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Ground Breaking Park in South Los Angeles

City of LA's Mark Mariscal showing school children plans for South L.A.'s new wetlands park.

UPDATE: South LA wetlands opens one acre. [view]

On Thursday morning, students from Forty-Ninth Street School entered through the former MTA bus yards at Avalon and 54th, and marched pass by buildings old enough to once be used to maintain street cars. The field trip was to a back parking lot to join some older people about to break ground on a new 9-acre wetland park.

After 5 years of planning, 8 years of dreaming, and City Council's 2006 approval of $8.1 million in Proposition O General Bond, a total of $19 Million in place; building the second natural park in South Los Angeles can begin.

 

Lighting Up Broadway For Safety

Clinton Middle School may have had shortest field trip on record this morning.  Under a hot sun, an Activated Pedestrian Warning Device at 36th and S Broadway was switched on and at the first green light, students crossed South Broadway. They waited for the next green light, then crossed back to retreat into air conditioned classrooms.

The field trip was two years in the making, and in pedestrian crossing improvement time, it was swift.  A major factor, other than Middle Schools not having crossing guards in any budget, is this stretch of Broadway is on the map as an alternative route to the 110.

Withthe increase in schools, traffic and pedestrian improvement projects have been a priority, according to Councilwoman Jan Perry. New APWD's in South Los Angeles include Raymond and Vernon, 59th and Normandie Avenue, 49th and Avalon Boulevard, and 42nd and Central Avenue.