Discuss the Future of Albion River Park – Meetings Start This Week

Flier for Albion Dairy - click for full 2-page pdf file with meetings info, map, and background sheet

The city of Los Angeles has announced a series of community meetings for public input on the future Los Angeles River park at the Albion Dairy site. The first meeting is this Wednesday November 18th at 6:30pm at Downey Recreation Center.

In September 2009, the city purchased the 6-acre industrial site located between North Spring and North Main Streets in the Albion neighborhood of Lincoln Heights. Earlier L.A. Creek Freak covered the purchase, background, and shared photos of the site.

From the city’s flier:

Please join First District, Councilmember Ed Reyes for the first of three meetings to discuss the future of the 6-acre Swiss Dairy site. The meetings seek to inform and solicit input from local neighborhoods and stakeholders on the possibilities to transform this site into a community riverside park.

The meetings will be hosted at:
Downey Recreation Center
1772 N. Spring St. Los Angeles, CA 90031
Refreshments and Snacks will be provided at every meeting

Wednesday – November 18, 2009
6:30PM – 8:30PM
Site-specific overview and background.
Community input on desired outcomes.

Saturday – January 9, 2010
10:00AM – 12:00AM
Community check-in. Design concepts presented.
Community input on project alternatives.

Thursday – January 28, 2010
6:30PM – 8:30PM
Community design unveiled.

The flier includes meeting information, map and a background sheet. For more information on the meetings, contact Marisol Salguero [213] 485.0763 marisol.salguero [at] lacity.org or Miguel Luna [818] 568.9139 miguel [at] urbansemillas.com

The Fifth Ecology – a Swedish Take on Los Angeles and its River

Swedes dunking the donut that illustrates the US fiscal priorities

There’s a fun Los Angeles River exploration show/project that’s opening this weekend. It’s called The Fifth Ecology: Los Angeles Beyond Desire. It’s the creation of a team of Swedish designers, architects, engineers and dreamers, collaborating through a year-long workshop based at Stockholm’s Royal University College of Fine Arts.

The team came and toured L.A. in February, brought some river folks to Stockholm earlier this year, and then dreamed up Los Angeles a river that would be vital and sustainable and wonderful. Their work is available as a handsome catalog online, and an exhibit at gallery G727 at in downtown L.A. (sometimes afectionately known as “James Rojas’ gallery.”) G727 is located at 727 South Spring Street, LA 90014. The exhibit will be up from November 15th through December 12, 2009. The opening reception is this Sunday, November 15th, from 5–9pm. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11am–7pm. At tonight’s downtown artwalk folks can see a pre-opening preview of the show.

Stockholm architect Mania Aghaei Meibodi painting the trapezoidal river channel gallery walls pink!

I’ve had the treat of hanging out with some of the creative folks behind the show when they were out in February, as well as the past week as they are staying with me at Los Angeles Eco-Village. There’s a lot of big ideas in the show – including a focus on the monumental job of how to make Los Angeles carbon-neutral – getting Angelenos out of our cars, generating energy sustainably, even growning more food locally. They’re big ideas, but presented in ways that are playful and even fun. The crew is transforming the gallery space to feel like a mini-Los Angeles River, with brigh pink sloped trapezoidal walls.

I read over the team’s booklet when it arrived late this summer. For me, much of what’s striking about it is a European look at Los Angeles and the United States. The title “Beyond Desire” is a response to the culture that Los Angeles’ boosters project to the world: luxurious, materialistic, glitzy. The team ties this high-consumption resource intensive reputation to the current U.S. budget crises and bailouts, declaring that Americans are living beyond our means. While there’s plenty of truth to this, it seems incongruous to me to tie this sort of analysis to the Los Angeles River. There are luxurious materialistic areas and cultures in Los Angeles… but the neighborhoods along the river aren’t really tied into that culture. They’re very working class, very underserved… not a lot of stars homes. Perhaps then, that makes the river a perfect spot to unfold a vision of L.A. that isn’t tied to the boosterism that we project.

