The DWP is beginning construction on the River Supply Conduit project in Griffith Park on Thursday, April 2. The first phase of the project is along Crystal Springs Drive from the Zoo parking lot to the main entrance at Los Feliz Blvd. During construction you can expect detours and delays as the pipeline is installed in 200-foot increments. Crews will be working Monday through Friday; however detours will remain in place during the weekends.

Councilmember Tom LaBonge and Chief Ranger Albert Torres at the DWP River Supply Conduit ground breaking.

All park facilities will remain open and accessible.  Access will be provided for bicyclists and equestrians.  If you are planning to go to the Zoo, Autry, or Traveltown, you may want to take the freeway route rather than drive through the construction area in the park.

The long-anticipated project will replace the cracked and leaking concrete water supply lines that were installed in the 1940s with 4-foot to 8-foot diameter welded steel pipe to assure an adequate clean water supply for the growing city’s population. Phase 1 of the project begins April 2, 2009, and is scheduled for completion in Winter, 2011. When the construction is completed, the streets involved will be resurfaced. Subsequent phases of the project will replace pipelines from the Headworks Spreading Grounds near LA Live Steamers in Griffith Park to the Rowena Reservoir underground storage tank and to the Ivanhoe Reservoir  on W. Silver Lake Drive. Most of the project will be completed by Winter, 2013.