2 Freeway: What Difference Do Trees Make? Part 2

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 18, 2009.  The scale of the loss of trees on the 2 Freeway adjacent Corralitas Drive is only evident when people are in the photos with trees.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

It's hard to imagine the southbound lanes of the 2 Freeway are about 15' away from the urban hikers of The Big Parade 2009 on Corralitas Walk.

Photo: Lupita Chapa, August 5, 2016.  A month after the Silver  Lake Fire, CalTrans began removing the 50+ year old enormous Eucalyptus and Brazilian Pepper Trees (that for the 26 years I've lived on Corralitas Drive) have formed a 30-40' tall green barrier between Corralitas and the Southbound lanes of 2 Freeway.

Don't expect to see new trees planted here. CalTrans is under water restrictions imposed by Governor Brown.  If we're lucky, we might get some ground cover to help prevent erosion.  I've spoken to two CalTrans representatives who have told me, on multiple occasions - even before the Silver Lake Fire, trees planted on freeway parkways do not clean the air, control dust, mitigate sound, provide psychological benefits or provide a safety barrier.  I guess trees lose their ability to do those things when they're planted on freeways. 

Yes trees planted today won't mitigate much right now.  However, that is no reason to ignore the long term effects of tree planting.

Earlier this year Doug Brown, Senior Landscape Architect for CalTrans was quoted in a Scientific American story, "When managed properly, trees are proven cost-effective mitigation measures that sequester carbon.”  (Sequestering carbon is how trees remove pollutants from the air and store it underground.) 

Photo: Lupita Chapa, August 5, 2016.  As far as public safety goes, there is only about 50 feet of guard rail near the freeway signs that cross the freeway, which are north of where the cars usually fly off the freeway  - to be stopped by the large (now removed) Eucalyptus.

CalTrans is concerned about the safety of drivers, not the safety of those who have chosen to live next to a freeway because it was affordable.  Until the Silver Lake Fire, and CalTrans' subsequent removal of trees their landscape experts deemed necessary, trees made living across the narrow street from the freeway tolerable.

Corralitas Drive: Trees Used To Make Life Next To The 2 Freeway Tolerable

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 17, 2015.  The wall of trees on the 2 Freeway used to shade Corralitas Drive in the summertime enough to play on the street until mid-morning.(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Corralitas Walk, the sidewalk between Corralitas Drive and Lake View and Allesandro Way, remained in the shade until early afternoon.  Corralitas Walk was mitigation for the state taking the secondary vehicle access away from Corralitas Drive when they built the 2 Freeway. 

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, July 22, 2016.  After the June 2016 Silver Lake Fire, CalTrans removed trees that were deemed unsafe.  With no trees on the 2 Freeway, Corralitas Drive at the Red Car Property only has shade until the sun comes up over the crest of the slope of the southbound lanes.

Trees may not block sound, but the scale of the 50+ year old stand of trees made living across the street from a busy freeway tolerable.  Now it's louder, dangerous (inadequate guard rails) and inhospitable. Neighbors no longer feel safe letting their kids play in the street in front of their homes.  

SR-2 Freeway: Northbound Lanes Closed At Night

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 26, 2015.  A 12' sound wall is not going to help the top floor of that apartment building on Allesandro St.  We made that point, in writing, during the EIR process for the SR-2 Terminus Project in 2009.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

CalTrans announced another round of nighttime lane closures on the Northbound 2 Freeway in conjunction with sound wall construction.  Before they started working at night last month, I let them know the hawks were nesting  - with photos - and they promptly scared off the hawks by starting work directly below the tree with the hawks' nest.  Text of the press release follows:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GLENDALE FREEWAY SR-2 SOUNDWALL PROJECT

LOS ANGELES / ECHO PARK - The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) announced construction of the soundwall along the Glendale Freeway (SR-2) between Oak Glen Place and Rosebud Avenue. Closures are as follows and subject to change.

Saturday, May 10, through Friday, May 15
Northbound SR-2
8 p.m. to 6 a.m. – Up to two lanes between Glendale Blvd SR-2 and Golden State Freeway I-5 
7 p.m. to 6 a.m. – On and Off Ramps & Connector to I-5 CLOSED between Glendale Blvd SR-2 and Golden State Freeway I-5

Construction dust and noise is anticipated as crews excavate and remove dirt, grind surface layers of pavement and perform other related tasks.

