Chandler Park Improvements - Your Help Needed!

Greetings:


The community issues raised at the last Chandler Park meeting have been addressed with the CD2 office of Councilmember Paul Krekorian, our neighborhood's new City Council representative.

Now it's up to our residents and local businesses to follow-up with letters and/or emails documenting those specific concerns.

(Reminder: It was only through the interest and cooperation of many neighbors, expressed in communications with City officials, that we were able to get our alleys paved and streets resurfaced, as well as having concerns about the Chandler Bikeway and other issues successfully addressed).

Councilmember Krekorian's office welcomes and encourages your input and documentation; having them is crucial in their efforts to deal with various City agencies and channel scarce resources where they're needed most.  (contact info below)

These are the issues being followed-up on:

-- Wrong-way Drivers on Chandler
A number of residents have reported witnessing this very dangerous problem, or encountered a vehicle sitting in the wrong lane while trying to turn right on Chandler. ANYONE who has personally witnessed/experienced this issue is strongly encouraged to document and report it - the life you save may well be your own! Even better would be a cellphone image or other photo of any incident(s). We are trying to get signs and/or street markings installed to address the problem.

-- No Street Lighting on Myrna
If you are a resident of Myrna, you're aware of the safety/security issues caused by the complete lack of street lighting there, including several car burglaries last Fall/Winter. Residents of the street are advised to document/forward their concerns.

-- Chandler Bikeway Litter
Refuse and dog poop are multiplying on the bike/pedestrian path, largely due to the complete lack of trash containers between Vineland and the Burbank border. The containers that were originally installed were removed, apparently because of funding issues and the dissolution of the CRA. Suggestions were made about the community possibly donating trash receptacles, but then the issue becomes one of regular collection. Some of our neighbors have voluntarily cleaned the area, but a more permanent solution is obviously needed. Community documentation and complaints about the problem are key to resolving this unfortunate bureaucratic stalemate.

Please forward your documentation, concerns and/or complaints via email or letter to:

Bill Hacket
CD2 Field Representative
bill.hacket@lacity.org

Bill Hacket
CD2 Field Representative
6350 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Ste 201
North Hollywood, CA 91606

Paul Krekorian
Los Angeles City Councilmember CD2
6350 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Ste 201
North Hollywood, CA 91606

Update: CD2 office notified of Chandler Park concerns

Greetings,

Following up on the recent Chandler Park community meeting, volunteer Jerry McCulley called CD2 rep Bill Hacket and sent the following recap (Bill's response follows below):

Hi Bill,


Thanks again for introducing yourself at our recent neighborhood meeting, and all the helpful information you provided.

Following up on our phone conversation, here are the three immediate community concerns we spoke about:

--Street lighting on Myrna St., where a number of car burglaries occurred last Fall/Winter - there are currently NO light fixtures on the street. The nearest lighting fixture is on a "brown pole" at the western T-intersection with Auckland Ave., which has virtually no impact on the residences on Myrna proper. There are other "brown poles" behind some of the homes on the street, but we are uncertain about the logistics of adapting these for street lighting. As discussed, we will be forwarding photographs that illustrate the current situation.

-- Wrong way drivers on Chandler Blvd. continue to be an issue, specifically drivers going westbound in the eastbound lanes between Clybourn Ave. and Cahuenga Blvd. Chandler abruptly changes from a pair of two-lane roadways running on either side of the bike path at that intersection (which is also the Burbank border), into one two-lane roadway on the north side of the bikeway. We’ve personally witnessed at least a dozen wrong way driver incidents, and have heard neighbors describe many more. On several occasions we’ve tried to turn right from Cahuenga (northbound) onto Chandler (eastbound), only to find a car sitting in the wrong lane at a red light, blocking the street. Also complicating matters is the slight "hump" where the bike path crosses Cahuenga; this is a residual of the former rail line there, and has the effect of impairing the sight-line of drivers on Cahuenga, especially in left turn situations. Several of us have also noticed the same wrong way driver problem on Chandler Blvd. at Vineland. The potential for a head-on crash at both of these intersections, as well as the residential streets that intersect Chandler, is a serious concern. Better signage and road markings indicating Chandler is a two-way street in this area seem to be needed.

-- Trash/refuse on the Chandler bikeway can be problematic, especially given the large numbers of pedestrians, cyclists and skaters using this new community resource. There are several benches/rest areas along the path in our area, but the trash cans that were originally installed at those locations were inexplicably removed several years ago. This has had the effect of making litter inevitable.

We look forward to working with you and the CD2 office to better the community.

                          -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks very much Jerry.


I am in the process of submitting all of these requests to the proper agencies and will keep you all posted. Thanks for the great work you all do for our community. I really enjoyed the meeting by the way.

Kindest regards and have a great weekend,

Bill