The Los Angeles State Historic Park reopened two years ago and was an instant hit. But it’s possible there’s yet another new feature coming to the park that could increase access to its revamped spaces.
A study is underway now to figure out the best place to create a link from the northern side of the park, along north Broadway, into the park via a pedestrian bridge. It’s “a connection long desired by both California State Parks and the communities of Solano Canyon and Chinatown,” the park’s website states. Urbanize LA was the first to spot a recent presentation from the study.
Access to the park for those living or approaching along North Broadway is complicated right now. There’s no access to the park from that street, even though it overlooks the park and is, on paper, just a short distance to span. (People sometimes congregate along the Broadway sidewalk closest to the park to listen the concerts and festivals it hosts.) Instead of crossing Broadway to enter the park, everyone has to use entrances on North Spring Street—at least a 20 minute walk away.
The study proposes adding a pedestrian bridge in one of four locations, each of them spanning a property that’s set to be developed by S&R Partners and the Lincoln Property Company. The developers have proposed a 920-unit project that faced some pushback from the neighbors.
Stephanie Campbell, a park and recreation specialist at the park, tells Curbed that the developers have been working with closely with the study’s team and that “everyone is supportive of the connection to Broadway.”
The study is exploring possible locations and designs for the bridge, which include versions with ramps, stairs, and elevators for easier access for all. Campbell expects the state to provide a better idea of where the bridge will go and what it will look like when the study wraps up at the end of this year.
Any pedestrian bridge to North Broadway would have to work around a few “constraints,” including the presence of the Gold Line tracks that run along the north side of the park, sensitive archaeological features nearby like the Zanja Madre, and private property interests are all that the project has to work with, but all that is being taken into account in the study.
There is no dedicated funding yet for designing or building the bridge, but the idea is to have the preliminary questions answers if and when funding does become available.
Comments
Finally! This should have been item one in the construction schedule for this park.
By diggydug on 10.09.19 4:14pm
Accessibility is alway a good thing when it comes to parks. I wish we had 5 times more park space around town
By Stephanie88a99 on 10.09.19 6:23pm
I agree, but we also have the largest urban park in the country called Griffith Park. It’s a park that is hugely underutilized because of it’s geography and location. However, we haven’t done nearly enough to make it more accessible to the residents of the city. Let’s concentrate our creative energies on bringing that beautifully huge park to it’s residents and not vice-versa. You shouldn’t need to have a car to take advantage of this great city recreational resource.
By mrxman on 10.10.19 5:10pm
Fantastic!
By corner soul on 10.09.19 8:07pm
This would be a perfect place to put 100 of the tents for the new homeless housing. Lots of open space and very close to the existing services on skid row.
By LADude on 10.10.19 9:49am
NO
By john silvers on 10.10.19 3:46pm
In the park?
By LosFeliz$ean on 10.10.19 4:00pm
Really? Another one of your lame comments that have nothing to do with reality.
By mrxman on 10.10.19 5:11pm
Elysian Lofts and other high density developers in the immediate area should be paying into a pool that would fund this.
The lack of vision as these proposals arise is yet another example of poor planning in Los Angeles.
By surfnspy on 10.10.19 1:09pm
Presumably they already pay Quimby fees, no?
By corner soul on 10.10.19 2:14pm
That feeling when you’re advocating something that’s already the case…
By disqusted on 10.10.19 4:14pm
It has more to do with funding resources and what you can and cannot do with targeted public funds. This bridge had always been in the discussions but the funding for it was lacking. It’s good to see that they continue to further develop the bridge design so when funding does get allocated, it’s shovel ready.
But I agree, they could have made it some type of requirement from builders to set aside some funds for this bridge too.
By mrxman on 10.10.19 5:38pm
The eastern option makes the most sense to me. For folks living in Solano Canyon, the shortest route into the park involves heading northeast along Broadway across the Los Angeles River into Lincoln Heights… and then turning around and heading southwest along Spring Street just to enter a park that is separated from the neighborhood by a single street and some train tracks. It would also improve access to Elysian Park for people who live in Dogtown.
But honestly, they should build all four.
By Eric C Brightwell on 10.10.19 1:44pm
The #2 location would be best. They can incorporate the existing ramp into the bridge and it’s the closest location to get you to the Welcome Center. It’s also one of the shorter bridge length options so it wouldn’t cost as much as option #4.
By mrxman on 10.10.19 5:44pm
I Love LA!
By I_Love_LA on 10.12.19 1:46am