The team is recommending various large-scale interventions: 

• Elevated sports fields connecting communities to the river
• Agricultural pyramids
• Flood detention wetland areas
• Local energy generation from floating dams and biogas
• Contain-O-Pod guideway transit for people, good and waste

and much more!

The Furry Hub - multi-modal connections between transit, Contain-O-Pods, bicycling, walking - along the river and into the neighborhoods

Some of it is pretty fanciful, and a bit difficult for me to imagine really coming to pass… but it’s a worthwhile step in fostering a dialog around how to make Los Angeles more resilient and how to reconnect us with our neglected waterways.

See you at the opening reception this Sunday from 5pm to 9pm!

Sunnynook River Park Inches Forward

Location of the planned Sunnynook River Park (from the city of L.A. via LAist)

This week, the city of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) board approved permission for the city to proceed with constructing Sunnynook River Park. The future park will be located along the southwest bank of the Los Angeles River, exteding from the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge to the Sunnynook Footbridge. The 3.4-acre park site, sandwiched between the 5 Freeway and the river bike path, and includes an easement for DWP power transmission lines.

The city has been awarded $1.7M to build the park… but that’s nearly all state bond funds, which have been delayed and frozen and re-frozen and damned to hell due to the state budget crisis.  So there’s no real time-line for when construction will start. Nonetheless, it’s great to see that the city is moving forward getting all their permissions in order to be ready when the approved funding becomes available.

More details on Sunnynook River Park from Creek Freak’s article about it last year. More coverage of this week’s DWP approval at LAist and at Atwater Village News.

Bikeway Undercrossing at Fletcher Drive

Fletcher undercrossing isn't open yet, but some cyclists are already using it

This afternoon, I took these photos of the new segment of the Los Angeles River Bike Path under construction in Elysian Valley. Creek Freak has written about the history, the groundbreaking and the construction of this new 3-mile river bike path, due to open in early 2010.

The biggest infrastructural intervention in this project is the undercrossing at Fletcher Drive. I, of course, have to mention the wonderful historic Fletcher Drive Bridge, built in 1927. The rest of the stretch has long had a somewhat-bumpy access road already used by cyclists and pedestrians all the time. The basic concrete path is all complete at Fletcher. Follow this link for a photo of what it used to look like, and here’s how it appears today:

New undercrossing at Fletcher

I was glad to see that this strom drain outlet  (below Rattlesnake Park – a mini-park located on the south bank, immediately downstream adjacent to Fletcher – home of the Great Heron Gate) has been fixed. More than once I’ve seen folks slip and injure themselves walking across the sloped wet area here. Ouch! I shudder thinking about it. Now the drain runs under the dry flat bike path.

New stormdrain plumbing at Fletcher

Here’s a closer shot:

Closer shot of the drain, with bike path surface more visible across center of image

There’s still a lot of work to go. The undercrossing will have lights and railing – and rest of the 3 miles will be resurfaced and striped. Here’s what the future bike path looks like facing downstream from Rattlesnake Park, toward the 2 Freeway:

Future bike path, looking downstream toward the 2 Freeway

Lastly, for all us creek freaks interested in bike paths, there’s one more public meeting on the city of Los Angeles’ draft bike plan update. The new draft plan calls for completing the Los Angeles River bike path and some other waterway paths… but as I read the plan, I am finding that it’s quite inadequate, especially regarding designated bike lanes on city streets. If you’re interested in learning about the L.A. Bike Plan and giving your input, come to the public meeting next Wednesday:

Bike Plan Update Public Meeting
Wednesday, November 4th 2009 6pm-8pm
Free – Refreshments – Spanish translation provided
Ramona Hall, 4580 N. Figueroa Street, LA 90042
Adjacent to Sycamore Grove Park in Highland Park
Very easy access from Metro Gold Line Southwest Museum Station – just go down the stairs and cross the street.
For more information call 213.473-7001

There’s also a county bike plan about to get underway, and draft bike plans for Pasadena and Burbank – both of which call for more creekside bike paths. Creek Freak will do some kind of bike plan round up soon!

