Printer Friendly
The Free Library
14,508,411 articles and books
Member login
User name  
Password 
 
Join us Forgot password?

TAKING A NEW PATH RIVER GREENWAY STRETCH TO OPEN.


Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

Just off the fashionable bustle of 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. , walkers and bikers can escape to the quieter, more natural side of Studio City on the bank of the Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River is an intermittent river flowing through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the west end of the San Fernando Valley, 51 miles (82 km) southeast to its mouth in Long Beach. .

City officials today will dedicate a new half-mile stretch of greenway and bike path on the south side of the river from Whitsett Avenue to Laurel Canyon Boulevard Laurel Canyon Boulevard is a major street in the city of Los Angeles, California. It starts off at Polk Street in Sylmar in the northern San Fernando Valley near the junction of the San Diego (Interstate 405) and the Golden State Freeways (Interstate 5). .

What was once dirt, weeds and chain-link is now a paved path with native plants and decorative wrought iron wrought iron: see iron.
wrought iron

One of the two forms in which iron is obtained by smelting. Wrought iron is a soft, easily worked, fibrous metal. It usually contains less than 0.1% carbon and 1–2% slag.
 fence. River rock-decorated ramps and a staircase lead to the path and a new public art display with river-inspired poetry is planned.

Part one of the $10 million Proposition K park bond project to develop a bike path and walkway from Sepulveda Basin to Universal City, the completed greenway is another small step toward the dream of a river park from the West San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley

Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills.
 to downtown.

``I think we're going to make it happen,'' said The River Project director Melanie Winter, who went knocking on doors six years ago when the Studio City greenway was first proposed. ``As more and more stretches get the greenway treatment, more people are going to say, How do we do the next stretch and how do we keep this going.''

There is momentum.

The state is developing two new river parks close to downtown: the 40-acre Taylor Yard and 32-acre Cornfield Park are both former railroad yards.

In the Valley, right across Laurel Canyon Laurel Canyon can refer to several things:
  • Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California, an area in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CA
  • Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a street that connects the San Fernando Valley to Hollywood that passes through Laurel Canyon
 from the new city parkway, workers are putting the finishing touches finishing touches finish npl the finishing touches → der letzte Schliff

finishing touches nplultimi ritocchi mpl 
 on the new Valleyheart Greenway, a $750,000 park by The River Project and the County of 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. . Carpenter Elementary School students designed the artwork including the Great Toad Gate, a rattlesnake rattlesnake, poisonous New World snake of the pit viper family, distinguished by a rattle at the end of the tail. The head is triangular, being widened at the base. The rattle is a series of dried, hollow segments of skin, which, when shaken, make a whirring sound.  bench and butterfly and hummingbird garden.

Last year, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is an agency of the state of California in the United States founded in 1979 and dedicated to the acquisition of land in the Santa Susana and Santa Monica Mountains and the Simi Hills, north and west of Los Angeles, for preservation as open  installed a small amphitheater and outdoor classroom along the river at Fulton Avenue, along a stretch of river landscaped by the Village Gardeners. And city engineers and a citizen advisory committee will soon decide whether to head east toward Lankershim or west toward Coldwater Canyon Boulevard for the next $2 million stretch of the Prop K-funded greenway.

Together, the projects will begin to add a swath of green in a neighborhood becoming increasingly dense with apartments and condominiums.

``I think it really addresses a need for open space,'' said Tony Lucente, president of the Studio City Residents Association. ``People are relieved to finally see it happening. We hope it truly is a beginning.''

The first stretch was developed with many compromises. Neighbors worried the new river path would bring transients and traffic to their quiet community.

There are still kinks in the project. The new greenway is black asphalt, despite some community calls for a light-colored, environmentally friendly surface to make the walk more comfortable in the valley's roasting summers.

The Bureau of Engineering is looking at lighter-toned coating for the asphalt or alternative pathway surfaces and may change the asphalt if they additional money outside of the park bond funds.

Future projects can incorporate those environmentally-friendly materials as the river projects expand through the valley.

This is only the first step, said Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who represents the area.

``This will be shining example of what is possible along the river front.''

Kerry Cavanaugh, (818) 713-3746

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, map

Photo:

(1) Rebecca Cohen cohen
 or kohen

(Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male.
, 10, rides her bike Wednesday past a patch of California poppies that grow next to the path along the Los Angeles River near Laurel Canyon Boulevard.

(2) Harry Paul, Meaghan Townsend and Nicole Dunn take a lunchtime stroll down the path.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

Map:

L.A. RIVER GREENWAY PROJECT
COPYRIGHT 2004 Daily News
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2004, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

 Reader Opinion

Title:

Comment:



 

Article Details
Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback
Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Date:Apr 22, 2004
Words:613
Previous Article:COC PITCHER TRYING TO KEEP DREAM ALIVE.(News)
Next Article:DAILY UPDATE.(News)



Related Articles
Greenways: paths to the future.
Eden Wood Realty donates land for Patriots Path growth.(Brief Article)
BIKE PATH PHOBIA: SELLING SKEPTICS ON URBAN GREENWAY BIKE PATH SAFETY.
RESCUING THE L.A. RIVER; STUDIO CITY RESIDENTS DEBATE PLAN FOR GREENWAY.(NEWS)
REINVENTING L.A.'S OLD RIVER CHILDREN HELP DESIGN NEW PROJECT.(News)(Statistical Data Included)
Boat ramp, bike path increase urban access to the Willamette.(Columns)(Column)
Trail is monument to persistence.(Government)(Recreation: For decades, Ruth Bascom pushed for the completion of the bike path along the Willamette...
GREENWAY SEGMENT OPENING GRADE SCHOOL STUDENTS DESIGNED L.A. RIVER BANK PARK'S AMENITIES.(News)
City breaks ground on Hunts Point Park.(Construction & Design)
OPENING TO GREENWAY? TAX PLAN VIEWED FOR L.A. RIVER.(News)

Terms of use | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc. | Feedback | For webmasters | Submit articles