Atwater Village Got Money For A 'Mulch' Wall, But There's Still A Long Way To Go Before It's Built

By Daniel Martinez

Published Sep 10, 2023 6:01 AM

A view across a stream of water toward a road with a mulch wall between a bike path and cars

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Atwater Village recently secured $2.5 million from the state budget for the construction of a “living sound wall.” Also known as a “mulch wall” — a type of freeway sound barrier made from ... mulch.

Hold on, what?

Instead of concrete, these walls are stuffed with dead plant matter. Proponents say they are more cost effective than regular old concrete walls and just as effective at blocking out sounds.

Their construction also produces less carbon pollution. Plus, there’s the cosmetic benefit of adding more green to areas that desperately need it, like a bike path between a freeway and the LA River, which is where the proposed Atwater Village project is intended to be constructed.

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The backstory

Los Angeles has a bit of a history with using cinder block soundwalls to reduce noise pollution along freeways.

But our city's relationship with mulch walls has been much shorter. About a decade ago, a 600-foot long and 12-foot-by-3-foot wide partition, aptly termed the “Great Wall of Mulch” was built and funded by the City of Long Beach.

A freeway wall made up of mulch in Long Beach

The Atwater Village Neighborhood Council has been trying to put up its own version — between the 5 freeway and the L.A. River Bike Path near Los Feliz Blvd. — for just as long. Proposed to be nearly two miles long, it would be much longer than its Long Beach predecessor, which reportedly cost $150,000.

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Recently, State Senator Anthony Portantino, who represents the community, took up the cause and secured $2.5 million in funding from the 2023-2024 State Budget.

Proposed mulch wall in Atwater Village

A view across a stream of water toward a road with a traditional fence between a bike path and cars

The proposed site of the mulch wall in Atwater Village

(

Courtesy Jim Muller

)

Atwater Village where a proposed mulch wall has been Photoshopped in.

(

Courtesy Jim Muller

)

The project has outlived the tenure of many members of the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council, but its River Committee — which does work on the parts of the LA River that run through their neighborhood — has held tight to the dream of one day having a miles-long mulch wall to beautify the bike path.

"I kept going with it and talked to different politicians and their staffs about it and made my presentation," said River Committee member Jim Muller. "Sen. Anthony Portantino loved the idea [and he] was able to get it done."

What's next

A overhead image of a freeway and surrounding roads

Securing the funding is just one step. In LA County, both LA Metro and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) are involved in the counstruction of freeway sound barriers.

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For the Atwater project, "Caltrans would have to approve the design of the sound wall and ensure that it meets state and federal requirements to reduce freeway noise," says Patrick Chandler, a communications manager at LA Metro. "The freeway and adjacent landscape are owned by Caltrans."

But with a backlog of soundwalls — the non-mulchy kind — that still need to be built, it could be any number of years before a “living” one comes to Atwater Village.