By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief
The City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering hosted an online community meeting March 14 to discuss the Potrero Canyon Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge project—the first in a series of public outreach meetings to gather input on plans and disseminate relevant information.
The project includes the development of a bridge that would connect Will Rogers State Beach to George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon.
More than 80 participants tuned in to hear from project officials, including Potrero Canyon Pedestrian/Bridge Project Manager Matt Negrete of Jacobs Engineering, Founder and Design Principal of SPF:Architects Zoltan Pali, Community Outreach Lead Jason Jackson of Arellano Associates, Councilmember Traci Park District Director Juan Fregoso, Senator Ben Allen District Representative Rad Nowroozi and Interim Project Manager Jose Beristain from the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering.
“Our role right now is to work with the departments, our consultants … as well as the community to make sure that everybody’s concerns and thoughts are being heard on that front,” Fregoso said of CD 11’s current goal, “as well as us relaying information as it happens sometimes with our department and our partners.”
Fregoso said he looks forward to a “continued partnership with everybody” while trying to figure out the community’s needs and concerns, finding the balance between that and the bridge.
“George Wolfberg Park was completed in 2021, which connected Palisades [Recreation Center] to Pacific Coast Highway,” Beristain said when describing the project’s background. “As part of the Potrero Canyon project, the coastal development permit required the city conduct a feasibility study, which evaluated a safe crossing from PCH to Will Rogers State Beach.”
Beristain explained that a tunnel and at-grade crossing were also studied, and it was determined at the time that the bridge was the “safest, most feasible and cost-effective alternative.” The city has since secured $11 million in state funding from Senator Allen’s office for the project.
“With that funding, BOE has hired Jacobs to assist in the conceptual design and environmental clearance phase of the project,” Beristain continued. “We’re in the beginning phases of environmental clearance and conceptual design, and are expected to start construction in 2027 and wrap up in 2030.”
Concurrently, a lateral trail, connecting George Wolfberg Park to Temescal Canyon Road, is part of the coastal development permit, Beristain said, which is being developed by BOE’s Geotechnical Engineering Division.
Negrete spoke on some of the technical aspects of the project, explaining that the overall vision is to provide a “community gateway for folks traveling down the coast on Pacific Coast Highway as they enter the greater Los Angeles area.” The project will aim to “provide safe pedestrian and bicycle access between the park and the beach,” as well as “create a user experience that maintains personal safety and security.”
“We want to make sure that this project encompasses the local environment, the topography of the area,” Negrete continued, “the history of the area, going as far back as the Native Americans in the area.”
Negrete said the project is in its “environmental documentation phase,” which is expected to last two years. He also explained that while an environmental impact report is not being pursued for the project, the developers will work with different agencies, including city of LA and Caltrans, to determine “an appropriate level of environmental documentation,” depending on aspects like aesthetics and visual impacts, noise, and other various things that could be impacted by the project.
When it comes to public outreach for the project, there will be three community meetings, including the March 14 meeting. Future meetings will include a workshop setting with draft concepts, then bringing a final concept for review and refinement input.
“I just want to point out that we are listening, and we’re hearing and we’re taking that all in,” Negrete said of community concerns related to the bridge project, including fire safety, trespassing and park monitoring. “That’s why we’re here tonight.”
There will be two bridge architectural concepts developed, with one recommended alternative, Negrete said.
“We want to make sure that this project is successful, and not just something that gets pushed upon them and pushed through,” Jackson said about community feedback. “That is not the intention of the project, we really want it to be a collaborative process.”
For the remaining portion of the meeting, community feedback, including questions, comments and concerns, were heard through public engagement, which was facilitated by Jackson. Several attendees spoke for and against the bridge project, while others had questions about specific measures that would be implemented.
“I’m very against this bridge, because I feel quite certain that it will bring the homeless that we are already engaging at the beach, we will bring them into Potrero Canyon, into our park and into our village,” one Palisadian, who works with Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness, said.
Additional concerns heard throughout the meeting related to fire safety, potential for additional access for burglaries and robberies, off-leash dogs in the park, the cost of the project, vandalism, trespassing, and more.
In response to safety concerns, Fregoso said Councilmember Park’s office is “running a parallel track” of identifying additional resources—whether that is park rangers, additional support from Los Angeles Police Department or an alternative avenue—to address coastal zone needs.
When asked if the bridge would be available for bicycles, Beristain said the main focus at this point is for it to provide pedestrian access, but that project developers would be “analyzing if utilizing bicycles is going to be something that we’re going to move forward with.” The exact location for the bridge, Negrete said, is still being studied.
Several residents suggested that, in order to mitigate safety issues, the bridge be locked from dusk until dawn—which is when George Wolfberg Park is locked. Negrete said that they are in the early phases of the project, but that “things such as locking gates … can be considered.”
“We need this bridge,” said a Palisadian of more than 80 years. “I can tell you, as a pioneer of environmental law in California, this is not going to have any adverse environmental impacts, it’s going to be a benefit.”
For residents who want to stay informed as the project progresses, additional information can be found at potrerocanyonpedbridge.org. The project email address—which is where questions and comments may be sent—is potrerocanyonpedbridge@lacity.org.