BEACH ACCESS VIA BRIDGE
Potrero Canyon Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge Project
Thursday, March 14, 2024 at 6:00 p.m.
Join the Public Engagement Process
The City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering, in partnership with Council District 11 and in collaboration with the local community, has begun the Potrero Canyon Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge Project. This project will develop a pedestrian and bike bridge to cross the Pacific Coast Highway and safely connect the City’s new George Wolfberg Park to Will Rogers Beach, transforming the area into a vibrant and accessible space.
Help the City understand how the bridge will benefit you and your community by taking the Potrero Canyon Ped Bridge Survey!
Join us! Virtual Community Meeting
Please join your neighbors in a virtual community meeting to learn about the project, the timeline and meet the project team.
Thursday, March 14, 2024 at 6:00 p.m.
Zoom Meeting ID: 821 0512 1849
Call-In #: (213) 338-8477 / Spanish Call-In #: (872) 240-3212
Access Code: 835-408-629
Important information:
Bridge To Will Rogers State Beach
Looking back at the genesis of George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon, before the years-long process that led to the community recommending a bridge as the top priority of the Potrero Canyon Park Advisory Committee that George Wolfberg had chaired, this plan to include a bridge had already been clearly laid out in the June 1985 Environmental Impact Report for Portrero Canyon Park Development Project.
That EIR describes the park itself in sentence two of the introduction as “a scenic pedestrian accessway between the Palisades Recreation Center and the Will Rogers State Beach Park.” It goes on to describe a planned park-to-beach connector both as “a pedestrian overpass” and “a permanent pedestrian bridge over PCH.”
One may wonder, then, why was park construction prioritized over bridge construction? Well, on the park side, the canyon was densely wooded with non-native trees and the hillsides still needed to be stabilized. Another reason was the bridge’s standing as a multijurisdictional connector (city park --> state highway --> county beach, all of which is in the Coastal Commission's jurisdiction as well) meant that funding needed to be sought from outside the city.
After visiting the site in person, funding of $11 million was secured in the State’s budget thanks to our State legislators Senator Ben Allen and Assemblymember Richard Bloom.
Additionally, Congressman Ted Lieu obtained $1.15 million for a pedestrian trail. Per Rep. Lieu's announcement: "The Pacific Palisades Pedestrian Trail will transform 36,000 square feet of underutilized land along the hillside adjacent to Pacific Coast Highway into a half-mile long connection trail between Temescal Canyon Road and the George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon Park, a valuable coastal resource providing substantial public benefits including walking trails, educational interpretive signs and overlooks."
Prior Engagement via Potrero Canyon Community Advisory Committee
Potrero Canyon Community Advisory Committee (PCCAC), appointed by the City of Los Angeles City Council and the Mayor, was created in 2005 and issued its final report in 2008. For three years, the committee held monthly public meetings to reach a community consensus about the park’s design and uses.
This dedicated group developed a vision and met in a Brown Act public process with community members, City staff, and elected officials, as well as considered the requirements of the California Coastal Commission, to develop a plan for the park which would meet community needs and provide safety, enhanced habitat sustainability, and a place of beauty for all visitors to enjoy.
The Final Trail Uses and Facilities report provides the PCCAC's adopted plan to guide the design and development of a passive park. It was submitted on January 21, 2008, after three years of public meetings to obtain community input and develop this plan. The historic purpose of the park, together with ongoing safety concerns over people crossing PCH to and from the beach, led to the PCCAC recommending a bridge as the top "next priority" after park construction.
The Thoughtful and Open Process: Why was a bridge considered the top priority?
The Potrero Canyon Community Advisory Committee worked to focus a landscape design that reflected the history, current climate needs, the efforts to capture and filter water runoff from the canyon, and California coastal habitat. Signage was created to enrich visitors with details about the habitat and wildlife in the park.
We provide other info linked via this page for historical background.