Since first closing the Colorado Lagoon to vehicular and pedestrian traffic in November 2022 for an infrastructure project to reconnect the lagoon to Marina Stadium, part of the project has now reopened. Cars and bikes can once again cut through the area thanks to the reopening of Colorado Street on the project’s northern edge. Eliot Street along the southern side of the project, touching Marina Stadium, remains closed.
The news comes with a warm welcome: The streets were last promised to open at the end of 2024 (followed by the further setback that was the discovery of asbestos), giving false hopes to commuters who use the route to easily connect to Pacific Coast Highway or Studebaker via Loynes Drive rather than 7th Street.
What exactly is happening at Colorado Lagoon and the northern tip of Marina Stadium?
The main point of the project is complicated in terms of construction but relatively simple in concept: returning the Colorado Lagoon back to its former glory by reconnecting it more fluidly to the Marine Stadium via a new tidal channel that will run through Marina Vista Park.
Excavation of Marina Vista Park for the new channel has begun, giving people a very rough preview of what the channel will look like upon completion, stretching from the south side of the Colorado Lagoon to the northern tip of Marina Stadium.
And the slight vibrations felt by neighboring residents? That was the result of sheet piling installation at both the southern part of Colorado Lagoon and the northern tip of Marine Stadium where it meets Elliot Street. The sheet piles are being used to both blockade the water and allow the demolition of existing infrastructure to make way for new bridges: One that will run over the new tidal channel along Colorado Street on the north and another that will run over the channel where it meets Marine Stadium on Elliot Street…