LA Area's Fourth Proposed Freeway Park Gets a Push

Can LA find the money, political will, and gumption to pull off a High Line-size park project? We'll see--there's now four proposed plans in greater LA for freeway cap parks: in downtown, Hollywood, and two in Santa Monica. The Santa Monica Daily Press tells us that movement is being made on the most western of the two parks proposed for SM, which would cover the 10 from Ocean Avenue to 4th Street, near the civic center and terminus of the Expo Line (coming in 2015). Today, the city council is expected to pass a $3.5 million study and preliminary engineering on the five-acre park. As mentioned previously, there's hope this park will heal the divide created by the 10 between SM's downtown and the Ocean Park neighborhood. City Councilman Kevin McKeown tells the paper: "The land we gain is more valuable (several hundred dollars per square foot) than the cost of capping the freeway. This is one of the all time no brainers." LA-based urban design firm AECOM is expected to take three months to conduct the study. Meanwhile, the other Santa Monica park, which should be about done with its feasibility study, would cap the 10 between 14th and 17th Streets, creating a seven-acre park.
· City Hall to Take First Step on Freeway Capping Plan [SMDP]
· Santa Monica Freeway Cap Park Confusion Cleared [Curbed LA]