Making High Speed Rail and River Restoration Work Together

Creek Freak appears in today’s L.A. Times aritcle by Ari Bloomerkatz entitled “Plans for trains, river may collide.” It’s on how high-speed rail and river revitalization may or may not be compatible. Here’s an excerpt: (follow the link to read the whole story.)

The situation makes for delicate politics. Many L.A. officials strongly support the bullet train concept and believe that the Union Station hub would fit into the county’s efforts to expand subway and light rail service. But they also believe that revitalizing the river is an important part of making the city core more livable for residents and attractive to visitors.

The proposed rail routes would run near Taylor Yard, a 247-acre freight switching facility in Cypress Park that was closed by 1985. Part of Taylor yard, which is north of Union Station, is still used for rail maintenance and storage, but it also includes Rio de Los Angeles State Park and sites for a planned high school, green space and a mixed-use housing development. The Los Angeles River runs next to it.

Both the online and print editions feature a picture of Los Angeles Creek Freak’s Joe Linton walking along the tracks at Taylor Yard.

I think that the article is well-written and clear, but I do want to expand and clarify my position slightly. I think that there are a number of high-speed rail options that could work well for both river revitalization and for increased mobility for Californians. The cheapest option appears to lay down more tracks and more fences at Taylor Yard… which would end up being a barrier to river access.

Video capture from California High-Speed Rail website's 3-D simulation of alternative trenches through Taylor Yard. This image shows the trench along San Fernando Road. Click to watch the video.

There are many alternatives for the alignment in this area. Unfortunately the ones currently most focused on by the state’s High-Speed Rail Authority aren’t quite the what I would consider the best ones for the river and the community.  Currently, the high-speed rail website shows a simulation of two alternatives: a trench along the existing rail right-of-way and a trench along San Fernando Road.

One positive aspect of these trenches is that they can be lidded, which could create crossings for pedestrians and bicyclists to access the river. The lidded-trench solution is positive in that it can solve access issues across the existing conventional rail tracks. Trenches have some downsides. They act as a barrier to hydrological connections, so it will become nearly impossible to create streams and wetlands that gradually slope down to the river. Even with various lids (as shown in the video simulation) there’s still quite a bit of trench that creates a barrier to river access for nearby communities. The lids can be planted… but end up somewhat barren as they’re not optimal for growing large trees. If we’re not careful they may be built in a very ugly institutional way – think lots of chain link fences and concrete in the middle of a park.

My favorite option, admittedly somewhat difficult (meaning expensive fiscally and politically) one would be to run the rail on an elevated structure in the middle of the 5 Freeway. This would mean that drivers stuck in traffic could watch rail whizzing by… and hopefully contemplate taking the train next time.

Another alternative would be to elevate the rail (both conventional and high-speed) through Taylor Yard, creating plenty of river access underneath the tracks. This would need to be done in an intelligent and aesthetically pleasing way. I am not asking for a minimal foreboding 15-foot wide tunnel under the tracks… more like a graceful extended span opening up a quarter-mile access park below, gently sloping toward the restored riverbed.  I think it needs to be very open, with plenty of good sight lines.

I haven’t heard or seen as much about the rest of the alignment – from Taylor Yard through downtown to just south of Olympic Boulevard. This includes Los Angeles State Historic Park, Union Station and about 6 miles of very difficult to access river, with plenty of beautiful historic bridges. This area is among the most difficult for revitalization. It’s also the area targeted for the initial Southern California phase of the high-speed rail project – from Los Angles Union Station to the city of Anaheim. It’s important that we not laden this part of the river with additional infrastructure that will make future access even more difficult.

The high-speed rail project is an opportunity to enhance mobility while setting the table for future river revitalization, but it will take some funding, coordination, creativity, smart planning and community input to arrive at the solution that makes the most sense.

Current Photos of the Albion Site

Albion Street Entrance to Ross Swiss Dairy

Regarding the city’s acquisition of the Albion Dairy site (and just how many separate blog entries L.A. Creek Freak is capable of squeezing out of a good big story), it seems like a lot of folks read the word “dairy” and get this very pastoral image of cows and rolling grassy hills.  So L.A. Creek Freak headed out to Lincoln Heights this morning to bring our readers some photos of the site as it exists today. Don’t let the word dairy fool you. You can see the site is indeed a fully-paved, industrial distribution center. Lots of 18-wheeler trucks, loading docks, basic industrial buildings, cars a-parking… not a blade of grass to be seen.

