2 Freeway at Corralitas Drive: Luckily, Car Crash Did Not Ignite A Fire

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, May 15, 2020, 1:34 AM.  "Must you crash outside my bedroom window? Must you and the police and tow guy yell to each other? Must you?"

Neighbors of the 2 Freeway between the 5 Freeway and the 2 Freeway Terminus at Glendale Blvd have heard many high speed crashes and seen the aftermath. Fortunately, this crash did not ignite the dry brush on the southbound 2 Freeway  adjacent to Corralitas Drive.

Request brush clearance or other maintenance issues on CalTrans property (on the freeway side of the fence) on the State's website: https://csr.dot.ca.gov/

2 Freeway: Car Crashes Onto Red Car Property From The 2 Freeway

All photos: Red Car Property neighbors, April 27, 2019.

Around 2:30 AM, Red Car Property neighbors were awakened by a horrible sounding crash on the 2 Freeway. A very expensive sports car crashed through the chain link fence and came to a stop at the base of a steep slope on the Red Car Property.  At least one neighbor called police when it appeared people took off after the neighbor shined a bright flashlight on them.

One Silver Ridge neighbor described the sound of the crash: a car's screeching tires on the southbound 2 Freeway, then a large crash followed by more squealing tires and an even larger traveling crash.  A Corralitas neighbor's doorbell camera recorded the same sequence of sound at 2:31 AM.

The photo above is a lighter version of the previous photo, shot around 3 AM. 

With no large trees that used to prevent drivers from crashing onto Corralitas and the Red Car Property, the driver crashed through the brush on the side of the 2 Freeway, down the slope, through the chain link fence, across the public sidewalk (Corralitas Walk) and onto the Red Car Property, stopping at the base of the steep slope at the south end of the Red Car Property.  

Neighbors were on alert for fire since brush clearance had not been done.  This is the same part of the property that burned in the 2016 Silver Lake Fire.

When the sun came up, the path of the crash was more clear.  The orange cones mark the section of chain link fence taken out by the car crashing through and across Corralitas Walk.  It stopped at the far right of the frame.  The tire tracks completing the circle to the left, show the path the tow truck took to reach the car.

The large gap in the trees along the southbound 2, just past the orange cones, is where CalTrans cut down all the trees, including a number of enormous Eucalyptus trees that previously kept cars from flying onto Corralitas Drive and the Red Car Property.  

CalTrans cut down all the trees, including recovering trees that were not dead, after the 2016 Silver Lake Fire.  As soon as CalTrans cut the trees down, neighbors began asking CalTrans for trees, a sound wall or even concrete K-rails because they were suddenly feeling exposed.  A few months after the trees were removed a car flew off the freeway and crashed horribly onto Corralitas Drive.  It was fortunate no pedestrians were injured in either crash.

By 4 AM the tow truck was loading the car now in the Corralitas cul-de-sac, adjacent to the Red Car Property.  A neighbor confirmed the crashed car was a brand new Lamborghini.  It still had dealer paper plates.  From the photos, it appears CHP was present.

After last week's crash, we asked CD13 to prioritize brush clearance on the Red Car Property and request CalTrans do their brush clearance too. A fire could have sparked with the hot engine resting on the dry grass. 

Related: 
Car flies off 2 Freeway onto Corralitas Drive, 2016

All our car crash posts

Several neighbors from Silver Ridge Ave (directly above the Red Car Property) and Corralitas Drive contributed photos, video/audio recording, in addition to what they saw and heard to help create this post. 

This post was published May 7, 2019 and postdated to the incident date for reference.

2 Freeway: Sunday's Tree Work

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 27, 2017.  The sound of chainsaws on the 2 Freeway at 6:30 AM, Sunday, awoke neighbors on Corralitas Drive.   One neighbor investigated.  CalTrans took down more than a dozen big trees in past month, claiming they were dead after last year's fire.  (We've not yet had a chance to put together a comparison post on what was removed a few weeks ago.  It is pending.)  We only have a handful of big trees left on the section of the 2 Freeway just south of the 5 Freeway. 

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 27, 2017.  Unlike previous rounds of tree removal, there were a host of actual CalTrans vehicles and a backhoe working on the medians on both sides of the northbound 2 Freeway.  Previous work was done by tree contractors.

