The city of Glendale is nearly done with construction for two new sidewalk rain gardens along La Crescenta Avenue. They are components of the city’s 1.5-mile-long La Crescenta Avenue Rehabilitation Project. The overall project includes reconfiguration of travel lanes to add a new two-way center turn lane and new bike lanes – part protected, part buffered.
Map of Glendale’s La Crescenta Avenue Rehabilitation Project
For folks unfamiliar with these sorts of “watershed management” features: the curb design around these gardens sends rainwater onto the landscaped area. Water soaks in, providing multiple benefits: neighborhood greening, improved water quality (less polluted runoff to river and ocean), groundwater recharge, and even slightly reduced flood risk.
The two rain garden sites are one block apart:
La Crescenta Avenue/Sierra Vista Avenue/Arlington AvenueLa Crescenta Avenue/Las Palmas Avenue/Paloma Avenue – next to Fremont Elementary School
These are both somewhat complicated three-way intersections where the city had previously installed slip lanes and triangular pedestrian islands.
This project realigned those intersections, making them simpler (including eliminating slip lanes) and safer for pedestrians.
Before: La Crescenta Avenue at Las Palmas Avenue in 2019 – via Google Street View
After: La Crescenta Avenue at Las Palmas Avenue today
Project construction is ongoing and expected to be complete around March 2026. See city project page for additional information.
The intersection geometry shapes the two rain gardens somewhat differently. The upper rain garden (Sierra Vista/Arlington) has two roughly triangular beds.
Sierra Vista/Arlington rain garden site
Rain garden nearly completed along La Crescenta Avenue at Arlington 
The lower rain garden (Las Palmas/Paloma) has one larger rounded-rectangular beds.
Rainwater from the curb flows into the garden at this opening. Next spring, the project will resurface the cracked streets in the foreground, and will add decorative crosswalks.
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