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

Young Professional

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 and Environmental 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 and Environmental Planner

Get top-rated, practical training for planners

"Planetizen federal action tracker" logo superimposed over black and white image of US Capitol dome.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

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

48 minutes ago - Zachary Whalen

Overlapping highways

The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin

People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.

September 8, 2026 - Benjamin Schneider

The Hoover Dam blocking the Colorado River. The river's water level is noticeably low. The cliffs surrounding the blue water are brown and jagged.

US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico

A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.

September 11, 2026 - The Arizona Republic

NYC Mayor Zohran Mandami speaks behind a blue podium.

Mamdani overhauls NYC's Vision Zero plan with 100 new policy goals

The overhaul aims to reduce traffic deaths and make streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers through lower speed limits, new safety infrastructure and more.

45 minutes ago - ABC 7 Eyewitness News

A New Jersey train approaches people waiting at the station.

Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds

A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.

September 15 - Mass Transit

A tall, gray power plant billows smoke into a blue sky.

EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants

Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.

September 15 - New York Times

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.