More distribution center than dairy

As our readers can see in the photo below, the Los Angeles River in this area is all concrete. Also visible in the photo are the two active railroad tracks that run between the river and the dai… er… distribution center. In the long run, as river-adjacent properties like this one are acquired, possibilities open up for river access above or below the rails, like these possible design renderings (see the four images at the bottom of the link) for the nearby L.A. State Historic Park.

The west fence of the Albion Dairy site, viewed from the North Main Street Bridge - lots of trucks visible behind the fence

City Purchases 6-acre Albion Dairy Site for River Park

I was really excited to hear that the city was voting to purchase the Albion Dairy site earlier today, so I did my first ever blog from my phone – actually from council chambers. Here’s the follow-up story with lots more details and links.

First let me say thanks to all involved! Credit for this excellent purchase goes to City Councilmember Ed Reyes, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and also staff from the Community Redevelopment Agency, the Pubic Works Department Bureaus of Engineering and Sanitation, and the City Attorney’s office. Thanks to the mayoral Director of Capital Projects Christopher Espinosa and to Council Deputy Monica Valencia for providing background information to L.A. Creek Freak.

Albion Dairy Site. Dark green is new acquisition, light green is existing Downey Park. Los Angeles River runs vertically on the left.

The Albion Dairy site is a 6.34-acre site located on the northeast side of the Los Angeles River in Lincoln Heights (google map here.) The triangular parcel extends from North Spring Street to nearly North Main Street. It’s adjacent to Downey Park and Recreation Center, and across the river from Los Angeles State Historic Park.

It’s currently in operation as a dairy, but there’re no cows there – it’s more of a distribution center and warehouse sort of thing, with lots of trucks picking up dairy goods. It’s operated by Dean Foods under the Ross Swiss Dairy label; the existing lease of the site will remain through January 2011.

The city has been in negotiations for a few years. I remember hearing some inklings of a project there in 2007 or so… but it wasn’t until today that I heard that the deal had been finalized. At the meeting of the full Los Angeles City Council this morning, the vote was unanimous to approve $17.4M in Proposition O funding for site aquisition and clean-up. The actual vote today was to shift $12.5M from another pot of money already approved for Taylor Yard to add to $5M that had already been approved for the Albion site. The full council action is detailed in this 7-page report and 1-page addendum from the city’s Administrative Officer (CAO.)  The CAO report includes aquisition major deal points, cost breakdowns, and a brief project description. There’s also a 1-page project description sheet from the city’s Bureau of Sanitation.

One interesting and far-sighted aspect of the deal, told to me by Espinosa, is that the owner was helpful in consolidating a Union Pacific railroad easement that runs diagonally through the site, and forms a panhandle into the area along the Downey Park pool (the panhandle is visible at the top of the image above.) With this easement included in the city’s purchase, the city can expand Downey Park to about 10-acres – both above and below North Spring Street. Downey Park has always been adjacent to the river, but never really pertained to it or connected with it. The expanded park property will include water quality features, likely some sort of natural area that would treat street run-off before it enters the river.

It’s going to be a while before the expanded Downey Park opens to the public (and this is probably a good thing with the city’s current major budget woes.) The site will continue to service its dairy business until early 2011. At that point, the city will clean up lingering toxics at the site, which likely exist from industrial uses that pre-dated the current dairy. Then a new Los Angeles River park will be built!

Albion Dairy Purchase!

Breaking news: The Los Angeles City Council is voting to purchase the 6.3-acre Albion Dairy site! Located in Lincoln Heights along North Spring Street, this will be a new Los Angeles River park. More details later today here at L.A. Creek Freak.

