By Mary O’KEEFE

Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation has completed work on an entrance/exit ramp at the far west end of Two Strike Park.

As CVW reported on Sept. 16, local residents had concerns about the construction of the ramp that was part of a walking path project that extended from Two Strike Park to Eagle Canyon Channel.

At that time, Sara Quan, who is a wheelchair user, spoke about how difficult the ramp was to use at the entrance/exit.

Individuals in a wheelchair, for example, can easily travel from the east side of the park to the west side but when coming upon the ramp to the exit/entrance to the park on Henrietta Avenue they encounter a dirt path at the end of the ramp, an uneven wooden bridge across the wash, another dirt path, a metal K-rail-type fence that must be traversed and then more dirt that leads to a broken curb. Accessing the park from the west side at Henrietta Avenue is also nearly impossible for those in a wheelchair.

Quan said that many wheelchairs are lightweight, which makes it especially difficult to traverse these types of obstacles. The broken curb made the area even more dangerous as a wheel can easily get stuck, causing the chair to tip.

“The hardest part is getting stuck. Most of the time you are by yourself, so you are out of luck,” Quan stated at the time.

The ongoing issue was finding out who was actually responsible for the end of the ramp – Parks and Recreation or Flood Control/Public Works. It took an investigation on behalf of the County agencies to find the answer.

“That investigation confirmed that the park, the pedestrian pathway and the bridge all belong to Parks and Recreation, which is responsible for their maintenance. The bridge over the LA County Flood Control District’s Eagle Canyon Channel was permitted to Parks as early as 1950 and was built by Parks on the site on June 14, 1961. Because the recreational trail has no nexus with the channel’s flood control function, the Flood Control District (managed by Public Works) would not have a role with the trail or Parks’ pedestrian bridge,” according to Steve Frasher, Public Works spokesman.

Once responsibility was confirmed, Chester Kano, architect/chief of Development Division, Dept. of Parks and Recreation, the project began to move forward … until it hit another slight obstacle. This time it concerned the broken curb at the far west end of the ramp that led to Henrietta Avenue – a problem that had to be tackled by Public Works.

“PW Road Division is willing to perform a maintenance project to add new asphalt paving from the end of the bridge to the edge of Henrietta Avenue, including a new asphalt rolled curb to replace the existing, cracked asphalt curbing. While this won’t change the slope, this will eliminate the dirt and loose gravel in that area making it more stable for walkers. Also, the new rolled curb should be smooth and easier to traverse with strollers and other wheeled accessories,” Kano stated.

The project has been completed and the rough edges and bumps in the road appear to have been smoothed out.

Quan has yet to see the new and improved ramp and related areas.

“To be honest most times people don’t listen or acknowledge our concerns,” she said. “People in wheelchairs get used to working around these [types of issues].”

She is looking forward to testing out the new ramp access and is happy the County not only listened but did something about her concern.

“That very rarely happens,” she said.