More than 830 new miles of bikeways could be added to unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County – including several new dedicated bike paths in the San Gabriel Valley – under a 20-year plan approved by the Board of Supervisors last week.
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said the
plan will “give us a real road map – no pun intended – to take our bicycle planning and implementation to a new level.”
It marks the first update to the County of Los Angeles Bicycle Master Plan in 37 years, replacing a plan from 1975. But while the approval is a first step, actually building the bike paths and lanes would cost the county $331 million, and no funding has been identified.
The new document allows the county and other agencies, such as the Lower Los Angeles/San Gabriel Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC) based in Azusa, to apply for state and federal grants to fund construction of bike facilities.
County staff said the vast majority of funding would come from state and federal sources, with improvements such as bike-route signage and pavement striping only adding “incidental” expense to county road costs.
In the plan is a 15.6-mile bike path running east to west along the San Jose Creek, from Murchison Avenue to 7th Avenue in Hacienda Heights, Rowland Heights and parts of unincorporated Walnut. The bike path or Class 1 project includes 2.6 miles of Thompson Creek in Pomona and would run parallel to the 60 Freeway.
It’s one of the largest bike paths in the plan and has received a high ranking, which could move it quicker to funding. “The ranking will definitely help with funding,” said Mark Stanley, RMC executive director.
Read more in Steve Scauzillo’s story BIKEWAY.