Detours will be posted.  Minor delays are expected.  The California Highway Patrol will be on duty.  Peterson-Chase Construction is the contractor on this $8.6 million project which is expected to complete in early 2016.

 # # #

According to the press release, more info:

www.dot.ca.gov/dist07

caltransd7info.blogspot.com

twitter.com/#!/CaltransDist7
peter.jones@dot.ca.gov

SR-2 Freeway: We're On Hawkwatch

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 24, 2015, 11:59 AM.  I observed one of the hawks flying in and out of the nest a few times around noon today. Other than that the adults were scarce today.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Last night CalTrans was working from at least 9 PM to well after 1 AM, 50 to 75 feet from the tree where the Red Tailed Hawks are nesting.  I got a call from Peter Jones, the PR guy from CalTrans, first thing this morning.  He said a couple of biologists would be in the area to observe and make recommendations regarding the nesting hawks.  (Shouldn't that have happened yesterday, especially after our conversation, Wednesday?)

I told Jones where CalTrans worked last night, pointed out the photo I posted early this morning, and said I had not yet seen the hawks today.  It's not unusual for the adults to be away from the nest hunting when they've got chicks to feed.  However, this is a new pair of adults hawks using the nest this year, so we are concerned about construction noise and light spooking them.

Around noon, I saw one of the adults fly in and out of the nest a couple of times.  It walked around the edge, looking into the center, but exhibited no feeding behavior.  When it left the nest, it flew to a tree in between the north and southbound lanes of the 2 Freeway where it likely could keep an eye on the nest.  It was very aware that I was watching through binoculars.  When I would put the binoculars down, it would fly back to the nest.  When it realized I was watching it in the nest again, making eye contact with me, it would fly to the nearby tree, trying to distract me from the nest.  I put the binoculars away after 10 minutes to not stress the hawk further. 

SR-2 Freeway: So Much For That Buffer Zone For The Nesting Raptors

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 24, 2015, 10:09 PM.  That construction zone is 50' from the tree with the nest in it.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Sure looks like that 10' tall sound wall is going to Rosebud.  Every meeting for the past two years CalTrans and Metro representatives were vague about where exactly the wall was ending - El Moran or Rosebud.  Tell the truth when asked a direct question. Don't waste our time.   And they wonder why people get angry.

According to the conversation I had Wednesday, with Peter Jones and Patrick Chandler from CalTrans, they would not be cutting down any more trees for the sound walls between Oak Glen and Rosebud on the northbound side of the 2 Freeway. 

We'll be watching.  

We've written far too much about the sound walls.  Click here for all of it.

 

SR-2 Freeway: Nesting Hawks Are Watching Us Too

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, April 23, 2015.  All day long, both adult Red Tails were flying in and out of the nest, tearing strips of meat off of a prey animal, appearing to feed babies in the nest.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Just before noon, both Gary & I were shooting photos from our respective houses, texting each other, and managed to capture images of the hawks moments apart.  In Gary's photo (above), both hawks are looking in my direction. Yes, they are that observant.  Through years of observing our neighborhood hawks, I've learned, during nesting season, they are very alert to us when we are watching the nest through long camera lenses or binoculars.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 23, 2015, 11:54 AM.  Seconds after Gary shot the first photograph, I managed to catch the smaller of the two Red Tails taking off from the branch it was standing on. 

Unfortunately, the hazy weather, distance and wind blowing the Eucalyptus makes getting a sharp photo from Corralitas difficult.  

We've also noticed this is a new pair of Red Tailed Hawks using the nest.  The old pair who'd used the nest for many years were very vocal, announcing their presence constantly.  They kept such a routine schedule, you could set your watch by them.  The current pair is very quiet, almost as if they don't want the old pair to return and find them there.  
 