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 27, 2017.  It appears they cut down everything growing in the medians, including young trees making a comeback after last year's fire and a few rounds of CalTrans' tree removals.

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 27, 2017.  They picked up the green carnage in the dump trucks. It also appears they planted new trees.

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 27, 2017.  To our surprise, at least a half dozen trees were planted in the slope between north and southbound lanes.  While the trees may not do much to clean the air today, at least it's a commitment to the future.  Neighbors have been asking for trees for more than a year since the fire.

Two weeks ago, another Red Car Property neighbor spoke to a representative from State Senate President Kevin DeLeon's staff regarding planting trees.  According to the deputy, CalTrans planted 12 Sycamore trees and 40 Toyons on the 2 Freeway.  Toyon is a slow growing, drought tolerant native shrub.  The conversation occurred 10 days prior to the planting. We'd still like to know where all those trees were planted.

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 27, 2017.  There are 2 large Eucalyptus in the median south of the overhead "End of Freeway" sign. That's pretty much all the mature trees between the north and southbound lanes now. 

Related: Why We Bitch About Losing Trees
What Difference Do Trees Make?  Part 1, Part 2 
Weekend & Evening Traffic (2015)
Why We Need Trees (2014)
 

Corralitas Drive: "Since CalTrans [Expletive Deleted] Woke Me Up This Morning"

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 27, 2017.  Sunday, a neighbor got a scenic sunrise shot because CalTrans started chainsawing on the 2 Freeway medians at 6:30 AM.

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, August 27, 2017.  The neighbor could not see what CalTrans was doing to the freeway through the neighbor's trees. However the work appeared to take place in the two medians on the northbound side, south of Rosebud Ave.  The neighbor wondered if there were any trees left on the 2 for CalTrans to remove.

Note: We're playing catch up for the month of August. This was post was actually published 8-28-17 and backdated to the date the photo was shot and originally published on Twitter. 

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Dead Trees, Brush Clearance

Photo: Corralitas Drive Neighbor, June 13, 2017.  Dry grass on the odd slope on Allesandro St at Rosebud Ave which is actually Sunflower Ave, but the maps are out of sync with the street signs.  (click on photos to enlarge.)

The odd slope is within the CalTrans easement, but like everything surrounding the 2 Freeway, no one takes responsibility for it. More than once in 27 years,  I've seen a CalTrans crew spray the weeds with poison.

Photo: Corralitas Drive Neighbor, June 13, 2017.  Enlarged from previous photo.  Dead Eucalyptus are in the Modjeska Street right-of-way, a paper street, on an  extremely steep slope in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract.  Looks like the Modjeska slope is in need of brush clearance too.  The City will never build  40' wide Modjeska Street right-of-way, as it is steeper than a 30% grade.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 22, 2016.  A year ago, the dead non-native Eucalyptus in the Modjeska paper street, were clearly evident as viewed from Corralitas Drive.  Eucalyptus trees all over the area have been dying suddenly for the past 4 years.  The Modjeska trees have been dead for more than a year.

Every year on and around the 4th of July, some idiots invariably shoot fireworks off over the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract.

2 Freeway & Corralitas Drive: CalTrans Did Some Brush Clearance

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor #1, June 3, 2017.  Saturday, a CalTrans crew cleared brush about 10' back from the chain link fence on Corralitas Drive. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor #2, June 3, 2017.  Unfortunately, the work order did not include the steep slope directly adjacent to the southbound lanes of the 2 Freeway.  

Red Car Property: Brush Comparison 2017-2016

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, May 30, 2017.  Dry weeds are taller and more dense than they were just a year ago.  Although the trees are recovering from the 2016 Silver Lake Fire.  Note the dry brush on the slope.  Neighbors are asking, once again, "How do the large lot owners get away without doing brush clearance by May 1, EVERY YEAR?" (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 17, 2016.  A month before the June 19, 2016 fire, the dry weeds on the flatter part were sparse and the dry brush on the slope was mashed down and not as thick as normal years due to the lack of rain.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 20, 2016.  The day after the Silver Lake Fire, the trees didn't look so bad. Lots of water poured on the fire from the air and by hose washed much of the charred debris from the slopes. The following weeks would not be good.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 12, 2016.  Four months later, neighbors questioned if the trees would recover.  The protected native Black Walnut and Coast Live Oak Trees, in particular, had shown signs of recovery, but with a desolate post-fire landscape, if you didn't look closely while walking the property, you did not see the new growth.  It doesn't help that the Black Walnuts and Chinese Elms drop their leaves for winter, so the growing season was all screwed up for these poor trees. 

