A 100 year-old rail depot resides next to downtown Los Angeles, and next to the rail yard is the famous LA viaduct, a ribbon of concrete and steel cutting thought the heart of the city. A study was just released to re-envision this 20th century monolithic development as a 21st century park complete with a green belt, a transportation corridor, and a recreation area lined with mixed-use developments.
You may know the LA viaduct from movies in which it played an impromptu speedway. Friends of the Los Angeles River and Piggyback Yard Collaborative Design Group (a pro-bono collaboration of multiple Architect firms) envisions it as the heart of a major urban revision that calls for a “vertical integration” of the uses of the area. The master plan combines existing rail with man-made wetlands and features a green belt of trails for bikes and pedestrians that is fed by Union Station and connects a ring of mixed-use neighborhoods. Baseball and soccer fields are also incorporated into the plan.
Turning the viaduct into a wetland has the added effect of protecting the lower neighborhoods from the flash flooding that the concrete channel currently hastens. The project’s biggest hurdle is also the heart of the reclamation plan — the Union Pacific Railroad’s Piggyback Rail Yard is not currently for sale, according to the owner. Complex negotiations will have to take place for Union Pacific to relocate a major container yard.
+ Friends of the Los Angeles River
+ Piggyback Yard Collaborative Design Group
Via Southern California Public Radio
Such a phenomenal idea! I know the LA aqueducts are infamous from movies & TV, but that doesn’t mean we should be overtly nostalgic with such wasted space. I’m for the river park!