Sidewalks

On Thursday, Feb. 8, downtown Glendale was a sea of green as an estimated 500 teachers, family members and supporters marched down the sidewalks from Brand Boulevard to the Glendale Unified School District offices on Jackson Street. Cars honked, people yelled their support and even a Glendale City fire engine crew stopped in a show of solidarity. The Glendale Teachers Association members joined together to make a point that they are united in their negotiation for an increase in their salary.

GLENDALE ? School officials scorned a city proposal Tuesday that would provide head-in parking for seniors against a sidewalk where Fremont Elementary School students are dropped off for school. "It doesn't meet our needs," said Mary Boger, a Glendale Unified School District board member whose grandchild attends the school. "It is incredibly unsafe. I can't believe it was even suggested. A two-minute walk around the school, a five-minute conversation with the principal would have immediately told you that these are both unacceptable."

CITY HALL ? The City Council will consider an $828,500 contract Tuesday to repair city sidewalks and bring dozens of street corners up to Americans with Disabilities Act compliance. The contract, which if approved will be granted to Kalban Inc. of Sun Valley, will include new curb ramps on Mountain Street; Bel Aire Drive; Chilton Drive; Del Rey Drive; and Bellevue Drive, among other streets in the northern portion of the city. Sidewalk repairs would be concentrated in the downtown area between Milford Street, San Fernando Road, Central Avenue and Colorado Street.

An old swimming hole in Sunset Beach has gone from safety hazard to public walkway after decades of effort by area residents. What was once "Kid's Beach" in the small coastal city just north of Huntington Beach is once again a place where children can feel safe, following nearly $200,000 in street and sidewalk improvements. The new walkway was officially opened Sept. 22 during a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Orange County Supervisor Jim Silva, representatives from Caltrans and area residents, who said the improvements were long overdue.

o7The following is from the Sept. 6 meeting of the Laguna Beach City Council. f7 SIDEWALK CLEANING Eleanor Henry asked that ficus trees downtown be replaced with trees that do not litter the sidewalks. She suggested that merchants might clean up the sidewalks in front of their businesses. She also asked about the drainage problem at the bottom of the Third Street hill. "They say a spring is causing the flow at the base of Third Street -- right now it's a flood and cattails are growing in the planter box," Henry said.

Fred Ortega Brand-new sidewalks lining Honolulu Avenue in the Montrose Shopping Park are already showing some hairline fractures, just two months after they were installed as part of a nearly $1 million refurbishing project. A visual inspection of a two-block stretch of Honolulu Avenue between Verdugo Road and Wickham Way on Sunday showed more than 35 cracks, most hardly visible to the average passerby. The area in front of the Glendale Community College Professional Building had the most notable damage, a series of cracks crisscrossing through the sidewalk in a spider-web pattern.

Fred Ortega The City Council approved yet another sidewalk project in the city at its Monday night meeting, this time along a stretch of Chevy Chase Drive between Foothill Boulevard and Descanso Drive. The estimated $280,000 project will feature installation of a 4-foot-wide concrete pathway that would follow a meandering course on the west side of the street, city Traffic Engineer Erik Zandvliet said. "The sidewalk would meander around existing landscaping as much as possible," Zandvliet said in a report presented to the council Monday night, adding that the pathway's circuitous course would limit the need to remove trees or shrubs.

Darleene Barrientos If 10-year-old Mariam Danial had not been at the Glendale Central Library Saturday, drawing a dog in pink chalk on the sidewalk outside, she would probably be home, drawing or reading. "This is more fun," Mariam said. Mariam was one of dozens of children who took advantage of the Super Saturday activities -- students got ice cream and a temporary Harry Potter tattoo in exchange for leaving their mark in chalk on the library sidewalk.

Fred Ortega California Department of Transportation officials have approved a $297,000 grant to the city for installation of sidewalks, a flashing crosswalk beacon and other improvements along a stretch of Foothill Boulevard that is home to three of the city's schools. The money, which is part of the state's Safe Routes to School program, will be used to extend a sidewalk in front of St. Francis High School down the south side of Foothill along a portion of the boulevard known as "Michigan Hill," City Engineer Ying Kwan said.

Fred Ortega Children's safety beat out neighborhood charm Monday night when the City Council approved the installation Monday of sidewalks along La Canada Boulevard. La Canada Elementary School students will no longer have to walk to school along an uneven, rock-lined path. The council voted, 4-0, to install sidewalks, curbs and gutters on the west side of La Canada Boulevard, extending a walkway that already exists in front of the school north to Olive Lane.