SR-2 Freeway: Active Raptor Nest At Rosebud Ave, Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract

*UPDATE at end of post

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 21, 2015, 5:34 PM.  Late yesterday, I witnessed a large Red Tailed Hawk appear to feed her chicks in the well-documented nest, high above Allesandro St and Rosebud Ave on the SR-2 Northbound Parkway.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Yesterday, CalTrans sent out a press release, they would be starting night work on the northbound sound walls between Oak Glen and Rosebud, Thursday, April 23, 2015.  CalTrans stays up to 1000' from raptor nests.  So we've sent this post to their public affairs manager for the SR-2 Terminus Project, Peter Jones, as well as State and local electeds.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 22, 2015, 1:40PM. This afternoon, I happened to look out the window and notice the adult Red Tail was feeding chicks again.  I shot photos for about 10 minutes.  

Ordinarily, I would wait to run better photos.  With construction starting tomorrow, it was better to run these today, Earth Day.  

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 22, 2015, 1:41 PM.  I've seen a couple of white blobs periodically while she's feeding them, but no definitive head count yet.  It usually takes a few days before we see them all.  Lighting and wind conditions have not been ideal for my sad little camera.

*UPDATE 6:15 PM: Peter Jones, CalTrans Public Affairs Manager for the SR-2 Terminus Project, called to say CalTrans would be complying with all State and Federal statutes with regard to migratory and nesting birds.  They are aware of this nesting site and have forwarded the information to the biologist assigned to the project.  The biologist will monitor and make recommendations.  

Read more about CalTrans policy on nesting birds: CalTrans District 7 Blog

SR-2 Freeway: Sound Wall Noisy, Dusty Construction Starts Thursday Night, April 23

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 13, 2013.  CalTrans never told us how many trees they're cutting down for the sound wall project.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Yesterday afternoon, CalTrans sent out a press release regarding nighttime grinding, digging and creating dust on the northbound lanes of the 2 Freeway.  Of course, at night, you can (and should) call 1-800-CUT-SMOG to complain to the AQMD about fugitive dust, but you'll just have to leave a message.  

Through the years, we've written extensively about the (now $8.6 million) sound walls as a part of the 2 Freeway Terminus Project.  Click here for all our sound wall posts.

The entire press release from CalTrans follows...

State of California  Department of Transportation
____________________________________________________
NEWS RELEASE

Today's Date:                              Tuesday, April 21, 2015
District 7:                                     Los Angeles & Ventura Counties      
Contact:                                       Peter Jones
Phone:                                          (213) 897-3656
www.dot.ca.gov/dist07

caltransd7info.blogspot.com

twitter.com/#!/CaltransDist7

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GLENDALE FREEWAY SR-2 SOUNDWALL PROJECT

LOS ANGELES / ECHO PARK - The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) announced construction of the soundwall along the Glendale Freeway (SR-2) between Oak Glen Place and Rosebud Avenue. Closures are as follows and subject to change.

Thursday, April 23, through Friday, April 24

Northbound SR-2

8 p.m. to 6 a.m. – Up to two lanes between Glendale Blvd SR-2 and Golden State Freeway I-5

7 p.m. to 6 a.m. – On and Off Ramps & Connector to I-5 CLOSED between Glendale Blvd SR-2 and Golden State Freeway I-5  

Construction dust and noise is anticipated as crews excavate and remove dirt, grind surface layers of pavement and perform other related tasks.

Detours will be posted. Minor delays are expected. The California Highway Patrol will be on duty. Peterson-Chase Construction is the contractor on this $8.6 million project which is expected to complete in early 2016.

Caltrans advises motorists to please “Be Work Zone Alert”.
-# # #-

2 Freeway: Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Hawk Nest Active Again

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, April 21, 2015, 4:24 PM.  We've seen this behavior before.  An adult Red Tailed Hawk was perched on the edge of the nest, making eye contact with something in the nest.  It appears babies have hatched.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

I'd noticed this adult Red Tail hanging standing on the nest at the corner of Allesandro St and Rosebud for the past week in the late afternoons.  I shot some photos too, but the photos need further review, as it appears the hawk is tearing up prey for it's babies. 

We'll be on watch to confirm chicks in the nest.  But we've documented this behavior before.  

CalTrans starts noisy work on the 2 Freeway sound walls tomorrow night.

SR-2 Freeway: Match To Yesterday's Photo

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 12, 2015.   Corralitas Drive looking south toward Rosebud Ave & the 2 Freeway Terminus. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Trees help block the view of oceans of concrete and help reduce the heat island effect of the 2 Freeway.
 