After the fire, CalTrans clear-cut so many trees adjacent the Red Car Property and Corralitas Drive, there was a dramatic temperature shift in the immediate neighborhood with the loss of so much morning shade. The street is hotter, sunnier and dustier.  It did not rain significantly until shortly after LAFD contractors did brush clearance in December.

Corralitas Red Car Property: Lawless Place

Video: Corralitas Neighbor, May 23, 2017.  Suspecting potential illegal dumping of an uncovered load of dirt, a neighbor followed a large dump truck from Rosebud to the Corralitas Red Car Property.  When the driver saw the neighbor filming him, he turned around and sped off.

Corralitas Neighbor's video shows so much in about a minute's time, I'm just going to make a list...

1. Brush clearance hasn't happened yet.  The deadline was May 1, every year.  
2. Nothing restricts vehicle traffic from driving onto the Red Car Property, further increasing the risk of fire.
3. Dry weeds are taller and more dense than a year ago.
4.  The Red Car Property includes the slope up to the power lines. 
5. One homeowner appears to have cleared brush downslope, well beyond their property line.  After last year's Silver Lake Fire, who could blame them?
6. Primarily, protected native trees on the slope (in the first half of the video) are recovering from the Silver Lake Fire.  (The trees did not burn in the fire, but were "cooked.")
7. Some homeowners on Lake View Ave have not done brush clearance on their own property. 
8.  CalTrans cut down a lot of trees, including some that kept cars from flying off the southbound lanes of the 2 Freeway.  The wall of green will not return in our lifetimes.
9. CalTrans repaired the 50' long guard rail after a car did fly off the 2 Freeway and landed on Corralitas Drive.  However, CalTrans failed to place K-rails or other such safety barriers along the unprotected downslope parkway between the southbound lanes of the 2 Freeway and Corralitas Drive, a residential street.
10. For erosion control, CalTrans planted some shrubbery after they clear-cut the 2 Freeway slope
11. This portion of Corralitas Drive no longer has shade, sound or air pollution protection the wall of trees afforded. 
12. Corralitas Drive is not a City Standard Street.  
13. City and CalTrans truck drivers ignore the "No Parking Anytime" signs, napping and lunching under the 2 Freeway on Rosebud Ave, as they always have.
14.  The homeless guy still has a camp on Rosebud near the corner of Corralitas.
15.  Corralitas neighbors are so fed up with dumping, they are willing to follow potential dumpers to bust them.
16. While the dump truck was equipped properly, they failed to cover the open load of dirt as required by City and State rules.

Red Car Property: Dry Brush

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, May 5, 2017.  The good news is some of the big trees are recovering after the 2016 fire.  Bad news: dry brush is more dense than a year ago.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, May 12, 2017.  Some upslope neighbors did their brush clearance by May 1.  Understandably, it appears at least one went overboard clearing well past the property line.  (The power lines, halfway up the hill, are at the property line to the Red Car Property.)  Many of the protected native Black Walnuts and Coast Live Oaks are recovering from last year's fire, including trees LAFD's contractors cut down (that were not dead) 6 months after the fire. 

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, May 12, 2017.  A relatively small tree that did not recover from the fire and CalTrans' subsequent butchery, is still partially blocking Corralitas Walk, a public sidewalk between Corralitas Drive and Allesandro Way and Lake View Ave.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, May 5, 2017.  The dead tree still had its crown a week earlier.  Ironically, May 8, three days after this photo was taken, CalTrans sent me email confirmation that the fence had been fixed here on a complaint I'd made November 3, 2016, regarding fence damage between Rosebud/Corralitas and Allesandro Way/Lake View Ave.  I guess if they can't see it from their trucks, the problem doesn't exist.

Allesandro Street, 2 Freeway: Motor Homes, Dumping, Unwalkable Sidewalk, Dry Brush

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, May 11, 2017, 7 PM.  Two motor homes without license plates have been parked on Allesandro Street just south of Rosebud Ave, attracting dumping.(Click on photo to enlarge.)

