Former Red Car right-of-way in San Pedro to become park

Hopes for a revival of the Waterfront Red Car in San Pedro are all but completely gone.

Last week, the the City of Los Angeles issued a notice indicating that the Harbor and Housing Departments are pursuing $1.65 million in federal funding to convert a segment of former streetcar's right-of-way into a new public park. The proposed site stretches the east side of Harbor Boulevard between 1st and 3rd Streets, and varies between 21 and 35 feet in width.

The Harbor Department, in partnership with the Housing Department, intends to rip out the rail tracks to make way for new recreation amenities, including a plaza space for food vendors, a lawn area, shade structures, swings, a children's play area, exercise equipment, picnic tables, and seating.

As the entity which controls the right-of-way, and formerly operated the Waterfront Red Car, the Harbor Department will be responsible for soil remediation, and the Housing Department will construct the green space afterward.

The proposed park is a small component of a larger effort to redevelop the aging Rancho San Pedro public housing complex, which sits on the opposite side of Harbor Boulevard. Built in the 1940s, the property currently consists of 478 dwellings, but is poised for an expansion that would add include up to 1,390 new homes and 90,000 square feet of commercial space.

The Waterfront Red Car, a tourist attraction which launched in 2003, was intended to temporarily cease operations for 18 months in 2015 - a closure which became more permanent than originally expected. While an initial proposal to redevelop the Ports O' Call Village in 2016 had called for restoration of service, the streetcar has since been dropped from the project, and some tracks have already been removed from the right-of-way.

• San Pedro (Urbanize LA)