News of the Arroyo
Title: | Arroyo Corridor |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2005-09-18 |
Summary: | September 18, 2005 - Plans for sprucing up the Arroyo Seco Parkway and Corridor receive a ringing endorsement from activist Louis Quirarte. |
Author: | Louis Quirarte |
Publication: | Mt. Washington Association Newsletter |
Content: | Is there anything so dear as finding reason to hope after all hope is lost? For those in the know, there has been very good reason to feel dread of late and to agonize over the future of North East Los Angeles, what with so many community leaders staying home at supreme moments such as ArroyoFest and ignoring the bevy of Master Plans that even just a few years ago offered to transfigure the Arroyo. But fear no more. The reason for real hope is that the first meeting of the absolutely crucial Arroyo Seco Corridor Advisory Committee is about to be held, thanks to Nicole Possert. Unlike so many other local dreams, this one has funding built-in. Ten percent of all Federal transportation funding must go for \"transportation enhancements\" under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Enhancement Act (ISTEA). We qualify for it in competition with only a few other locales in California. The Arroyo has already been well prepared by CalTrans in the form of the omniscient Dr. Diane Kane and friends, who were responsible for designating it a National Engineering Monument (1997), a State Historic Byway (2000) and a National Historic Byway (2003). So with a bit of effort (and in seven to ten years) our Arroyo plans should mature into a series of transformative \"transportation enhancements\" limited only by our collective imagination and will. Here\'s the hitch as I see it. We\'ll have to (1) inform ourselves of the process, (2) believe in ourselves as we produce a series of projects that fall within ISTEA purview and can be approved by Congress, and (3) prioritize these projects and stay together on this long enough to see them through. We all have pet projects, e.g., dearest to my heart (as a Montecito Heights resident) is the construction of the Arroyo Interpretive Center (described in the Arroyo Seco Landscape Master Plan, 2000) along the Homer Street entry to Heritage Square. But Lynette Kampe\'s Rainbow Canyon would equally qualify, as would existing venues up and down the Arroyo such as the Lummis Home, the Southwest Museum, and Heritage Square. With so much to do, which of so many wonderful things do we want to have first? Deciding will be phase one of our salvation. In aid of our efforts, Caltrans just adopted a new icon for the 110 – which I designed. It should soon augment all Parkway signage. I\'m also delighted to announce that a poster and t-shirt will be available to Advisory Committee members. Based on the response of those who have seen it you\'ll want one too. I\'m very proud of the design and it would let me die a happy man if I knew that it had encouraged my community to finally address infrastructure issues in a meaningful and coherent manner and that all of it will be paid for by Fort Knox. Here\'s where you come in. This is because the Arroyo Parkway and its viewshed can only be granted funding if we the people (not CalTrans) ask for it. So let\'s get it done. The Arroyo has long been our holy stream. Now the Parkway named for it has been endowed with the power to transfigure all that is called up in its name; building the first truly self-sustaining and self supporting communities in the nation will be that easy and that hard. I wish we could be there when it\'s done. I know my heart will be. – Louis Quirarte |
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