Conservation, Recreation, Education And Transportation Expo Greenway
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Dean Howell’s Expo Greenway Thesis
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Click
here for the WPD's April 2012 Final Concept Report on
the Westwood-Expo Botanical Water Garden (aka Westwood Neighborhood Greenway)
between Westwood Boulevard and Overland Avenue in West Los Angeles.
Key
dates:
March 7, 2013 –
Expo Construction Authority approves change order for
“Culvert construction … for City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation Greenway
Project” funded by the City of Los Angeles.
August 2012 –
Mayor Villaraigosa puts Expo Greenway on the map in his 50 Parks
Initiative. Los Angeles Bureau of
Sanitation director Enrique Zaldivar requests coordination
of culvert construction under Phase II Expo.
June 2012 –
Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation’s Watershed Protection Division (WPD) confirms funding for culverts beneath Expo Light Rail
tracks connecting north and south Greenway streams. Bureau of Engineering
(BOE) civil engineer Curtis Tran, manager of MTA Plan Review and Coordination
Group, Streets & Stormwater Division (which is responsible for review and
approval of Expo Phase II design plans within the City of Los Angeles)
coordinates arrangement whereby Expo will construct the culverts and Sanitation
will fund them.
March 18, 2011 – Expo Board
unanimously chooses the
"no-parking"
option for Expo Light Rail’s Westwood station. Within days, Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz
asks the WPD to provide him with an Expo Greenway
proposal.
Click
the links below to find out how the Westwood-Expo Botanical Water Garden can
meet all four of the Expo Greenway Goals:
Conservation:
Ballona
Creek’s “tributaries” cross the ROW, where water
can be cleaned while sustaining a restored native plant ecosystem. The Botanical Water Garden would divert dry‐weather
flow (spring water, mixed with urban runoff) from the Overland Avenue storm
drain to treat up to 4000 acres dry-weather runoff. Diverted water will be lifted to the stream
on the south side of the Expo light rail (South Stream), and run through a
culvert under the tracks to the north side (North Stream). During the 3-4 hours of being liberated from
the storm drain, water would be cleaned through physical and biological
treatment, as it flows through various plant communities and soil media and is
exposed to the Sun’s ultraviolet light.
Recreation: A
class 1 bike path, with separate spaces for
bicyclists and pedestrians, is approved and funded for the north side of
the railroad tracks, traversing from Palms Park (with Palms Child Care Center,
Palms Recreation Center, and the Palms-Rancho Park Library) westward to
Sepulveda Boulevard. The Botanical Water
Garden’s south side would also include a decomposed granite and grassy walkway
between Overland Avenue and Westwood Boulevard, where visitors could enjoy
carefully selected native plants.
Education: Project elements include educational and
interpretive signs about local ecology and hydrology, offering a
rich outdoor education laboratory
for Overland Avenue Elementary School children (across the street) and for
those within reach of Expo Light Rail.
In a preliminary plan approved by the Los Angeles City Council,
Expo Greenway would host an outdoor classroom.
And
Transportation: On March 18, 2011, the Expo
Board of Directors awarded a contract to
Skanska/Rados to
design and build Phase 2 of the Expo Line from Culver City to Santa
Monica. Engineering and design work have
begun, including the Westwood station serving the Westwood-Expo Botanical Water
Garden. Operation of Expo is projected to begin in 2015.
EXPO GREENWAY!
Together, we can CREATE Expo GREENWay!