There was a ceremony this past Saturday to celebrate the opening of the latest phase of the Silver Lake pathway, a new trail that winds along Silver Lake Blvd. Ther ceremony brought the usual politicians--City Councilmen Tom LaBonge and Eric Garcetti (and their giant scissors)--and about 100 locals or so. One thing we hadn't anticipated on seeing: Kids! All sorts: Babies, kids, tweens. You never usually see children on this side of the reservoir because the old path's proximity to the road makes the area too dangerous. But lots of kids, as well as dogs, came out on Saturday--they were running around, rolling around, loving themselves some brand new path. As previously discussed, some of the improvements around the reservoir, including the pathway and the forthcoming opening of the meadow, have divided the community, with some residents fearing the reservoir area will become overrun with visitors. But we gotta guess that these family-friendly amenities will raise property values. Final judgment reserved until we see how the parking situation plays out.
Shelley Marks, who helps head up the Committee To Save Silver Lake Reservoirs, filled us in on some of the forthcoming improvements.
---The meadow will open next summer.
---The stoplight. As previously noted, the city wants to put up a light to allow pedestrians the ability to cross into the meadow. According to the transportation officials at the ground-breaking, it’s up the City Council to decide where the streetlight will go. But it will likely go up either at Earl Street or mid-block (right after or before Earl Street). The advantage to putting it mid-block would be to avoid encouraging cut-through traffic at Earl.
---The Department of Water and Power (DWP), wants to put a boardwalk on Tesla Street. Currently, Tesla is considered one of the most dangerous streets because there is no sidewalk, so the DWP has proposed putting a boardwalk on the other side of the fence to allow people to walk along on Tesla Street safely. There's no current date on when this would happen.
----There’s a plan to connect the two walkways by essentially making a new pathway that starts on Silver Lake Boulevard and cuts behind the dog park and the buildings (the gym, the outside basketball court) and ends up at the top of hill. Likewise, no date on when this will happen.
---There is talk of transforming part of the meadow's fence into a more decorative fence (it sounds like an art project). As previously noted, the fence will be locked at dusk and open at down. The new pathway will be open 24 hours a day.
· Locals Testing Out Unopened Silver Lake Pathway [Curbed LA]
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