Public Agency Chair – Jonathan Quan, City of Los Angeles: Bureau of Engineering
The City of Los Angeles continues its commitment to develop projects with innovative ways to utilize right-of-way for improving the lives of its community members. Here are a few notable projects:
Sixth Street PARC Project – On August 5, 2023 the groundbreaking was held for the Sixth Street Park, Arts, and River Connectivity (PARC) Improvements Project, just one year after the Sixth Street Viaduct made its debut. The 12 Acre park beneath the 6th Street Bridge will create new green space for the Boyle Heights and Arts District Communities. The City took a modern approach so utilization of space beneath the bridge will bring walking and jogging paths, plenty of picnicking areas, adult fitness equipment stations, a basketball court, a synthetic soccer field, multipurpose fields, an amphitheater arts plaza, public restrooms, a west park café building, a Recreation & Parks staff building, general landscaping and lighting. Over 300 new shade trees will be planted. Also, Recreation & Parks will construct a children’s playground and a skatepark. With sustainability in mind, the park has been designed to capture stormwater to be reused for irrigation of the drought tolerant landscaping.
Branford Tiny Home Village in Sun Valley – The Branford Village at 9710 San Fernando Rd., Sun Valley, CA 91352 opened on February 9, 2023 and was the first Tiny Home Village in Los Angeles Council District 6 and the eleventh Tiny Home Village delivered by the Bureau of Engineering. This was the first time the City utilized an undeveloped portion of the public right-of-way for Tiny Home village through use of an interdepartmental Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of General Services and Department of Public Works. The Branford Tiny Home Village will house up to 161 people and operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with staff and security. The highlights of the project are:
- The Tiny Home Village has 83 pallet shelters (78 standard and 5 ADA accessible) for a total of 161 beds.
- Amenities include 9 hygiene mobile trailers with restrooms, showers, and water stations (6 ADA accessible)
- One 8’x40’ laundry cargo container with sink provides on-site laundry facilities.
- Seating and umbrellas provided throughout the site for gathering and meal services.
- Site lighting and perimeter fencing added to provide security and safety to residents and to illuminate egress paths.
- The design also addresses noise from the adjacent railroad and provides sound attenuation blankets to reduce the ambient noise
- Brand-new sidewalk extending from Branford Street to the site entrance installed to provide ADA access.