This portion of Allesandro to Riverside Drive was a part of a "No Overnight Parking Zone," but the signs directly across from the controversial Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract 15-lot subdivision mysteriously disappeared when it was under construction.

Neither the City nor CalTrans takes care of the sidewalk adjacent to the 2 Freeway.  But then, it's not a real sidewalk, despite the City building ADA compliant ramps at all the intersections on Allesandro in the 1990s.  It's still a narrow strip of asphalt in a curb.  The lack of street addresses prevent all but the most persistent neighbors from getting dumping removed by the City.  Weeds, trash, dumping and telephone poles blocking the extremely narrow sidewalk are a challenge for any pedestrian.

CalTrans insists the "sidewalks" adjacent their freeways are the City's responsibility.  If homeowners are supposed to maintain the sidewalk adjacent to their homes, shouldn't CalTrans have the same responsibility? 

Wonder if CalTrans will be doing the brush clearance up on their parkway since it can no longer be seen from the northbound 2 Freeway due to the sound wall.

2 Freeway: CalTrans Keeping Neighbors Awake

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, May 2, 2017, after midnight.  CalTrans lit up the entire neighborhood.  It's so bright, you can see the dry brush on the Red Car Property in the foreground.)  One neighbor said it was so bright, "I could've done shadow puppets."  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

It wasn't just bright, one Corralitas neighbor remarked, "It was annoyingly LOUD!!  The pounding!!"  

Sound walls would have only helped 6 of the eight houses on the south end of Corralitas.  If you are above the line of sight of the wall, as 90% of the neighborhood is, sound travels up and sound walls don't help.  However, this is cruel and unusual punishment for the 8 homes less than 50' from the southbound lanes of the 2 Freeway, particularly since last summer, when CalTrans cut down all the trees that previously blocked the view of the freeway.  

The least CalTrans could do is put up temporary sound baffling when there are homes within 100 feet of the freeway.  Additionally, give notice to neighbors within a 500 foot radius that bright and noisy work would be happening on specific days/nights.

Rosebud Ave & Corralitas Drive: Homeless Guy's Upgraded Campsite

Updated March 6, 2017*

 Photo: Corralitas Neighbor #1, February 14, 2017.  Homeless or IKEA promotion?   It's hard to tell the difference.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Corralitas Drive residents have been remarkably tolerant of the young homeless guy who took up residence on Rosebud Ave near the stop sign at Corralitas Drive more than a month ago.  The 2 Freeway overpass offers some protection from the rain. 

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor #2, January 9, 2017. When the young homeless man showed up under the 2 Freeway in the heavy January rains, several neighbors attempted to engage and encourage him to move into supportive housing.  They contacted CD13, who quickly notified PATH, (People Assisting The Homeless).  One even neighbor organized interested neighbors in an effort to help move him off the street and into support services. 

PATH representatives and LAPD Senior Lead Officer Lenny Davis reached out to him.  Thus far, he's not moved into a shelter, choosing to stay on the street.  Neighbors are skeptical that he will move into one, since (even in each of the photos) there are often open bottles of alcohol near his bed. 

One of the largest impediments to moving homeless into supportive housing, is drug and alcohol dependency.  Unless they are willing to get off drugs and alcohol, they cannot move into housing.  The housing bonds passed in recent elections fail to address this very real problem.  County Measure H, on the March 7, 2017 ballot, would allocate some funds  toward support services, but it seems to be a drop in the bucket.

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor #2, January 13, 2017.  This homeless guy has been tidy and  has not been belligerent like some of the meth-addicted homeless who've lived up on the 2 Freeway's landscaped medians (before the June 19, 2016 Silver Lake Fire).  However, neighbors are concerned that someone who reportedly is there all day and night knows when neighbors are coming and going.  Corralitas Drive is a very isolated street with only one means of vehicle access.  Our isolation makes us more self sufficient than most neighborhoods, but at some point, public safety becomes an issue.

Neighbors who own and live in their duplexes, have sent me email expressing frustration as a number of prospective tenants have told them they fear for their safety because of the homeless guy and the problems homeless attract. The tunnel has been hit with both Frogtown and Echo Park gang graffiti in the past month.  While the graffiti vandalism has always happened here, it now adds to the unease neighbors feel about the homeless guy.

