Los Angeles County Department of Public Works explained

Agency Name:Los Angeles County Department of Public Works
Type:department
Seal:LACDPW logo.svg
Formed: (Merger)
Preceding1:County Engineer
Preceding2:Flood Control District
Preceding3:Road Department
Jurisdiction:Los Angeles County, California
Headquarters:Alhambra, California
Employees:4,269 (2016)[1]
Budget:$2,448,066,000 (2016)[2]
Chief1 Name:Mark Pestrella
Chief1 Position:Director

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works (LACDPW) is responsible for the construction and operation of Los Angeles County's roads, building safety, sewerage, and flood control. DPW also operates traffic signals and intelligent transportation systems, drinking water systems in certain communities, operates five airports, paratransit and fixed route public transport, administers various environment programs, issues various permits for activities in the public roadway, and has a Department Emergency Operations Center that works in conjunction with the County Emergency Operations Center operated by the Sheriff's Department. The department is headquartered at 900 South Fremont Avenue in Alhambra, California.[3]

Services are provided primarily to the unincorporated county with some services provided to contract cities. Flood control and watershed management services are provided to all of the county except the Antelope Valley.

As part of its flood control and water supply responsibilities, the Department of Public Works has 15 major dams and 27 spreading grounds in the county.[4] Pacoima Dam is one of the largest owned by Public Works and survived the Northridge earthquake in 1994 intact.

Water from the dams is released into flood-control channels and some is diverted into spreading basins where it percolates into the ground and recharges the groundwater. The surface water is not used directly as it requires more cleaning than groundwater. Near the coast, the department has constructed sea water barriers that use injection wells to create a fresh water barrier to prevent salt water intrusion from the ocean into the groundwater.[5]

The DPW is a leader in watershed management. It provides storm drain education programs, publishes and enforces best management practices for activities that may affect the watershed, and manages watersheds to provide a balance between flood control, recreation, and protecting the natural environment.

History

The department was formed in 1985 in a consolidation of the county Road Department, the Flood Control District (in charge of dams, spreading grounds, and channels), and the County Engineer (in charge of building safety, land survey, waterworks).

For 25 years, the County Engineer Department was housed in the historic Higgins Building, a 10-story Beaux-Arts style commercial building that was designed and built by noted architect Arthur L. Haley and engineer Albert Carey Martin in 1910, at the corner of Second and Main Streets in Downtown Los Angeles. After "overseeing construction projects large and small from one of the city's strongest buildings, the county determined that the department needed more modern quarters and pulled up stakes in 1977," according to the Los Angeles City Planning Department, which designated the building as the Historic-Cultural Monument #873.

In 1977, the County Engineer Department moved to the corner of 5th Street and Vermont Ave., Los Angeles until the merge of the three departments. At that time the department was called the Department of County Engineer-Facilities.

In 1988, the department issued a demolition permit to tear down the historic Golden Gate Theater in East Los Angeles. Demolition commenced before officials led by then County Supervisor Ed Edelman halted the work with a stop-work order.[6] Demolition crews had already begun to dismantle the walls when Edelman, then Los Angeles City Councilwoman Gloria Molina, sheriff's deputies and more than 50 concerned community members showed up at the site to ensure the demolition work was halted. Edelman blamed a "foul-up" in the Public Works Department for issuing the demolition permit and assured the gathered crowd that heads were going to roll and that he would "try and stop this damn demolition before it happens."[7]

For years, the Flood Control District and the County Road Department were headquartered in buildings at Alcazar Street in East Los Angeles by the Los Angeles County General Hospital.

Major divisions of the Public Works Department were located at various locations in Los Angeles city for a number of years, until the 12-story glass building in Alhambra, California was purchased and refurbished. This tallest structure in Alhambra was formerly the western headquarters of Sears, Roebuck and Company, where some fixture units still bear the label "Sears". The steel frames were strengthened in 2006 after it was learned from the Northridge earthquake that the welded joints were not adequate to withstand a major earthquake.[8]

Former Directors

Major Divisions

[10]

Routes

County Shuttles

LACDPW operates shuttles in unincorporated areas of the county, and funds other agencies that provide service.[11]

