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.