One Step Closer to Walking and Biking from Canoga Park to Elysian Valley

Photo credit: Gruen Associates

A bike path is only as useful as how far it'll get you, ideally without having to fight through traffic lights and heavy metal cars. So, in a bid to design a more multimodal Los Angeles, the Mayor's office has announced the selection of a design team that is tasked to figure out how to complete the Los Angeles River Valley Bike Path from Vanalden Avenue in Canoga Park to Forest Lawn Drive by Griffith Park. The Mayor's Office has stated once completed, the greenway will make it possible for Angelenos to walk and bike from Canoga Park to Elysian Valley.

Though the San Fernando Valley has received its share of river projects that have transformed once graffiti-laden, trash-strewn riverside areas into pleasing greenways, it is still a patchwork of projects that have yet to realize their full potential.

With a $6 million funding partnership between Mayor Garcetti and L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, the Mayor announced the selection of Gruen Associates with a team that includes Mia Lehrer + Associates, and Oyler Wu Collaborative. The Bureau of Engineering, headed by City Engineer Gary Lee Moore, is in charge of managing the design and construction of the project.

Don't hold your breath waiting to see the bike path appear overnight, however, this team was selected to do a feasibility study, weighting the pros and cons-and costs-of different alternatives to create these linkages across 23 roadway intersections through five council districts and nine segments along the Los Angeles River. Working with these many constituents would be a challenge, let alone figuring out the best route for the bike path.

While these new connections may translate to about 12 miles of new bike paths that are suitable for pedestrians, they would also create a much longer 20-mile path in the Valley, estimates Mahmood Karimzadeh, the Principal architect with the Bureau of Engineering.

The specific segments are:

1. South side of the Los Angeles River between Vanalden Avenue and White Oak, which continues the West Valley Bike Path and cross the newly opened Aliso Creek Confluence Park

2. North side of the LA River between White Oak Avenue and the Orange Line Busway

3. South side of the LA River between Balboa Boulevard and Burbank Boulevard

4. North side of the LA River adjacent to Burbank Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard

5. South side of the LA River between Kester Avenue and Hazeltine Avenue

6. South side of the LA River between Hazeltine Avenue and Woodman Avenue

7. South side of the LA River between Woodman Avenue to Coldwater Canyon Avenue, through the Richard Lillard Outdoor Classroom

8. North side of the LA River between Whitsett Avenue to Lankershim Boulevard, which connects the Los Angeles Greenway Park

9. South side of the LA River between Barham Boulevard to Forest Lawn Drive

Given the many neighborhoods this project touches on, the project entails even more discussion than other more compact river projects. Questions like which side of the river will the path take? Will there be underpasses, bridges, on-grade crossings? What utilities need to be relocated and what right of way may need to be acquired? All that remains to be debated over the next nine months.

Meanwhile, there is reason to be hopeful, Los Angeles has chosen a great team composed of some established names, each with an impressive project list to back up their claim. Here's a quick intro to the three main firms on the project.

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Gruen Associates

Gruen Associates is a seven-decade old firm of planners, architects and landscape architects. Over the years, through many large projects, the firm has helped shape the city we know now. Firm partner Debra Gerod says one of the firm's strong suits is managing large teams from different consultant firms towards one goal.

Along with London-based Grimshaw Architects, the firm is master planning Union Station, trying to figure out what will happen to this central Los Angeles location in the future, especially with the addition of the High Speed Rail in the picture. Its plans will also deal with the additional 40 acres of Metro-owned surrounding land.

Gruen is also working on the 96th Street Transit center, which when completed would finally connect to the LAX People Mover. Finally, rail passengers could take the train and get to the airport easily.

Metro 96th Street Transit Center Plan || Photo credit: Gruen Associates

In the past, the firm has worked on the Orange Line Extension, turning a four-mile corridor from Canoga Park station to the Chatsworth Metrolink from a barren railroad right-of-way into a greenway of native plants with a bikeway, pedestrian path, and exclusive Orange Line busway.

It's also responsible for the Ballona Creek Bike Path, about 7 miles of car-free bike path between Culver City and Playa del Rey. It was the first protected bike path in the county.

Ballona Creek Bike Trail || Photo credit: Gruen Associates

Mia Lehrer and Associates

Mia Lehrer is a ubiquitous name especially when it comes to the Los Angeles River. Its firm has been involved with the river for over two decades.

The landscape firm has contributed to the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan, which envisions 32 miles of the river as green space. The plan identifies more than 240 projects that can be implemented along the river. Her firm is already working on many segments of the Los Angeles River Valley bike path in San Fernando Valley, which would make coordination much easier for the design team, we imagine. The firm's experience with the Los Angeles River would also be invaluable for navigating the many complexities of working on a multi-jurisdictional river. For this firm, there clearly doesn't need to be an introduction to the Los Angeles River.

Apart from river projects, MLA is also responsible for m

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