Blythe Street’s Concrete Barrier Will Be Removed : Panorama City: The council votes to take down the 5-year-old structure. The barricade designed to discourage drug sales also traps motorists and hampers police.

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to remove a concrete street barricade that was initially erected to help police stop drug buys on Blythe Street in Panorama City.

“It’s outlived its usefulness,” said Councilman Ernani Bernardi, who requested the removal.

The action drew praise from some property owners and from police who argued that gang members had learned to use the barricade to their advantage.

“I’m elated,” said Roger Nelson, chairman of a Blythe Street property owners group.

“This is going to be the beginning of the end of the terrorism that’s gone on on that street since the barricade was installed,” he added.

The barricade at the intersection of Blythe Street and Willis Avenue was put in place five years ago at a time when the street was known as a drive-through drug market.

From curbside posts, gang members would sell an array of drugs to passing motorists drawn to the area from throughout the San Fernando Valley, police said.

Although the barricade was initially successful in helping police reduce drug buys, it also resulted in a dangerous situation for police, residents and motorists on the street, said Los Angeles Police Officer Charles Leber, senior lead officer for the area.

“It was very difficult for plainclothes narcotics officers to work that street,” he said. With only one entrance for backup officers to enter Blythe Street, undercover narcotics officers worried for their safety.

And because of the barricade, gang members could easily see officers coming and avoid arrest.

Motorists who were lost or unaware of the barricade were often the victim of robberies and attacks by gang members, who would stand in the middle of the street blocking the one exit, Leber said.

In 1990, two deaths were attributed to motorists being trapped between gang members and the barricade.

Residents of the street who had to walk or drive by the spot where the gang congregated “lived in constant fear,” Nelson said. Now, with two ways to enter and exit, residents will have more freedom.

Last month at a meeting held to discuss the barricade, residents and owners were divided over the issue.

Some worried that crime would escalate if the barricade was removed and argued that it should stay.

With the barricade coming down, officers will have to “change our game plan to have a better impact,” Leber said.

Officers will now be able to conduct raids and undercover operations on the street, he said.

The barricade is expected to be taken down in about a week, Bernardi said.