The Venice Dual Force Main Project cuts across Marina del Rey Harbor between a city pumping station and the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in Playa del Rey
Tunneling and trench work to replace an aging sewer line that runs under Via Marina began last weekend near Marquesas Way, temporarily reducing traffic flow to a single lane in the immediate work area.
The Venice Dual Force Main Project connects the city’s Venice Pumping Plant on Hurricane Avenue to the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in Playa del Rey, replacing an existing line that sanitation officials say is more than 50 years old and at severe risk of rupture.
“We expect tunneling activities to occur for several months in the marina,” said Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation Engineer Gevork Mkrtchyan, construction manager for the sewer project.
Work has already been under way near The Jungle neighborhood of lower Playa del Rey, where residents have complained about lane closures on Culver Boulevard, Pacific Avenue and Trolleyway causing potentially dangerous conditions for drivers and pedestrians.
“With summer bringing more people, strollers, children and bicycles, this intersection must be monitored by police who can enforce illegal stops, illegal U-turns and illegal three point turns,” reads an email complaint by neighborhood activist Jan Hagaan.
Bureau of Sanitation officials deny that their work is putting anyone at risk.
“We have no knowledge of anything at that intersection causing life-threatening situations,” Mkrtchyan said. “We have designated U-turns on Pacific Avenue and soon we’ll be adding more signage in The Jungle to guide motorists in the right direction so they’ll know where construction is taking place.”
— Gary Walker
The only way to get out of my neighborhood is to make a left turn across traffic, which is now jammed anytime people come to the beach because they had to make a U turn because Pacific has been blocked off and they don’t know until it’s too late. This means if you want to get out, you have to cut in or block traffic going the other way. That causes a dangerous situation with traffic and tempers.
It’s been going on for months on Via Marina…
https://www.visitmarinadelrey.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Venice-Sewer-Main-Project-2017.pdf
Hi,
I am a visitor to Marina Del Ray and have kayaked for the past 4 days. Each day I have spent around 2 hours hauling up plastic ,polystyrene, bottles, sweet wraps and most every type of rubbish imaginable. Each day I pass people on the water in marina seemingly oblivious to the plastic contamination of their beautiful marina. The beaches on either side of the pier also contain a plague of rubbish, some of it not a meter away from the rubbish bins. I ask myself what on earth would possess people, with such a unique environment and such a wonderful beach and marina , to senselessly discard their rubbish on the ground. Don’t these people appreciate that they are destroying something so special.? Do they not realise that all the plastic will breakdown into microplastic and enter the food chain as fish consume the particles. Do they not understand the carcinogenic nature of this material.?
Perhaps there are other reasons why your people are so careless, perhaps lazy and most certainly selfish . On my last kayak ride I was approaching the pier numbered with an orange 4 and noticed a seas bird with its wings enveloped in fishing nylon and with a hook in its mouth. I could not get near the bird in the kayak so I asked a passing boat if they could assist in any way. I also called into the “Landing” where I spotted a slim lad with beard. He worked at the Landing . I told him about the bird but he said there is nothing that can be done as they bite you. I tried to explain that a cloth over their head protects one and that this is a common means of rescuing birds similarly entangled birds back in our country. He said they tried this here but it didn’t work. ! No point continuing this I thought so I paddled off , stopping momentarily to pick up another piece of polystyrene floating by. I then paddled across the marina to the Coast Guard and asked one of their officers if he could assist. He said he would do something so I paddled back , wondering I might say, if indeed that suffering bird was any nearer to assistance.
On my return I then read your newspaper and saw the article on Tom Olin. Well done I said. He should be saluted and supported by others out there who share the view that human kind must address the increasing problem we now face with waste products. Surely those living in the environs of this marina can all assist to ensure that this asset is not converted into a toxic rubbish tip unfit for human occupation.
First .. welcome to Los Angeles . I’m sad to hear that your visit has been marred by having trash mar your views.
Trash contamination of the Ballona Creek, Marina Del Rey boat harbor, and South Bay, is not a problem unique to the Los Angeles area as you are undoubtedly aware. However, the organization “Heal The Bay” has been aggressively investigating sources of contamination and organizing clean up campaigns.
HealTheBay engages in periodic water quality testing, and when sources of pollution are identified, the bring public pressure to bear on government agencies to fix things. This is not to apologize for current state of the Marina Del Rey area, but through the efforts of HealTheBay.org, the waters in and around the South Bay area are far cleaner than they were a decade ago.
If you can, do as I do to help clean up the marina environment by putting in a good word for HealTheBay.com with those that you meet, and ask them to support its work though volunteering and donations.