LA County Meeting 6.2.09

I am once again inspired by the amount of progress and positivity brought to last night's meeting with LA County to discuss the next steps and plans for the Arroyo Seco (Bikeway) Greenway!

Despite the relatively small turnout, a number of representatives from key government and non-government groups came out, voiced their opinions and overall added their support to continuing with the project.

The County came with three representatives and what seems like a barebones plan of action.
1) Get the remaining funds transfered to the new starting point.
2) Update environmental information.
3) Design and build it.

They have formed a partnership with the City of LA through CD-1 (who's district covers most of the area chosen for the Greenway) and are working on getting solid support from CalTrans. Representatives from both CalTrans and CD-1 were present.

Also, present were members of the Arroyo Seco Foundation, The Bicycle Coalition, Arroyo Seco Greenway Working Group (duh), Highland Park Historical Trust and various unaffiliated stakeholders.

Since the last meeting's proposal to look at starting at or near the future Confluence Park site, the County and CD-1 as well as, seperately, members of the Arroyo Seco Foundation, have concluded that the area from San Fernando Rd to Ave 26 along the NE side of the Arroyo Seco looks like a small, but doable piece.

Not only is this area part of the Cornfields Master Plan, but also this area is wide enough to build multi-use trails, thereby allowing for use by a great variety of different community members. (Bikes, Horses, Pedestrians..)

There was a great deal of concern about the usability of the bike path for commuting if it is designated as a multi-use trail. Given the state of the Venice bike path, I think that is a valid concern worth having a longer conversation about.

Another related concern is that having the bike path "in channel" may be counterproductive to the work of those hoping to restore the river to a more natural state in the future.

All in all we still have a lot of work to do. We are slowly making progress, but the feeling of cooperation and willingness to compromise, while still asking the tough questions, was amazing.