Neighbors' patience has grown thin.  Many have said it's time for the guy to move on.  Hector from CD13 has been communicating with PATH and neighbors regarding this issue.  There are a myriad of issues involved.

Neighbors have been successful in using the City's MyLA311 app to get the graffiti painted out, usually within 24 hours of reporting it.  If the graffiti is on up on the 2 Freeway and inaccessible from the sidewalk, the City will not paint it out.  Report it to CalTrans.

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor #3, January 4. 2017.  A few days before the homeless guy showed up, the tunnel under the 2 Freeway on Rosebud Ave was the cleanest it's been in years.  The tunnel  is usually so trashed, that when it's clean, neighbors get pretty damn excited about it.  

A neighbor was so pleased seeing the clean tunnel, she sent me this photo of a woman walking her dog in the immaculately clean tunnel. As a 27-year resident of Corralitas Drive, I did not want to publish it, because I didn't want to advertise to dumpers and graffiti vandals.  A few days later, the homeless guy took up residence.  File it under: why we can't have nice things.

*UPDATE March 6, 2017: After giving 72 hour notice last week, the City's Department of Sanitation cleared the homeless guy's camp around 5 PM today.  He was back by 8 PM.  He even refused PATH's offer to get him into temporary shelter during recent rains.  Neighbors are growing increasingly hostile toward his continued presence.

You are not helping by giving him handouts.  You are enabling him to remain on the streets. It is best to allow the professionals to deal with this situation.  Contact PATH or another homeless services agency, if you want to help the homeless. 

For an explanation of the City's policy and process for moving the homeless: CD13.

Corralitas Red Car Property: Neighbors Keeping An Eye On Silver Lake Fire Burn Area

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, January 9, 2016.  The June 19, 2016 Silver Lake Fire burned up to the homes atop this slope.  Luckily the protected native Coast Live Oak and Black Walnut Trees are recovering from the fire and should help hold the hillside together.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The Red Car Property goes up to roughly the telephone poles in the middle of the slope.  I'm willing to speculate, we've not seen the usual amount of slippage on slope yet because the fire department poured an enormous volume of water on the slope during and after the fire, with hours of water drops via helicopters and fire hoses from both top and bottom of the hill.  Dead trees were removed and brush clearance was done in December.  

Worth noting: the denuded slope at the far end was cut into sharply to make room for the southbound lanes of the 2 Freeway in 1960.  The Red Car Property, Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract, 18-Acre Elysian Park Parcel and Menlo Property were among the large vacant parcels from which countless tons of earth were removed for grading of the adjacent 2 and 5 Freeways in 1960-1962.  When construction was finished, these lots also became dumping grounds for the unused dirt.

2 Freeway & Corralitas Drive: Rainwatch

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, December 21, 2016.  CalTrans was watering their freshly planted shrubs on the southbound 2 Freeway parkway adjacent to Corralitas Drive (seen here, north of Rosebud Ave) ahead of the rain.

We're tracking rainfall totals in the Corralitas rain gauge:

December 21-22, 2016: 1.0"
Rain year to date: 4.6"
 

2 Freeway & Corralitas Drive: Nov. 30 Tragic Car Crash, No Surprise. Shocking No One On Corralitas Was Struck By Car Flying Off 2 Frwy.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, November 30, 2016.  Yesterday's evidence of a car crashing off the southbound 2 Freeway onto Corralitas Drive became tragic once neighbors started sharing photos.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

The neighbor who first reported the incident to me, was relieved that no one on Corralitas Drive was struck by the flying car or debris.  Photos at street level were shot around 9 AM.   Corralitas Walk is the public sidewalk heading up the hill adjacent to the southbound 2 Freeway in the background of the above photo. 

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, November 30, 2016.  That's not a retaining wall in the background, it's the dirt embankment of the 2 Freeway.  Notice the fire engine and cars up on the 2 Freeway.  There is no guardrail.  There has never been a guardrail there.  In the past, enormous Eucalyptus trees stopped cars from flying off this section of freeway.

In July, CalTrans cut down all the trees in the parkway it deemed as unsafe, including the 50+ year old Eucalyptus trees that did not burn in the June 19, 2016 Silver Lake Fire.  

