden and picks up trash dumped on the adjacent Red Car Property. Today, it is the most well-kept, publicly-owned, unofficial open space in the neighborhood.

* "Paper streets" exist on the City mapbooks, but not in reality, although the City still owns the land. The hillsides have dozens of streets laid out in the early part of the 20th Century, but were never paved due to their steep grade. Most were developed as public staircases and walkways for access to the Red Car Trolley system. Currently, the City will not build a paper street if it has more than a 15% grade.

Ugly Rooftop Watch, Riverside Drive

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 5, 2008. Riverside Drive duplex. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The view from the Red Car Property of the most recently constructed duplex on Riverside Drive, just south of the Arco Station, includes unshielded rooftop HVAC equipment. Although, compared to the two newly constructed houses on Corralitas Drive, this rooftop blends in with the view of the 5 Freeway, billboards and industrial rooftops.