Can we cap the 101 freeway with a 44-acre park?
Floods of cars hurdle through the canyon along the 101 in Hollywood, spitting pollutants. Heat radiates from miles of asphalt and concrete buildings, and weary apartments line the chasm.
But when Los Angeles native Laurie Goldman gazes over the twisting gray expanse, a part of town pedestrians rarely visit, all she can see is green.
“I look at the freeway, and I only see the park,” she said.
She’s referring to the Hollywood Central Park – a proposed 44 acres of open space over a 1-mile stretch of the Hollywood Freeway.
The city today released a notice that it would start preparing a draft of an environmental impact report, putting into motion eight years of planning for a project that would create thousands of jobs and transform one of Los Angeles’ lowest-income neighborhoods.
“Capping” a freeway is not a new idea: Seattle built the first cap park in 1976, and now more than 150 such parks are scattered throughout the United States. Several are planned in Southern California, including in downtown Los Angeles also over the 101 freeway, Glendale over the 134 and Santa Monica over I-10.
Supporters hope to put the plan before the Los Angeles City Council by fall 2015. (Full story at LosAngelesregister)
