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.

Cove Ave: Stuff You Missed This Year, Coyote

Photos: Corralitas Drive Neighbor, August 31, 2013, 8:07 AM.  It never ceases to amaze me how well adapted coyotes are to blend in with their surroundings.  Many longtime neighbors have never even seen a coyote.  The coyotes' camouflage could be one reason why.

A neighbor stopped her car & shot some photos (with her phone, from the safety of her car) of a big, healthy male coyote who quite nonchalantly crossed her path on Cove Ave near Fair Oak View Terrace.. 

Even zoomed in from the wide shot, the coyote is hard to see with his head in a gopher hole.

The neighbor reported the coyote seemed to be on a regular route, searching for food, which is typical behavior.

These photos have not been altered for color or contrast.  It is possible that is blood on his neck.  Or it may be a weird color shift in the digital camera or reflection. 

Stuff you missed this year: we shoot & collect tons of photos.  So we try to wrap up the year with some interesting ones we never got a chance to run.

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.  

Cove Way: Silver Lake Public Staircase Least Likely To Be On The Big Parade

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 9, 2012.  The Cove Public Staircase was cut off by construction of the 2 Freeway in 1960.  There used to be a bridge crossing the "Allesandro Cut" for the Red Car Trolley connecting Silver Lake with Echo Park.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

The Big Parade is a FREE, 2 day, 100+ public staircase hike from Downtown to the Hollywood Sign - next weekend - May 18 & 19, 2013, with a warm-up Mt Washington hike on Friday May 17.  More routes, timetables, more info: http://bigparadela.tumblr.com/

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 9, 2012.  Of course the signage on the Silver Lake side of the Cove Public Staircase is really confusing, only indicating "Cove Way" as the staircase.

Click here for all our Big Parade related posts.

2 Freeway Terminus: Sound Walls

Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 10, 2012. Unless homes are at or below eye level with the 2 Freeway, sound walls will do nothing to reduce noise, however we will lose a lot of trees on both sides of the freeway for almost a quarter mile.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

 

Neighbors who are closest to and at eye level with the 2 Freeway do have legitimate need for sound walls. However, giving us walls in exchange for trees is not a good solution for the neighborhood as a whole. The problem stems from there not being enough room for both trees and sound walls (according to CalTrans and the MTA).

 

I was unable to attend last night's MTA sponsored community meeting regarding the 2 Freeway Terminus Redesign, so I'm relying on reports from neighbors.

 

One Lake View Ave neighbor sent the following:

 

"Just spent a few minutes talking to Benkin Jong, the project manager for Metro. He made it clear that objections from people who don't live right next to where the walls would go don't count for much.

 

He said that a petition from the homes closest to where the sound walls would go is the only way to stop them--but that such a petition, if weighted heavily against the walls, would probably kill them."  

 

This week, Jong called several neighbors from Lake View Ave who'd sent email opposing to the sound walls with a similar response.  Neighbors are particularly concerned about the blight and graffiti sound walls would bring the freeway impacted neighborhood.  Ivy is no substitute for trees.

 

So perhaps the biggest environmental impact (sound walls) of the current plan for the 2 Freeway Terminus was never considered in the Environmental Impact Report.  (Isn't there a lawsuit in there?)

 

We'll be conferring with community leaders and will follow the sound wall and tree issues closely.  

 

See also: The Eastsider