Converting L.A.'s least-used freeway into an expansive linear park with 4,000 units of affordable housing
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DETAILS

LocationLos Angeles, California, United States
ClientCity of Los Angeles
SERVICE: ,
Size128 acres

What if we transformed one of L.A.’s least used freeways into one of the county’s largest urban parks—reconnecting a historically divided community and drastically expanding affordable housing in an underserved district?

Marina Central Park, a vision co-developed by SWA and the nonprofit Streets for All, proposes a transformation of three miles of the unfinished Marina Freeway (CA-90) into a 128-acre linear park including almost 4,000 new units of affordable housing, a network of new multimodal trails, dedicated lanes for a future Bus Rapid Transit line between Lincoln and Sepulveda Boulevard, expanded retail frontage, and enhanced access to the Ballona Creek Trail and Ecological Reserve.

Altogether, the vision addresses a suite of problems shared by Angelenos citywide: declining air quality, stormwater flooding, a critical housing shortage, and Black and Brown neighborhoods rent apart by 1960s-era highway infrastructure fueled by racist planning policies—reimagining the corridor as a model for sustainability, walkability, and improved quality of life.

Learn more:
Read about it in Urbanize LA.

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