See Metro’s plans for an LA River bike path through Downtown LA
Metro is moving forward with plans for a bike path along the LA River that would run through Downtown Los Angeles, connecting existing pathways that run from Vernon to Long Beach and from the northern edge of Griffith Park to the Elysian Valley.
In October, the agency began soliciting contractors to plan and design the route, and now, it has released a new video explaining what Angelenos can expect from the project.
Funded by voter-approved Measure M dollars, the new path isn’t slated to break ground until 2023 at the earliest, so details on what it might look like are still a little foggy. What is clear is that it will run alongside the west bank of the river, spanning approximately eight miles and connecting the two trail segments on either side of Downtown.
As The Source reports, Metro previously considered a trail that would actually take riders down into the concrete riverbed that controls the flow of the river through much of Los Angeles. That idea, however, was dismissed due to safety concerns (no one wants to be washed away by a surprise flow of storm runoff).
This is one of two major projects now being undertaken to fill in gaps along the LA River’s network of popular walking and biking trails. The other, being designed by Studio-MLA, Gruen Associates, and Psomas, would span 12 miles from Canoga Park to Griffith Park.
Construction on that ambitious project—which would include pocket parks, green space, and facilities to collect and treat urban runoff—is expected to begin in 2020.