PARK LABREA NEWS REPORTS--When it comes to promises about fixing their pothole-ridden, cracked concrete streets, the residents of Hancock Park have heard it all before, but they haven’t gotten the results they have been hoping for.
Members of the Hancock Park Homeowners Association (HPHA) said things may be looking up, though, after a recent meeting to discuss short-term and long-term solutions with Councilman David Ryu, 4th District.
The proposed solutions are the result of a collaboration between Ryu’s office, Los Angeles’ bureau of street services and bureau of engineering. The short-term items focus on fixing the streets and intersections in greatest disrepair, including North June Street and Beverly Boulevard, West 4th Street and Hudson Avenue, and North Las Palmas and Oakwood avenues.
The bureau of street services will survey two comparably damaged street segments in Hancock Park to determine efficient solutions in terms of cost, quality and time. Repair requests for one of the two streets will be put out to bid to private contractors, with the assistance of HPHA, to get an estimated cost. A second street will be evaluated for repairs and costs by the city’s bureau of street services.
The result will allow Ryu’s office and the city council to create a plan and budget that are cost-conscious and provide the best quality of work. The numbers and data collected by the short-term projects will assist Ryu’s office in realizing the long-term goal to create a permanent city-wide fund for non-asphalt street repair as they head into the budget process for this year, according to Estevan Montemayor, communications director for Ryu.
“We can no longer depend on band-aid solutions to address the complexities each neighborhood faces. A permanent fund for non-asphalt street repair would enable our district, and others, to address needs like those we face here in Hancock Park,” Ryu said in a statement.
Montemayor said all repairs will be completed with concrete, citing that concrete has a 70 year lifespan, whereas asphalt, which is more commonly used in Los Angeles, typically lasts for only 30 years.
“One of the reasons that Hancock Park hasn’t received these repairs as quickly as they should have is that there is a huge cost for these streets, and the complex curing process can leave driveways and streets inaccessible for weeks,” Montemayor said. “It takes a lot more time and funding, but it is something we are committed to making happen for the community members.”
Hancock Park is designated as a historical preservation overlay zone (HPOZ) by the office of historic resources, meaning the streetscape, trees, curbs and sidewalks are historically significant. While the HPOZ protects the neighborhood’s concrete streets, getting the city to spend money on the pricier concrete repairs instead of asphalt has been a struggle.
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“In the past, we were told our intersections were going to be repaired and they were not. It is indeed up to the council to drive these proposals and help neighborhoods, and to know that there is some funding available and ask how to get some of that for our needs,” said Cindy Chvatal, Hancock Park Homeowners Association president.
According to Chvatal, some streets in Hancock Park need minor repair and very few need major repairs which requires ripping out eight inches of concrete. She added that Hancock Park received minimal asphalt repairs this summer after spending years requesting resources for concrete repairs.
Chvatal said she is confident the pilot program from Ryu’s office will help the homeowner’s association figure out what the streets need and how to get it.
“We are working with [Ryu’s] office in perfect harmony. It is like night and day to have this team effort with the councilman and his staff. They have been honest and terrific in formulating a plan for street repair in Hancock Park,” she said.
(Jessie Lingenfelter writes for the Park LaBrea News … where this piece originated.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 78
Pub: Sep 25, 2015