View Larger Map

Travels along the L.A. River with Briar

Briar walking (perhaps napping) on the L.A. River's Lario Bike Trail under the Pacific Coast Highway Bridge in Long Beach

Creek Freak is pleased to share the following emails from Tim Kirk who, with his daughter Briar, has been exploring the Los Angeles River. I really like what he has to say (below) about our waterways giving us some sense of place. He says it better than I’ve summarized it – read below.

I present his words here, though I’ve added a few links and interspersed some of his photos. Click on any of the photos to see larger images at Tim’s river photo gallery. Thanks, Tim for promoting my book, so I don’t have to.

In early August I received this email:

“Hey Joe,

Briar's first L.A. River Trip - in Atwater Village

I wanted to thank you for your excellent book on the LA River.  My daughter and I are walking the LA River in pieces.  We started when she was 5 months old and she is now 15 months.  Our first treks were in Atwater Village and headed south through Frogtown.  We walk 2-3 miles, looking for a place to pick up our trip next time.  Having completed this, we then headed north and, in this fashion, made our way through all the walkable parts of the river up to Lake Balboa.  We did a few side trips to tributaries along the way.

We just discovered your book.  Our good friend, Dominique Dibbell sugggested it (she interviewed you when she was editing the Sierra Club magazine.) It has been a blast to read about the areas we have already walked.  We are now headed south and have done two of your walks (Chinatown & The Estuary).  We are also exploring the Arroyo Seco.

Here is a link to our flckr site with an ongoing photo essay of our journey.   I hope you get a kick out of it.

Thanks again and if you see us walking along, say hey!

Tim Kirk (and Briar). 

and here’s a second email I received in mid-August:

Hi Joe,

We’ve been busy on the river.  We made that final trek down to the bay in Long Beach, which was a blast, and the reason for this note: to thank you for the excellent description in your book of the parking situation, and the byzantine trek from there to the river — I doubt we would have found it otherwise.

Briar along the Arroyo Seco in Highland Park

We had a fun hike today.  We’ve been heading north on the Arroyo Seco, and finally connected with an earlier walk, at the Archery range.  Next, we’re going to see if we can find a spot to continue, above the Rose Bowl.  Here’s the link again, if you want to see some pictures. 

This continues to be a cool experience to share with my daughter, even more so as she gets older — now nearly 16 months.  I know that traveling the river has changed my head significantly, my geographical sense of LA has shifted and I feel a certain sense of connectivity between the disparate parts of the city that the river links.  I’m excited for Briar to grow up with this awareness, which I hope will be part of her identity as an Angeleno.

All the best,

Tim Kirk

Briar rides the Rattlesnake Wall in Studio City

Images of Proposal for Studio City Golf and Tennis Site

Studio City River Park Proposal

In October 2009, L.A. Creek Freak reported details about a proposed new Los Angeles River Park at the current site of Studio City Golf and Tennis; for text explaining this proposal, see that earlier post. At the time, the visuals weren’t available for the press. I later received them from Esther Feldman, the president of Community Conservancy International. I forgot to run them at the time…

Recently I attended a meeting hosted by California Senators Judy Chiu and Fran Pavely to present and discuss river and waterway projects in the San Fernando Valley, and I saw another presentation on what’s now called the Studio City “Los Angeles River Natural Park” proposal. Below are the images. The group, which emerged from the Studio City Residents Association, promoting this project now has its own website: Save L.A. River Open Space. The site includes these images in a downloadable color Vision and Design report (pdf.)  If you’re interested in getting involved in this project email “saveopenspace [at] SLAROS.org”

Overall Concept Design

 The overall design features multi-use green space on the site, and trail connections along the river.

Habitat and Open Space Elements

 Habitat elements include preserving existing trees, and adding a new creekbed bioswale that drains to the river.

Sub-Watershed Drainage Area

 The park would treat stormwater from the surrounding neighborhood.

Water Quality Improvement Elements

 Water quality features would include the main large creekbed bioswale (receiving rainwater from street run-off), cisterns, and infiltration areas. 

Recreational Elements

The existing (golf and tennis) uses would be preserved, though with smaller footprints.

Public Access via foot, bike, bus, and car

Access to the site would be mainly via bike and walk paths along the river.

For higher resolution images and additional details, click here or on an image to download the report.