By Mary O’KEEFE

There is a lot of construction going on at Two Strike Park. A major portion of the project will create a walking trail that will be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

“The inception of the project was in 2010 when it was brought to the attention of then-Supervisor Michael Antonovich and the Parks and Recreation Department,” said Mark Glassock, section head for Capital Projects Group, LA County
Parks and Recreation.

There were a few trips back to the drawing board before the plan was reintroduced in 2014 with a revised scope of the trail placement. There was a lot of design work for the project to ensure Parks and Recreation addressed all the points that were suggested by the Crescenta Valley Town Council and the community.

About four years ago CVTC rejected a plan because the proposed trail cut through the entire park with half going through open grass area, said CVTC President Harry Leon.

“We asked Parks and Recreation to redesign,” he said. “The community wanted it to be [compliant with accessibility guidelines of the] ADA.”

In comments submitted to the CVTC, the community also wanted a path that was easier to traverse without the extreme sloping designed in some areas.

The project should be completed in August.

“We are very excited this will make a positive impact,” Glassock said.

The project will create a walking path from Two Strike Park to the Eagle Canyon Channel on the southwest side of the park. The project includes parking compliant with the ADA and a bike ramp at the path.

The trail will be located along the baseball field and travel down to a walking bridge that crosses the Verdugo Wash.

During last week’s CVTC meeting questions were brought up concerning the bridge at the end of the 2700 block of Henrietta Avenue that is in need of repair. Concerns were voiced about the railings along the path that were used by skateboarders.

“We can do things to the railings to make it a little more difficult [for skaters],” Glassock added.

Plans include installing brass nuts along the railings to prevent skaters from sliding along the rails.

The bridge is not managed by Parks and Recreation but Glassock is reaching out to the LA County office that does manage it to continue improvement talks.

“The bridge wasn’t in the scope [of the project] that belongs to [LA County] Public Works. So [CVTC] put in a request with [the office of Supervisor Kathryn Barger] to [look at the] bridge,” Leon said.

The path was the second phase of the overall plan. The first phase was to clean up the park including taking out trees that had been damaged by drought, adding planters and upgrading the play equipment, Leon said.

“The community has asked for an outdoor gym but that has to go through [certain protocols] before it gets approved,” he added. “I am very grateful to the Supervisor’s office in making sure our community is taken care of. We are really excited anytime we can promote a feature in a park that can provide people with more opportunities to be active.”

Having an additional walking trail is even more important now with COVID-19 restrictions. Users of the trail will observe social distancing protocols.

Prior to the project, the path in Two Strike Park was overgrown in some areas making the trail hard to identify, but now it will be available for all to enjoy. Glassock notes the advantages that go beyond providing a place to exercise.

“It is a key connection between streets and neighborhoods,” he said.

  Mary Okeefe