A Draining Ordeal : Construction Noise, Dirt and Traffic Jams Have Westside Residents Wondering If There’s Light at End of Flood Control Tunnel Project

It has been touted as a mighty defense against the ravages of rainstorms, a huge underground drain that’s wide enough to drive a big-rig truck through and designed to prevent flood waters from inundating Westside neighborhoods.

But to many who live in its path, the Hollyhills storm drain itself spells disaster.

Work crews have spent months digging up streets with tractors and cranes, jamming intersections along the eight-mile route between the Hollywood Hills and Ballona Creek. Some residents have been forced to leave their cars in parking lots and take shuttle buses to their streets.

Property owners complain that the construction has damaged their homes--cracking walls and foundations. Merchants contend that daily traffic tie-ups have chased away customers and sent business plummeting. And everyone is fed up with the daily pound, pound, pound that reverberates through their homes and businesses.

“I haven’t ever seen anything this big in a residential area,” said Jim Caccavo, of Crescent Heights Boulevard. “I think the county should cancel our property taxes this year for what we are going through.”

Instead, more than 200 property owners are fighting the county to recoup unspecified monetary losses they say are caused by a project that someday may save the very property that is now under siege. They have filed claims against the county, the first step toward an expected lawsuit.

“The county is reckless,” said Carl Lawton, who has laid off half of his 10 employees at Virgilio’s Restaurant on La Cienega Boulevard because of a drop in business. “They just stomp all over everybody. It’s been a nightmare.”

Officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, the agency overseeing the $70-million project, acknowledge the problems and say they are working to address complaints.

The department has opened a field office on 3rd Street near Farmers Market, just blocks from the construction, with a staff member to handle citizen concerns.

But officials say it is impossible to resolve every problem as workers carve up miles of roadway through neighborhoods long accustomed to peace and quiet.

“Sometimes we can help, but sometimes there are inevitable inconveniences that we can do nothing about,” said Eric Gonzalez, Public Works’ community liaison in the field. “For example, there are certain levels of noise generated by the construction. We try to control that to an acceptable level, but sometimes that’s not acceptable [enough] to residents.”

All sides agree on at least one point: the need for better flood protection in the low-lying swath of the Westside.

The primary storm drain serving the area--running beneath La Cienega Boulevard--is 70 years old, built when much of the Westside was an open field and rainwater could seep into the ground. Now the area needs a flood control system that can handle runoff from a cement-covered urban landscape.

During the winter storms of 1993, neighborhoods close to La Cienega found themselves submerged under as much as five feet of water, which inundated subterranean garages and flooded the first floors of some buildings.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has classified several neighborhoods around La Cienega as hazardous flood zones, requiring homeowners to buy flood insurance costing an average of $350 a year. Once the Hollyhills drain is complete, FEMA will lift the insurance requirement.

Architects of the Hollyhills drain say it will all but eliminate the flooding problems by more than doubling the drainage capacity in the area.

The new storm drain will consist primarily of a box-like concrete structure, as wide as a two-lane road in some places. Its narrowest section is a 4 1/2-foot-wide cement pipe.

Construction, which began in July and is slated to be complete in 1999, is proceeding in eight stages. Workers have completed three one-mile-long southern sections near Ballona Creek, and are digging north toward Sunset Boulevard.

From the beginning, the construction has generated a steady stream of complaints about mud, blocked driveways and other nuisances.

Caccavo, a freelance photographer who works out of his home, said he has stopped taking pictures in his living room studio because of the dust and vibrations. He estimates that he has lost about $15,000 in work since the construction began on his block about two months ago.

“I’m literally out of business,” Caccavo said.

Caccavo’s neighbor, Lillian Lieberman, offered her own lament.

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“If I could move out I would,” said Lieberman, a 42-year resident of Crescent Heights who has lost three tenants in her apartment building because of the construction. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I have taken money out of my savings because I have to pay my bills.”

County officials say part of the blame belongs to the private contractors who are building the storm drain. Some have violated provisions in their county contracts by failing to keep the street clear of construction materials and by ignoring designated truck routes, Gonzalez said.

Public works officials have withheld payments to some contractors to force them to comply with the guidelines. The contractors say it is difficult to meet every requirement because of the size and scope of the project.

“Sometimes during the course of events, our workers get carried away in their enthusiasm to get the work done,” said Bob Wirsing, project manager for Steve P. Rados Inc., a contractor building one of the eight segments. “But we like to think we are responding fairly well.”

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Storm Drain Project

The Hollyhills storm drain is now under construction as part of an effort to reduce flooding in low-lying neighborhoods of the Westside. The drain will carry storm runoff along an eight-mile route from Hollywood Hills to Ballona Creek.