Wednesday, September 24th, 2013, City of L.A. Councilman Mitch O’Farrell (CD 13), and Councilman Tom LaBonge (CD 4), hosted an information seminar regarding the Glendale-Hyperion Complex of Bridges Improvement Project at the Friendship Auditorium in Griffith Park. 
A number of representatives from Caltrans, Metro, and the city were present with their designers and engineers to showcase their vision of what the bridges are to be like once completion of the improvements are made. They were also there to answer questions and address concerns that members of the community may have had. The overall conclusion of the project is to seismically reinforce the complex of bridges to withstand a major earthquake, modernize the traffic flow, and to return the bridge to its aesthetic past glory. 
The project will be accomplished in 6 stages, but at no time will the bridge be completely closed to traffic. Below are some of the high lights of the project: 
The first stage (Jun. – Dec. 2014) will consist of realigning the Interstate 5 northbound off ramp to a traffic control point (traffic light) to slightly south of the flag pole. A pedestrian/bicycle bridge will also be constructed over the existing Red Car pylons. (It was originally meant to be a temporary structure but will now be permanent.) 
The second stage (Jan. – Jul. 2015) involves widening the bridge along with improvements to the Glendale U turn. 
Stage three (Jun. – Dec. 2015) will be the actual retrofit of the westbound bridge and installation of the median barrier. The sidewalk on the north face will be super elevated and widened. 
Stage four (Jan. – Jun. 2016) will continue the retrofit but on the east bound side with the elimination of the sidewalk on the south side. 
Finally, stage five (Jul. – Dec. 2016) will consist of a detention basin, landscaping, and greenbelt improvements. 
(Stage 6 is a non-dependent stage of work and will be on going.) 
I have attached a copy of the stage chart which has more information on what will be done during certain stages. These time frames are tentative and are subject to some modifications. 
Some of the issues that the public voiced are: 
Concerns of the coexistence of pedestrians and bicyclists along the new bridge utilizing the Red Car pylons (currently plans only call for a bridge two lanes wide). 
Plans call for a widening of the traffic lanes and installation of a median wall on the bridge. The widening will be made by eliminating the south face sidewalk and widening the bridge by 16 feet (8’ on either side). Some bicyclists believe that this may exacerbate an existing hazard, possibly allowing motorist to further exceed the posted speed limit. (It has not been determined if a dedicated bicycle lane can be installed.) 
A future pedestrian activated crosswalk on only the westbound portion of Glendale Blvd. prior to the bridge. It was brought to the designers/engineers attention that with the elimination of the sidewalk on the eastbound side of the bridge the cross walk will need to extend completely across the roadway. 
Several more comments were made, some in writing, some merely voiced. I’ve added the web link to this project (http://www.glendalehyperion.com/) so that all written comments can be made and recorded into the public record. We have until October 11th to make our concerns known. Please, view the project web site, speak to your neighbors that attended the meeting, contact your councilman (http://www.cd13.com/), form your own opinion, and comment on the project. We will have traffic and noise issues, and a major change to our neighborhood and routine. This is our opportunity, and our responsibility, to force our government to be responsive to our needs. 

Sergio Lambarri 
Atwater Village Neighborhood Council 
Special Interest Representative 
Outreach Committee/Government Relations Committee 
http://atwatervillage.org/ 

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