Note: There are no sound walls planned on the southbound side of the 2 Freeway between the 5 Freeway & the Terminus at Glendale Blvd.  The sound walls are only taking trees between Oak Glen & supposedly El Moran (more likely, Rosebud) on the Allesandro Street (northbound) side of the 2 Freeway. 

SR 2 Freeway: Sound Wall Construction Starts Tonight

Photo: Smith Family Archive, November 1961.  The State Route 2 Freeway (SR 2) was built through our neighborhood between the 5 Freeway & the SR 2 Freeway Terminus in 1960 to 1962.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Expect a lot more northbound night time traffic on Allesandro Street.

After 6 PM yesterday, Peter Jones, from CalTrans, sent out a press release: 

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SR-2 TERMINUS PROJECT Phase 1B

Soundwall Construction  – Oak Glen Place to El Moran Way

 

CITY OF LOS ANGELES - State of California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), in conjunction with community councils, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) & Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) as part of Phase 1B will start construction on the soundwall.

Thursday, March 12, through Friday, March 13

Northbound SR-2

8 p.m. to 6 a.m.     – Up to two lanes between Glendale Blvd SR-2 & Golden State Freeway I-5

7 p.m. to 6 a.m.     – On and Off Ramps & Connector to I-5 CLOSED between Glendale Blvd SR-2 & Golden State Freeway I-5

Friday, March 13, through Saturday, March 14
Northbound SR-2

8 p.m. to 10 a.m.     – Up to two lanes between Glendale Blvd SR-2 & Golden State Freeway I-5

8 p.m. to 10 a.m.     – On and Off Ramps & Connector to I-5 CLOSED between Glendale Blvd SR-2 & Golden State Freeway I-5

Detours will be posted.  Peterson-Chase Construction is the contractor on this $8.6 million project which is expected to complete in early 2016.  

So all the years of wrangling over redesigning the SR 2 Freeway Terminus have come down to building sound walls on Allesandro Street between Oak Glen & El Moran (just south of  Rosebud) for about $8.6 million.  But if you live above the line of sight and/or more than 75 feet away from the 10-12' tall sound wall, it will do no good whatsoever. Thanks for the 25 hour notice on a project that will take a year to build - hopefully.

Click here for all our sound wall related posts.
 

SR 2 Freeway: Why We Need Trees*

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 22, 2014.  Yesterday, bumper to bumper traffic on the southbound 2 Freeway started around 7 AM & lasted until about  noon.  Pictured here from Corralitas Drive, that's Corralitas Walk - a less than 10' wide public sidewalk adjacent to the freeway & the Red Car Property.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

*The trees on the opposite side of the northbound lanes 2 Freeway, between Oak Glen & Rosebud, will be replaced with a sound wall.  CalTrans claims the wall will go at the top of the slope and minimize tree loss - but those trees are growing right at the top of the slope in a narrow parkway.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 22, 2014.  By 10 AM the 2 Freeway was still bumper to bumper with the added  joy of heavy diesel exhaust from the hoards of big-rig trucks.  The fumes were overwhelming as there was no wind.  Traffic continued this way until around noon.

Yesterday showed how much one or two incidents can screw up the entire area.  Before dawn, CalTrans called a Sig Alert for the molasses spill from a big rig, closing the southbound 5 Freeway in Boyle Heights for a while.   

Then there was a bomb scare (lasting until about noon) at Riverside & Fletcher that had people scrambling for alternate routes through Elysian Valley, Atwater & Silver Lake. 

It was a good day to stay home with the windows closed & the air purifier cranked up to high.

Click here for all our sound wall posts.
 

SR 2 Freeway Terminus Project: Sounds Like We'll Be Getting A Sidewalk, No Word If It Will Be ADA Compliant

Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2013.  Allesandro Street adjacent to the 2 Freeway, from Oak Glen south to somewhere vaguely around Rosebud* will be getting a sound wall that won't be tall enough to shield the upper floor of that apartment building across the street.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

At last night's Echo Park Improvement Association meeting, CalTrans & Metro officials said they would be completing the side walk on Allesandro for the length of the sound wall.  Of course, there's no word on if it will be wide enough to actually walk on without stepping into the street to get around telephone poles. (CalTrans lost a lawsuit a few years back & they are supposed to include ADA compliant sidewalks in projects like this that are adjacent to City streets.)

