RESIDENTS WARY OF CRIMINALS, VAGRANTS IN PEDESTRIAN TUNNELS.Byline: SUE DOYLE Staff Writer WOODLAND HILLS -- Two tunnels under the Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. built as pedestrian walkways have evolved over the years into cavernous cavernous /cav·er·nous/ (kav´er-nus) 1. pertaining to a hollow, or containing hollow spaces. 2. having a hollow sound, such as certain abnormal breath sounds. havens for violent criminals, and nearby residents want them closed. Two men, still at large, attacked a Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. police sergeant in September inside a tunnel at Sale Avenue, while the other at Oakdale Avenue has become home to vagrants who often stumble around drunk and naked, residents said. ``They drink alcohol and scream in the middle of the night. They go to the bathroom there and have sex,'' said one Oakdale Avenue resident who asked not to be named, fearing retaliation RETALIATION. The act by which a nation or individual treats another in the same manner that the latter has treated them. For example, if a nation should lay a very heavy tariff on American goods, the United States would be justified in return in laying heavy duties on the manufactures and . ``Everyone is scared.'' Residents and business owners with concerns about the two corridors can speak out at a public hearing tonight before the Woodland Hills-Warner Center Neighborhood Council, which will consider options for the tunnels at its Nov. 8 meeting. About 50 residents living around Oakdale Avenue -- an area that will soon light up as Candy Cane Lane with dazzling holiday displays -- signed a petition to have the tunnel closed. Their concerns reached the neighborhood council about a week before Sgt. Gabriel Kearney was hit over the head with a beer bottle and then charged at with a long kitchen knife Sept. 9 in the Sale Avenue tunnel. As a result, both underpasses have come under scrutiny. The 50-foot walkway at Oakdale was once a heavily used shortcut (1) In Windows, a shortcut is an icon that points to a program or data file. Shortcuts can be placed on the desktop or stored in other folders, and double clicking a shortcut is the same as double clicking the original file. for students walking to Taft High School and others living in the well-groomed neighborhood, seeking access to Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. . Rotten bananas, tomatoes and dried out bagels litter the tunnel today. Black, spray-painted tagging marks the walls smeared in places with feces. Glancing at the tunnel from his front yard, resident Richard Powell The name "Richard Powell" can refer to multiple people:
``I see very little foot traffic going through it since the homeless took it over,'' said Powell. Parking lots to businesses facing Ventura Boulevard sit on one side of the Sale Avenue tunnel that reaches into a tree-lined neighborhood off Avenue San Luis San Luis, city (1991 pop. 110,353), capital of San Luis prov., W central Argentina. The city is the commercial center of an area producing cattle, corn, and asparagus; the surrounding area has timber and mineral resources. San Luis is a popular resort. . Although concerned about the September attack inside the Sale Avenue tunnel, Helia Rafael, who parks near it for work every day, has never experienced trouble there. ``We park in back and have never had a problem,'' Rafael said. Today's public hearing begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Woodland Hills Academy, 20800 Burbank Blvd. sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3746 CAPTION(S): photo, map Photo: The tunnel at the end of Oakdale Avenue where the 101 Freeway passes over has concerned nearby residents. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer Map: Pedestrian tunnels Daily News |
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