Venice - Marina del Rey border crossing sealed
By DeDe
Audet
An iron fence stands where a
broad highway, three lanes north and three lanes south, once existed. Inside the
fence you now see sixteen-story towers and two dozen million-dollar
homes. Yes, you are looking at the posh Regatta condos, the luxe Water
Terrace apartments, and the Harbor Crossing homes. Who did that and
why? Was it option entrepreneurs, developers, or some other kind of real
estate adventurer?
Once upon a time it seemed to be good
strategy to link up the Marina Freeway (Route 90) to the Pacific Coast Highway
(Route 1) in Santa Monica at the beach via a route called the Marina
Bypass. Several routes were considered for this Bypass but all made use of
one part or another of the old Southern Pacific Rail Road right-of-way which ran
between Venice and the marina and on down to the industrial district north of
Brooks. Residents of the Oxford Triangle section of Venice had the
distinction of their choice of six different highway extensions through their
neighborhood.
But those whose homes and
access to the coast would be destroyed cared neither for the strategy nor the
distinction. Fortunately for them Councilwoman Pat Russell had invited the
Venice community to organize into a Town Council. And, as you all know,
every brilliant kook in the world has resided in veniceCA at some time or
another. And the Venice Town Council was their tool of choice. Vested
interests who tried to push through the Marina Bypass had high expectations for
their project. They had no idea how high the expectations of veniceCA could
go. And it wasn’t long before the whole world knew about the Marina
Bypass. The Beachhead did a great
job.
At a crucial point, on a tip, some
residents of the Oxford Triangle took up a collection at the intersection of
Oxford Avenue and Howard Street to send a Venice Town Council member up to
Sacramento to stop whatever was going on. Armed with a petition signed by
the who’s who of veniceCA and little else, not even a Kleenex, the amiable
veniceCA’er wandered the halls of the capitol without result. The
office of the California Assembly member for the Venice district said he was
very busy and perhaps an appointment might be arranged for next week. The
receptionist at the office of the California Senate member for the Venice
district didn’t know where the Senator was and “Who are
you?”
The receptionist was not
impressed with the story of taking the Senator on a bicycle trip through
Venice. Bikers take note. At Nate Holden’s office, three big
husky guys said “Ha, ha, and
ha.”
So our rep trudged on to a
dimly lit office where a kind lady offered a seat and asked what the rep was
doing in the capitol. Depressed and reluctant to try the spiel once more,
our rep had to be coaxed into hauling out the petition again and telling the sad
story of powerful interests trying to destroy a fine community. At the end,
a voice came from the darkened room beyond, “Come in here and tell me that
story again.”
Well, it turns out
that the Senator taking a post-prandial nap in his office had grown up in
Venice! And he told the rep to bring the petition and the story to a
certain committee room at three PM. And he would make sure the rep would
get back to the airport on time to get
home.
What does a person do in the
capitol with an hour to wait? Our rep found a seat in the restroom and
reviewed the notes.
Lo and behold, the
senator who grew up in Venice was chairman of the subcommittee reviewing
CalTrans funding. He killed the Bypass there. With the right kind of
publicity, nostalgia, and the help of many other local elected officials,
the Marina Bypass never got off the paper it was drawn on. The only place
it ever existed was on paper and in the minds of those who wanted
it.
Now the story comes to a close with
a fence, an extension from the enclosure of the Water Terrace. A fence
built to keep people from Venice from getting into the marina. And the
fence has been built by people who live where a freeway might have been but for
the work of the people they want to keep
out.
In an interview July 31, a
representative from the District 11 City Council office said that a city
surveyor was being sent to determine exactly where the city-county line lies at
the site on Thatcher Avenue where generations of Venice residents have crossed
into the marina. Once that line is determined then they will try to find
out if any of that land is privately owned. In the meanwhile the fence has
been broken to allow persons to squeeze through. However, some are worried
that bikers who are used to travelling through the area at high speed may suffer
severe injury when they find they can not stop in time to miss the
fence.
Posted: Fri - August 1, 2003 at 08:36 PM