RouteTerminalsViaNotesSchedule
Acton & Agua Dulce ShuttleSanta Clarita
Santa Clarita station
Acton
Sierra Hwy & Crown Valley Rd
Sierra Hwy
  • Operates Monday, Wednesday and Saturday
Schedule
Avocado Heights/Bassett/West Valinda ShuttleAvocado Heights
Don Julian Rd & Avocado Heights Park
Bassett
Sunkist Av & Hayland St
Don Julian Rd
  • Operates Monday–Saturday
Schedule
Heights Hopper ShuttleHacienda Heights
Valencia Av & Palm Av
Rowland Heights
Rowland Heights Park
Colima Rd Schedule
East Valinda ShuttleValinda
Rimgrove Park
South San Jose Hills
Nogales High School
Azusa Av, Valley Bl
  • Operates Monday–Saturday
Schedule
Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court ShuttleLos Angeles
Cal State LA station
Monterey Park
Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court
Campus Rd Schedule
Topanga Canyon Beach BusWarner Center
Warner Center station
Santa Monica
Downtown Santa Monica station
Topanga Canyon Bl Schedule
Wellness Center ShuttleLos Angeles
Los Angeles General Medical Center
State St
  • Operates Monday–Friday
  • Loop route
  • Fare-free service
Schedule

El Sol

El Sol is the shuttle system serving East Los Angeles.

RouteTerminalsViaNotesSchedule
Whittier Boulevard/Saybrook ParkEast Los Angeles
Dionicio Morales Transit Plaza
Whittier Bl Schedule
Union Pacific/Salazar ParkIndiana St
  • Serves East LA Civic Center station, Maravilla station and Indiana station
  • Counter Clockwise route
City Terrace/ELACCesar Chavez Av
  • Serves East LA Civic Center station, Cal State LA Transit Center, East Los Angeles College and Atlantic station
  • Clockwise route

the Link

RouteTerminalsViaNotesSchedule
Athens ShuttleWest Athens
120th St & Western Av
108th St Schedule
Baldwin Hills Parklands ShuttleLadera Heights
Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area
La Cienega Bl Schedule
Florence-Firestone/Walnut Park ShuttleFlorence-Graham
Firestone station
Florence Av Schedule
King Medical Center ShuttleWillowbrook
119th St & Hahn's Shopping Plaza
Willowbrook Av Schedule
Lennox ShuttleLennox
Lennox Bl & Firmona Av
104th St Schedule
Willowbrook ShuttleAWillowbrook
119th St & Hahn's Shopping Plaza
Willowbrook
San Pedro St & 135th St
El Segundo Bl Schedule
BWillowbrook
119th St & Hahn's Shopping Plaza
Mona Bl
  • Serves Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station
  • Clockwise route

Sunshine Shuttle

Sunshine Shuttle is the shuttle system serving South Whittier.

RouteTerminalsViaNotesSchedule
AWhittier
Whittwood Town Center
Whittier
Whittier Bl & Sorenson Av
Painter AvSchedule
BWhittier
Whittwood Town Center
Whittier Bl
  • Clockwise and Counter Clockwise routes
CWest Whittier-Los Nietos
Broadway Av & Sorensen Park
Norwalk Bl
  • Clockwise route
Schedule

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Recommended Budgeted Positions 2016–2017. County of Los Angeles. Chief Executive Office. 2. 26 October 2016.
  2. Web site: 2016–17 Recommended Budget. County of Los Angeles. Chief Executive Office. 543. 26 October 2016.
  3. "Contact Public Works." Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. Retrieved on September 27, 2009.
  4. News: L.A. betting that stormwater can help ease California's drought . . Matt . Stevens . August 25, 2016 . 28 August 2016.
  5. Amy Pyle and Leslie Berger, Boy's Death Prompts Calls for Changes, Los Angeles Times, February 15, 1992
  6. News: Penelope McMillan . 1988-03-17 . Curtain Call for a Landmark Theater . https://archive.today/20130104162759/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/58856326.html?dids=58856326:58856326&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+17,+1988&author=PENELOPE+McMILLAN&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Curtain+Call+for+a+Landmark+Theater . dead . January 4, 2013 . Los Angeles Times. "Demolition crews had swept onto the site at the corner of Whittier and Atlantic boulevards Tuesday and Wednesday, and began to dismantle some walls. But they were halted by a stop-work order obtained from the county Public Works Department through the efforts of Supervisor Ed Edelman."
  7. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/05/eastside-theater.html Future of 1927-era East L.A. theater in question
  8. Lynn O'Shaughnessy and Tracy Wood, County Skirts the Rules; Campaign Donor Profits Big, Los Angeles Times, November 7, 1988
  9. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-06-me-8913-story.html Los Angeles County Public Works Director Will Retire After 38 Years
  10. Web site: Archived copy . 2012-01-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120904071647/http://dpw.lacounty.gov/HRD/CEJobs/CEjobdescriptions.pdf . 2012-09-04 .
  11. http://www.dpw.lacounty.gov/pdd/Transit/ LAGoBus.info