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, November 30, 2016. 
As jarring as the photos are, we shouldn't be surprised a car flew off the southbound 2 Freeway.  Neighbors have been warning about this potential scenario for months.  We hope the driver is recovering from this horrible crash.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, November 30, 2016.  The scale of the 2 Freeway slope and inadequacy of the guard rail is more evident when viewed from above the Red Car Property.  The guard rail,prior to the crash and prior to the tree carnage, has always been approximately 50 long, almost all of it leading up to the overhead freeway sign.

Beginning in August, shortly after Cal Trans cut down all the trees adjacent to Corralitas Drive south of Rosebud Ave., neighbors tried to get the attention of public officials and CalTrans regarding the health and public safety issues with the recent tree carnage.  One neighbor wrote to several elected officials and CalTrans:

"I have 3 children [ages omitted] that play on the cul-de-sac. There’s only a small strip of guard rail by the freeway sign. We’ve seen a few cars end up on the ditch where the trees prevented them from ending up on Corralitas. I don’t feel safe having my kids play outside anymore. The fence on Corralitas side will not prevent a fast moving car from ending up on my street."

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, November 30, 2016.  You wouldn't have been safe in your own driveway from large pieces of flying car parts.  This large piece of the car easily could have killed a young child as it landed a good 12 feet up a neighbor's driveway.  Another neighbor's parked car window was shattered by flying debris. 

This summer, I had several conversations with CalTrans representatives regarding the section of the 2 Freeway burned in the Silver Lake Fire. Among other topics, I requested concrete K-Rails, the "temporary" barriers CalTrans uses to protect their workers from traffic in long term construction zones.  On multiple occasions, and despite their awareness of my documentation of the removed trees stopping cars from flying off the freeway in 2015: both CalTrans reps said the safety of the motorists on the freeway was their only concern; not the safety of the adjacent residents or users of city streets.  

If that's true, then K-Rails are warranted on the southbound 2 Freeway adjacent to Corralitas between the Rosebud Ave Overcrossing and approximately 100' north of the intersection of Allesandro Way and Lake View Ave.  Need more reasons?  Check out some of the videos on CalTrans website of trucks crashing into K-Rails. 
 

2 Freeway & Corralitas Drive: Demolished Guardrail, Chain Link Fence, Scattered Oil & Auto Parts Leave Neighbors Scratching Heads

Photo: November 30, 2016, Corralitas Neighbor.   Neighbors arrived home from work this evening to find the small 50' guardrail on the southbound lanes of the 2 Freeway absolutely demolished.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor November 30, 2016.  The railing is wrapped completely around the pole, almost all of the wooden support posts were broken and scattered around the slope and Corralitas Drive below.

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, November 30, 2016. Surmising from the flow of dirt, oil and auto parts, neighbors suspected a vehicle had flown off the freeway at high speeds, and with no large trees to stop the out of control vehicle, it crashed through the flimsy chain link fence at the base of the steep slope and landed on Corralitas Drive. 

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, November 30, 2016.  Whatever crashed through the fence showed the inadequacy of the 50' guardrail.  The neighbor who sent these photos, also sent them to the CalTrans representatives, who, for the past several months, failed to respond to the neighbor's request for even the most temporary of barriers, concrete K-Rails or Jersey Barriers.  He was grateful neither his nor his neighbors' kids were in the street at the time of the crash.

Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, November 30, 2016.  Debris from the wreckage was on both sides of the fence, including a some that damaged one neighbor's car.  You can still see motor oil in the storm drain inlet at the front of the car's tire. 

Another neighbor emailed me inquiring about the aforementioned, as well as a large puddle of oil in the middle of the street, near her driveway.  Needless to say, neighbors were taking photos and asking questions before the sun went down.  More to follow.

Note: CalTrans removed trees it deemed as unsafe after the June 19, 2016 Silver Lake Fire.  This summer, I had several conversations with CalTrans representatives where, among other topics, I requested K-rails.  On multiple occasions, and despite their awareness of my documentation of the the removed trees stopping cars from flying off the freeway in 2015: both said the safety of the motorists on the freeway was their only concern, not the safety of the adjacent residents or users of city streets. -DE