| Project: |
The Piggyback Yard Conceptual Master Plan |
| Location: |
Los Angeles, California |
| Client: |
Friends of the Los Angeles River (FoLAR) |
| Size: |
125 acres |
| Web: |
www.piggybackyard.org |
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Facts:
- The Piggyback Yard is one of the largest pote
tial sites for water storage along the L.A. River
- Sometimes known as the Mission Yard or the LATC [Los Angeles Transfer Container Facil- ity], the site is a 125 acre intermodal facility where containers are humped or piggybacked between flat cars and 18 wheelers, thus the
nickname Piggyback Yard
- Four Principles guide the master planning and
design process:
1. Water
2. Open Space
3. Connectivity
4. Community
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Challenge: This single-use rail yard and container transfer facility is the largest privately-owned contiguous tract of land in downtown Los Angeles with the poten- tial to mitigate potential flooding created by the reduced capacity of the L.A. River channel.
Solution: This ambitious plan for urban revitalization maintains the existing use while transforming a sea of asphalt into an efficient transportation center including mixed-use development, connections to public transit, an engineered naturalized 45-acre rehabilitated wetland, and stormwater detention basins, creating a total of 130 acres of open space. The design also transforms project technical require- ments into physical amentities, creating;
- A thriving urban ecosystem by reshaping the concrete channel container into a constructed wetland.
- The opportunity for natural water infiltration and cleansing.
- Detention of 100 year flood event to help protect developments downstream.
- Open space recreation amenity and miles of pedestrian trails.
- Accommodates the proposed CAHSR alignment
- Vital link and much needed open space for East LA communities
- Impetus for development of mixed-use real estate
- Site for rail maintenance and operations facility
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