Allesandro Street: 2 Freeway Sound Walls, CalTrans Still Short On Details

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 1, 2013.  From the top of the 18-Acre Elysian Park Expansion looking toward the 2 Freeway & the Silver Lake side of the Freeway, you get an idea of how many homes look down on the 2 Freeway.  The yellow line is just a portion of the sound wall proposed between Oak Glen and Rosebud on Allesandro Street.  (Click on photos to enlarge.) 

At last week's meeting regarding the 2 Freeway Terminus, Caltrans & Metro's presentation on the 2 Freeway sound walls were not as detailed as these photos.  They just showed a Google satellite image with a line on it.  They had no technical drawings to show exactly where the walls would go on the slope adjacent to the freeway, no section cuts and no drawings relative to the homes directly across the street from the walls.  They've been talking about the sound walls for more than a year now.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 17, 2013.  From Silver Ridge Ave looking toward the northern most point of the wall at Allesandro and Rosebud.  The Red Tailed Hawk nest is at the corner of Rosebud & Allesandro.

Since they had no technical drawings, we really don't know exactly where the wall is supposed to end.  CalTrans seemed a bit vague on that issue too.  Their satellite image shows it ending midway between El Moran & Allesandro, which would be right in the middle of the new homes being constructed in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract on Allesandro St. 

They did however say there would be NO planting of trees or ivy on the freeway side of the wall (above photo).   So everyone on the Silver Lake side of the freeway with a view of the wall, would have a stellar view of the graffiti.   Thanks a lot CalTrans. 

The Metro project manager, Benkin Jong seemed genuinely perplexed at how neighbors could possibly have a view of the wall from the hills on either side of the freeway.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 9, 2012.  From the Silver Lake Side of Cove, looking back across toward the Elysian Heights side of the 2 Freeway, the top floor of that apartment building directly across from the proposed sound wall may not benefit from the wall.  Without technical drawings we can't evaluate the benefits to even the people they are purporting to help.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 13, 2013.  If the sound wall comes all the way to Rosebud, the concrete edifice it will create will be significant since the freeway already looms large over the street.  CalTrans said the wall would be at the top of the slope.

Tomorrow, we'll talk about trees, because that's a whole other bone of contention with Metro & CalTrans on the 2 Terminus Project.