“The Project Team is conducting outreach meetings in order to engage the community in the development of the project and incorporate their input into the various design elements being considered at tonight’s meetings,” said Roberto Machuca, Transportation Planning Manager for Metro.
On January 26, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) invited the public to participate in two community meetings to provide their input on Segment A of the Active Transportation Rail-to-
River Corridor Project at Hubert H. Humphrey Comprehensive Health Center.
Members of the community showed up to hear about the new biking and walking paths which will be implemented along an old railroad right-of-way between the Crenshaw/LAX Line’s Fairview Heights Station and Santa Fe Avenue in Huntington Park.
The project would make it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to reach the Crenshaw/LAX Line, Silver Line, Blue Line, many busy north-south bus lines and neighborhoods and jobs in South Los Angeles. Also on display were the plans for beautification around these projects which included plants, flowers and room for exercise and play.
The meeting included an overview of the project, proposed design elements and the opportunity to meet project team members, who were available to answer questions. Members of Joshi PMCM, the transportation and civil engineering firm, were on hand to explain the designing plans as well as hear comments and suggestions from community members.
The second meeting was offered as a live webcast which started at 6:30 p.m. at tinyurl.com/metror2r with the actual meeting and presentations; a meet-and-greet and held from 6 to 6:30 p.m.
Some community members voiced a variety of concerns which ranged from ports to secure bikes to keeping indigenous trees and local landmarks within these designated areas. The meeting was met with mixed feelings as some attendees felt the coming changes were more ominous than positive.
“I don’t want to see the project,” said Abo S. “This project is a process of gentrification.
“Gentrification is inherently racist, violent especially to people that don’t come from money or from being on the receiving end of colonialism.
“Obviously, it’s not in favor anybody who ‘s from any ghetto, speaking specially of South Central Los Angeles—so it’s going to displace a lot of people.”
Other community members voiced a more positive view of the coming changes and were happy to see what was in store for the community.
“It’s fantastic,” said Lynn I. “I work with a junior racing team—kids that ride bicycles and my biggest issue is having them practice.
“This way, they can ride off the street, they can practice, they can do some laps, get a little mileage work in and they never have to go out in traffic.
“This is perfect.”
“I feel that it is an amazing project,” said Nakea B. “It’s actually going to change the mindset of the people to where they have a better opportunity to want to do better and live better.
“Metro is creating a platform for people to have better and healthier way of living.”
Machuca stressed the importance of input and that Metro is open to hearing the community’s concerns about their projects.
“This transformative Active Transportation project will have the ability to have direct benefits to the community but early and inclusive involvement from community members and community-based organizations is imperative for the success of this project,” said Machuca.
All Metro meetings are held in American with Disability Act (ADA) accessible facilities. Other ADA accommodations are available by calling (323) 486-3876 or California Relay Service at 711 at least 72 hours in advance of the meetings.
For more information on the project please call Metro at (213) 922-9228 or e-mail us at [email protected] or visit www.metro.net/projects/r2r. For information in Spanish, Chinese Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Thailand, Tagalog (Filipino), Vietnamese, Armenian and Cambodian please call (323) 466-3876, extension 2.
Brian W. Carter contributed to this article.
