News of the Arroyo
Title: | Campaign seeks to transform historic Arroyo Seco Parkway |
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Date: | 2004-03-15 |
Summary: | March 15, 2004 - The historic Arroyo Seco Parkway will undergo some serious sprucing up as part of campaign led by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Scenic Byways program and local Arroyophile groups. You can view the draft plan online at: https://www.arroyoseco.org |
Author: | Lisa Faught, Staff Writer |
Publication: | Pasadena Star News |
Content: | PASADENA -- When the Arroyo Seco Parkway opened in 1940, it was seen as a marvel of modern engineering. The parkway, the first of its kind in the West, was built to bypass the slow pace of surface streets between Los Angeles and Pasadena. It allowed drivers to race along at 45 mph, without traffic lights to slow their progress. Offramps and onramps kept cars moving, bridges shunted cross traffic overhead and medians improved safety for speeding cars, all in a lush parkland setting. Here, drivers ruled the road. It was designed with speed and aesthetics in mind, making it a model for the future freeway system, said Dan Marriott, director of historic roads at the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C. \"If you look at the whole car culture of Los Angeles and the international recognition of the freeway system in L.A., all that draws its origins back to the Arroyo Seco Parkway,\" Marriott said. But the years have taken their toll. The historic overhead lights are gone, the parklands are blocked from view, the road is frequently clogged with traffic and the once innovative onramps and offramps are now the chief source of traffic accidents. In recent years, the Arroyo Seco Parkway has seen a revival of sorts. Its storied past has inspired a campaign to restore the parkway to its historic look and make its sharp curves safer. The latest is a draft plan from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The plan, required as part of the parkway\'s designation as a National Scenic Byway in 2002, seeks to transform the historic parkway into a gateway to the communities of the Arroyo Seco. It looks not just at restoring the road, but at linking it to the environment, the Gold Line, the nearby cities and the culture of the Arroyo Seco, said Nicole Possert, who handles marketing for the National Scenic Byways Program. \"When some people think of historic preservation, they only see grand buildings. I see it as preserving a sense of place, the nature, the architecture, the art and the culture. This really sort of seems to put all that together,\" Possert said. The plan calls for replacing the missing historic lights and restoring the length of the parkway, including its many bridges and the Figueroa Street tunnels. But the main priority is making it safer, Marriott said. The parkway was built to accommodate some 27,000 cars per day, driving at 45 mph. These days, it bears some 130,000 cars per day at speeds topping 55 mph. Although it was the prototype for the freeway system, the parkway is not designed to handle the traffic it now sees, Marriott said. One idea is to reduce the parkway to two lanes in each direction and rolling back the speed limit, he said. But the ramps will be difficult to fix because of the scant space for longer merge lanes, he said. Although Caltrans will receive the plan, it is more of a guideline, he said. Finding funding for the projects will be up to the community, he said. \"It\'s important to remember, those pretty old pictures -- a lot of it is still there. The parkland is still there, the bridges are still there. The things that are missing, like the lights, are not that hard to bring back,\" Marriott said. \"We\'re not trying to take it back to 1940. We\'re trying to restore the beauty of the parkway while also trying to improve its safety.\" Public comment on the report can be made until March 26. The finalized plan will go to Caltrans. -- Lisa Faught can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4496, or by e-mail at lisa.faught@sgvn.com. |
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