Community Attends Open Forum Regarding Pacific Palisades Pedestrian Trail Project

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

The community was invited to attend and provide feedback on the Pacific Palisades Pedestrian Trail Project during an open forum at Palisades Branch Library on Wednesday evening, August 21.

Presentations were made by City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering Project Manager Kristen Ly and Project Consultant Goodwin Wharton of Geosyntec Consultants—which is charged with completing the feasibility study. Michael Amster, field deputy for Councilmember Traci Park, also attended the meeting.

“This was a preliminary meeting to inform the Palisades community that this project is underway and to obtain community feedback,” Pacific Palisades Community Council wrote in a bulletin following the meeting.

When complete, the trail—formerly known as the Lateral Trail—will extend from the bottom of George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon along Pacific Coast Highway to the Temescal Canyon Road crosswalk light, “in order to provide safe passage from the park to the beach,” according to PPCC.

“Trail alignment [is] needed for land use agreements with Caltrans,” read a slideshow during the meeting. Caltrans owns a portion of the land the trail would be constructed on. The preliminary study would narrow down alternatives, with Ly stating they “want to be final, but we need something to get the ball rolling.”

The current scope of work includes community outreach, a topographic study (which is in progress) and feasibility analysis for alternative trail locations.

Feasibility considerations include route directness, user experience (including views and traffic noise), pedestrian safety (including traffic), slope stability and rock fall hazard, trail longevity and maintenance requirements, and protected trees and habitat, Wharton explained. They are also considering potential environmental contamination, stormwater drainage, constructability and the integration with the Pedestrian Bridge Project.

The Pacific Palisades Pedestrian Trail project is separate from the Potrero Canyon Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge project, which is currently in its public outreach phase and would develop a bridge that connects Will Rogers State Beach to the park.

“We are aware of each other, we’re all sharing the same space,” Ly described during a PPCC meeting on June 13. “So the [project manager] for the bridge project and myself are working pretty closely to make sure that we’re working together on this.”

A majority of the hour-long meeting was dedicated to allowing members of the community voice their concerns and provide feedback about the trail. Attendees were also invited to fill out a questionnaire.

Stakeholders expressed concerns over community safety, slope stability and the longevity of the trail, and examining the drainage in the area, which gets runoff from Pacific Coast Highway. Regarding public safety, one speaker suggested the installation of a fence along the trail.

At the time of the open forum, a timeline and budget were not available—as construction time and costs vary depending on what trail route is selected and developed, but a completion date was expected to be in 2027.

“We urge the city, BOE and Geosyntec to expedite this project and proceed swiftly in order to meet the 2027 target date for completion,” the PPCC Executive Committee wrote in an August 27 letter sent to area officials. “PPCC supports the trail—which was recommended by the former Potrero Canyon Community Advisory Committee in 2008, and has been a requirement of the Potrero Canyon Park Coastal Development Permit since 2014, yet 10 years later has not been constructed.”

Following the meeting, community stakeholders were invited to share their additional thoughts on the project in an online survey, which closed on Friday, August 30, at 5 p.m. The city said that an additional community meeting will be scheduled in the months ahead.

George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon is a 46-acre passive park that spans from Palisades Recreation Center to Pacific Coast Highway. It opened, after decades of planning and construction, on December 10, 2022.

A link to a recording of the August 21 meeting is available via the PPCC website: pacpalicc.org.