There was no real news at the meeting other than the sidewalk.  It sounds like they are about a year behind schedule as they handed out a winter 2013 newsletter.  They are just putting Phase 1A out for bids.  No word on when Phase 1B (sound walls) will begin.  

They say the specs are finished for the sound walls but failed to bring them to the meeting.  *They couldn't tell us exactly where the southern end of the sound wall will be - a question we've been asking for at least 2 years. 

More info: Metro SR2 Freeway Terminus Project

Click here for all our sound wall related posts.

SR 2 Freeway Terminus Project: Update TONIGHT At EPIA Meeting, 7PM

Photo: Smith Family Archive, 1961.  The 2 Freeway looking southbound from the top of the Corralitas Public Staircase.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

CalTrans & Metro will present the latest 2 Freeway Terminus project update to the Echo park Improvement Association (EPIA).  The meeting is open to the public.

TONIGHT

Thursday September 4, 2014

7PM

Williams Hall at Barlow Hospital 

2000 Stadium Way

in Elysian Park 

A 2000' long sound wall on Allesandro Street, between Oak Glen & Rosebud, is in the next phase of construction set to start this winter. Go to the meeting & ask questions.

We've written ad naseum about proposed sound walls since 2009.
 
In 1962, Echo Park & Silver Lake activists stopped the 2 Freeway (an already approved project) from further dividing our communities.  By then, the 2 Freeway was complete through our part of the neighborhood, permanently leaving Corralitas Drive with one means of vehicle access. (Echo Park has a rich history of community activists speaking up for lost causes.)

SR 2 Freeway Terminus Project: Nearly 2000' Long Sound Wall On Allesandro StreetThe Pedestrian Point Of View

All photos: Diane Edwardson, 2009, 2013. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

According to a newsletter emailed to people who went to a meeting for the 2 Freeway Terminus Project last summer, CalTrans plans to begin construction on about 2000' of sound walls between Oak Glen & "north of El Moran Way" sometime in winter 2014/2015. 

Despite another year, CalTrans is still short on details about the sound walls.  So here's a walk down Allesandro Street, from Oak Glen to Rosebud (a few hundred feet north of El Moran), along with the questions we think CalTrans needs to answer because we've been asking them since the EIR was open for public review in 2009.  If we have to accept the wall (I opposed it from the beginning), we need a whole lot more in exchange for the loss of our trees.

CalTrans is putting a 10' tall sound wall, close to the fence, between Oak Glen & Loma Vista.  Will they be widening the sidewalk (heck, will they be building a real sidewalk) because there is a bus stop 50' feet south of the intersection? 

Exactly how many trees, including the Brazilian Pepper Trees (with their locations marked on a map) will CalTrans be removing for sound wall construction?

We need to see a plan that show exactly where on the slope the wall will go.  We need to see a landscaping plan for new trees on paper, with trees on both sides of the wall.

The northbound 2 Freeway lanes are about 20' from "the sidewalk."  In earlier meetings, CalTrans said there is no room for mature trees and a sound walls.  This is one of the few flat parts of the parkway, most of it is slope.

The entire length of Allesandro on the freeway side needs a real walkable sidewalk.  It is only asphalt encased in a concrete curb and barely passable by one person, let alone ADA accessible. 

North of Loma Vista, the longest portion of the sound wall (1530'), will move to the top of the slope.  The slope on the 2 Freeway parkway increases in height & becomes steeper & narrower as Allesandro moves closer Riverside Drive.

It would be really helpful if we knew exactly which trees CalTrans will be removing.  We won't see trees this size in our lifetime.  They were planted when the freeway opened in 1962.

The bulk of the trees are Brazilian Pepper Trees which CalTrans would prefer to call a shrub so they don't have to enumerate or replace them.  But those are some 40' tall, shrubby trees.

North of Whitmore, a very long retaining wall is adjacent to "the sidewalk." It varies in height from 6 to 10' tall and is constantly hit by graffiti vandals.

