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LA Council asks state for $197 million to complete bikepath along LA River
San Fernando Valley Mar 04, 2022
| Image courtesy of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering
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The Los Angeles City Council Friday called for the state to provide at least $197 million to complete the design and construction of a bikepath along the Los Angeles River in the San Fernando Valley before the city hosts the 2028 Olympics.
Los Angeles has been working to complete a 32-mile bikeway along the Los Angeles River for the last 25 years, according to a resolution calling for the funding, which council members passed 10-0 Friday. The county also aims to complete a 51-mile path along the river.
The San Fernando Valley portion of the path would extend from the Canoga Park headwaters through Woodland Hills, Winnetka, Reseda and Encino to the Sepulveda Basin — which itself has an extensive network of bicycle and pedestrian paths — and then to Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Universal Studios and Warner Center Studios, the Tom LaBonge Headworks Water Complex and Griffith Park.
Various segments of the Valley portion of the bikeway, which is called the Valley LARiverWay, have been completed or will soon be complete, but the city needs additional funding to connect all the segments into a continuous path.
The resolution expresses the city’s official support for legislation that would provide at least $197 million in funding to complete the design and construction of the Valley LARiverWay before the 2028 Olympics.
It also includes support for legislation that would provide at least $15 million to complete feasibility, planning and design of the 2020 Upper LA River and Tributaries Revitalization Plan, which aims to bring ecological restoration and recreational amenities to communities in Pacoima, Tujunga, Aliso Canyon, Arroyo Seco, Verdugo Washes and the Burbank Western Channel. The resolution notes these areas have one-third the amount of park space compared to the county average.
Council members Bob Blumenfield, Monica Rodriguez, Nithya Raman, Paul Krekorian and Council President Nury Martinez introduced the resolution. It was seconded by Councilman John Lee.
“I will do my best as transportation chair and also as a member of the Budget Subcommittee No. 3 — which deals with resources, parks and transportation — to find in our very large budget this year to help with the tributary projects as well as to help Los Angeles finish the LA River portion that runs through the valley,” Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, told council members during the City Council meeting Friday.
Friedman said the goal was to “connect all of those portions together to make sure that we have a protected active transportation, bicycle and pedestrian corridor running through the San Fernando Valley so that people can safely ride their bicycles to the film studios, to downtown Los Angeles, to wherever they might be going, away from the fear of being hit by cars.”
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