Proposal Would Transform L.A.’s ‘Freeway to Nowhere’ Into Park, Housing

A never-completed freeway segment could see new life as a mixed-use development with housing, commercial space, and one of the county’s largest parks.

1 minute read

September 26, 2023, 12:00 PM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Google street view of yellow "End Freeway 1/4 mile" sign on 90 freeway in Los Angeles, California.

The end of SR-90, known as the Marina Freeqway, in Marina del Rey, California. | Google Maps / Marina Freeway, Los Angeles

A Los Angeles freeway segment—alternately known as the Marina Freeway, “the Slauson Freeway, the Richard M. Nixon Freeway and, as Johnny Carson once mocked it, the Slauson Cutoff”—could make way for housing and a massive park, if a group of community activists has its way.

“The vision, said Michael Schneider, chief executive and founder of Streets For All, is to transform the road that was left incomplete in the 1960s into about 130 acres of green space and nearly 4,000 residential units,” reports Salvador Hernandez in the Los Angeles Times.

The proposal would allocate about half of the site to open space. “The project, across roughly 128 acres, would include 11 four-story mixed-use buildings, with the first floor used for businesses and the remaining floors for homes. The plan would reconnect neighborhoods that sit on opposite sides of the 90 Freeway and provide access to Centinela Creek, the Ballona Creek trail and Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve.”

Streets For All plans to apply for a grant from the federal Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Act to fund a feasibility study.

Saturday, September 23, 2023 in Los Angeles Times

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Wastewater pouring out from a pipe.

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage

Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

April 13, 2025 - Inside Climate News

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

April 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Black and white photos of camp made up of small 'earthquake shacks' in Dolores Park in 1906 after the San Francisco earthquake.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees

More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

April 15, 2025 - Charles F. Bloszies

People walking up and down stairs in New York City subway station.

In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving

Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

April 18 - Scientific American

White public transit bus with bike on front bike rack in Nashville, Tennessee.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan

Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

April 18 - Bloomberg CityLab

An engineer controlling a quality of water ,aerated activated sludge tank at a waste water treatment plant.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding

The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.

April 18 - Smart Cities Dive