Through this section, the sound wall would sit at the top of the steep slope.  So there would be 2 walls creating a 25-30' edifice on Allesandro.  Ask CalTrans for technical drawings of the walls, with section cuts, with the existing trees marked on the plans, so we can see exactly where wall go.

If we have to accept a the eyesore of sound walls CalTrans needs to widen & give us a real walkable side walk for the entire length of the wall.  Trees are important psychologically & physically for living and walking near the freeway.

At Walcott Way, the steep slope appears to be 20' above the top of the roughly 6' retaining wall. 

Same location as previous photo, you can see the narrow parkway does not allow much room for wall construction & trees.

At El Moran, across from the Artis small lot subdivision in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract,  the retaining wall is about 9-10' tall, while the slope only gets steeper.

Rosebud Ave is only a few hundred feet north of El Moran.  Ask CalTrans exactly where the sound wall will end?  Their PR states, "north of El Moran Way."

The View From The Hills.

We've written about sound walls a lot.  Click here for all our sound wall posts

Great Wall of Echo Park: The Eastsider

CalTrans 1-page Fact Sheet
CalTrans Metro Newsletter

SR 2 Freeway Terminus Project: Planned Sound Walls, The View From The Hills

All photos: Diane Edwardson, 2013.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

It's hard to grasp the scale of the 2000 foot long sound walls planned for the 2 Freeway between the northbound lanes and Allesandro on the Echo Park Side.  It's even harder to get photos to illustrate the scale, so here's what we've published before.  Above is the view from the top of 18-Acre Elysian Park Parcel  at the end of Echo Park Ave facing toward Silver Lake.  Whitmore is the street leading down to the freeway.  The yellow line is a portion of the planned sound wall between Oak Glen & "north of El Moran Way."

CalTrans & Metro were genuinely perplexed by the comments from the community that we would be able to see the sound walls from the opposite side of the freeway.  Photo above is from Silver Ridge Ave in Silver Lake.

The sound wall at Oak Glen will be 10' - 12' tall.  It will only dampen the sound for the people who live on the first floor of that apartment building across the street on Allesandro.  If you live upstairs or further up hill, the sound wall will have no effect whatsoever.  Photo above from Fair Oak View Terrace in Silver Lake.

CalTrans is attempting to define the 35-40' tall Brazilian Pepper Trees as shrubs so they don't have to tell us they're cutting them down, nor replace them.  Last summer, they told us they would not be planting trees, nor would they be planting anything on the freeway side of the wall.  So Silver Lake will have a stellar view of the Great Wall of Echo Park's graffiti.  Photo above from Allesandro Way in Silver Lake  looking toward Whitmore.

Links:
CalTrans/Metro PR
Cal Trans 1 Page Fact Sheet 
Great Wall Of Echo Park: The Eastsider  
All our sound wall posts

SR 2 Freeway Terminus Project: CalTrans Still Not Specific On The North End Of The Planned Sound Wall

All Photos: Diane Edwardson, 2013.  CalTrans & Metro sent out an e-newsletter last week to say, among other things, they'll start construction on the 2000' long sound walls north of Oak Glen adjacent to the northbound lanes of the 2 Freeway & Allesandro sometime in winter 2014/2015.  The newsletter was still short on specifics like where exactly the north end of the wall would terminate.  A CalTrans fact sheet states the wall will extend to "north of El Moran Way."  It fails to say how far north of El Moran it will extend.  It's only a few hundred feet north to the Rosebud Ave underpass.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

The newsletter also says CalTrans will be preserving trees where possible.  One neighbor called Peter Jones, the CalTrans flak listed in the newsletter, asking questions about the exact number and location of trees to be removed.  CalTrans does not have an answer yet, despite our persistent questioning since 2009.

CalTrans didn't really offer anything new in their newsletter.  No matter where the northern terminus of the sound wall is, the wall will be placed at the top of the slope.  That means, if it were to come all the way to Rosebud, it would create a huge edifice, as the slope between the top of the retaining wall & the top of the slope is a good 15-20'.  Then top that with a 10' sound wall & cut down those trees too.

The Rosebud Ave underpass as seen from the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract.  The controversial Artis small-lot subdivision is directly across from the section between El Moran & Rosebud.

"The Great Wall Of Echo Park: The Eastsider

Click here for all our sound wall posts.