“Wider straighter faster deadlier.” That’s how one river advocate described the new Riverside Bridge. The Riverside Bridge connects Elysian Valley and Cypress Park. It stands where a historic bridge once stood.
I fought this project for years as a cyclist and river advocate. The $60 million Riverside Bridge replaced a historic 1920s-1930s bridge. This earlier bridge was demolished. It was replaced to make way for the new structure. The new bridge opened for walking, bicycling, and driving. The new bridge has a protected bikeway. It features a two-way bike path with a parallel walkway. This bikeway extends the L.A. River bike path. It adds another one-third of a mile to the path. The bridge touches down on L.A. City’s first two-lane roundabout.
The Riverside Bridge is not really about safety. It is about car capacity. The city tore out a historic landmark bridge. It was widened and straightened so more cars can cross faster. The old Riverside Drive Bridge was L-shaped. It consisted of two bridges. One was a sidehill bridge along the river. The other spanned across the river. The L-shape and scale calmed traffic. The new curved Riverside Bridge is like a freeway. It is designed for cars to move faster.
The slow-moving two-car-lane bridge was remade. It is now a freeway-scale four-car-lane-width bridge. Traffic predictions did not warrant road widening. A single-lane roundabout would have been safer and pedestrian-friendly. It would have been sufficient for car traffic. City traffic engineers kept the roundabout idea. However, they scaled it up to two lanes unnecessarily.
The city’s early designs had the bike path going under the bridge. It would have crossed the river on a separate bike-ped bridge. This design raised concerns. It could create an out-of-the-way gauntlet and security risk. It could be colonized by the homeless. Public pressure led to the protected bikeway on the bridge.
The struggle for the Riverside Bridge was frustrating. The city’s experts forced in auto-centric infrastructure. This degraded an already car-infested area. This location is the confluence of the L.A. River and the Arroyo Seco. It is where L.A. started.
Visiting the Riverside Bridge this week, I see the connection it makes. It links the L.A. River bike path to the Arroyo Seco and downtown L.A.. River, bike, and walk efforts have gained momentum. Los Angeles is in a better place now. It accommodates active transportation. It respects its river.
Note that the Riverside Bridge is often called the Riverside-Figueroa Bridge. It is where Riverside Drive becomes North Figueroa Street. The bridge is located near the intersection of the 5 and 110 Freeways. The new bridge’s protected bikeway extends the Glendale Narrows L.A. River bike path across the river to Cypress Park. From there, the path extends along the river. It goes through Lincoln Heights and into downtown Los Angeles. The path extends further. It connects with the South County L.A. River Bike Trail. The recently-approved Measure M sets aside $425 million. It will close all the gaps in the L.A. River bike path.
The Riverside Drive-Dayton Avenue Bridge was first built in 1903. It was replaced with a concrete one completed in 1928. In 1939, the Army Corps of Engineers built a replacement bridge with steel trussing. This was after the Elysian Park landslide and heavy floods in 1938. This bridge was demolished in 2011. Dayton Avenue later became N. Figueroa Street. The Riverside Bridge is a testament to the city’s ever-evolving landscape.