Renaming the 90 will hurt Marina del Rey
Re: “The Ballona Freeway back story,” letters, Jan. 16
I was very interested to read the back story for the Marina Freeway name change suggestion. As someone who came to California over 50 years ago and watched the Marina from its inception, I appreciate all the work done by the L.A. County Supervisors to create the Marina and by the citizens who over the years have tirelessly worked to save our wetlands. Had I been part of a group who did and are still doing all the hard work to keep the wetlands safe and in existence, I, too, would be exuberant and very proud. I do appreciate the passion and work of all of you.
My passion lies in the entire marina, which, in the opinion of many who love and are so proud of Marina del Rey, has been mishandled in many ways, causing the marina to dissolve and become a city out to and even over the water. Presently pending and approved construction plans prove this.
Not knowing how the request for the name change originated, I had the following letter published in the Oct. 3 edition of The Argonaut and hope the Ballona Freeway Committee will seriously consider its contents:
You might as well rename the Marina Freeway, since soon there will no longer be a marina. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors has seen to it that Marina del Rey will no longer exist and simply be an extension of the city.
See how long the powers that be allow the Ballona — how do you pronounce that? — Wetlands to breathe fresh air into our environment. When that ends, will the next name change be to the Asthma Freeway? Emphysema Freeway? Lung Cancer Freeway?
In order to keep the Ballona Wetlands safe we must also keep the balance of the marina safe. Pollution knows no boundaries and the destruction of the marina will include the wetlands also.
Please, please look at the bigger picture and withdraw your name change request. The supervisors are methodically removing the existence of the marina; don’t aid them by removing its name from the freeway.
How many people from other lands and parts of our country will even know what is at the end of the Marina Freeway if it is called Ballona Freeway? Even my computer keeps underlining “Ballona” in red as not being a word. As I learned 50-some years ago when arriving in Los Angeles, freeway names indicate “destination.”
Roslyn E. Walker
Marina del Rey
Roslyn Walker makes good points about over-development in her January 22 letter about renaming the Marina Freeway, though I don’t believe our County intends to reduce or eliminate the Marina’s original boating and recreational purposes. Involved and informed citizen oversight and engagement is always good insurance against such mistakes, and there have been some doosies in the past.
After the County and the feds built that well-intended but poorly planned concrete Ballona Creek channel, which unintentionally strangled the wetlands by cutting it off from daily tides, the County then compounded the damage by using 200 acres of that tidal wetland as a dumping ground for millions of cubic yards of dredge spoils. Now 14 to 17 feet high and covered mostly with weeds, this vast area of fill dirt south of Fiji Way must be removed and excavated down to 2 feet or lower elevation before incoming tides can again nourish the land as they had done prior to Marina construction.
Knowing full well such work must employ bulldozers, scrapers and backhoes (as distasteful as that may sound), some leading advocates of renaming the freeway continue to publicly oppose correcting those past environmental mistakes at any forum where restoration plans are discussed. The December 24, 2013 Argonaut quoted Ballona Institute director Hanscom as saying, “The county has taken a lot from the wetlands to build Marina del Rey and it’s time they give something back.” Removing the concrete flood channel and giving back the 200 acres of wetlands buried by Marina development would be a good start, but Hanscom’s organization campaigns against any feasible plans to do so. Until those Ballona Wetlands are restored to their former tidal condition, a “Ballona” freeway name will have a hollow ring.
David W. Kay
Playa Vista