California Coastal Conservancy releases feasibility study
River Project forms
A group forms in opposition to a proposed warehouse development on the site of the former Taylor Yard, which ceased to function as a rail yard in 1985. Along with an alliance of 36 community, business, faith-based, environmental, and social justice organizations, The River Project forms The Coalition for a State Park at Taylor Yard.…
Read MoreFirst LA River Master Plan released
El Pueblo to Griffith Park Trail Created
The trail stretches approximately eight miles from El Pueblo de Los Angeles, along the LA River, to Elysian Park and on to Griffith Park. Thanks to the efforts of the Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park, the trail is added to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy trail system. The Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park…
Read MoreMetrolink maintenance facility opens in Taylor Yard
Friends of the Los Angeles River founded by Lewis MacAdams, Pat Patterson, and Roger Wong
FoLAR is the first organization to explicitly advocate for habitat restoration and public access on the Los Angeles River. The group’s first La Gran Limpieza/Great River Clean Up is held in 1988.
Read MoreLA River overflows its levees in Long Beach
The event sparks concern that the flood control system is inadequate to handle a “100-year” flood.
Read MoreConstruction of the 5, or Golden State Freeway
The freeway cuts through the western part of Elysian Valley (“Frogtown”), isolating it from surrounding neighborhoods.
Read MoreUS Army Corps of Engineers completes LA River channel
This forms a 51-mile engineered waterway made of concrete. The Los Angeles County Flood Control District hires 14 contractors in 31 separate contracts and moves more than 20,000,000 cubic yards of earth, pours more than 2,000,000 cubic yards of concrete, places nearly 150,000,000 pounds of reinforced steel, and sets 460,000 tons of grouted stone slope…
Read MoreLA River floods; channelization of the river begins
Seventy-eight people die and 108,000 acres flood, causing almost $25 million in damage. This serves as the final straw for the US Army Corps of Engineers to channel the entire river. In March, the Los Angeles Paving Company begins construction.
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