Posted on 11/11/2025 4:47:56 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
Nearly a decade ago, Los Angeles County voters overwhelmingly approved Measure M, a half-cent sales tax to fund projects focused on public transportation. The idealistic vote gave Angelenos a lot to look forward to, including a $365 million plan for an 8-mile bike path along the Los Angeles River, which would close a crucial gap between existing paths lining LA’s concrete channelized waterway. The expected opening date: 2025.
But, as the year nears a close, the bike path still isn’t open. In fact, construction hasn’t even started, and the environmental review process is still in the early stages. In the meantime, rising construction costs and other factors have increased the total project cost to approximately $1 billion.
Next steps include releasing the draft environmental impact report later this year, holding public hearings on that report, determining a preferred project option between several different alternative designs, and finally, releasing the final environmental impact report by 2026 or 2027, two years after bikers and pedestrians were supposed to be on the path. At the same time, LA Metro is still searching for an agency to take over the project’s ongoing operation and maintenance.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
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Jim
Thanks democrats.
Democrats voters believe these politicians. It’s money laundering
Then they project thi behavior onto President Trump. That’s wrong. He does not launder money. That makes dem politicians -and republicans - they don’t know how to deal with him
As usual, the Democrats out there can’t seem to get off their butts to get anything done. Wonder what would happen if they just outlawed the Democrat party in Calif.?
This reminds me of the renters I must evict. They aren’t paying the rent, but they do pay the $300 cable bill and buy flat screen TV’s that almost cover an entire wall. Add those two things together and you’ve paid another two months of rent. But no.
No matter what you think you've pulled
You'll find it's not enough
No matter who you think you know
You won't get through
It's a given, L.A. law
Shakedown, breakdown
But remember, they are watching so many enriching programs on TV now that eventually it will pay off. Not for you, but for China and the other TV manufacturers, and Big Pharma and Insurance Companies.
Trump as Governor, would have had this finished in a year or two.
Phase 1: Estimated to cost $19.5 million. It will include 3.2 miles of trail, connecting the Newtown Road light rail station to Town Center with an elevated bridge over Independence Boulevard
Phase 4: Recently approved for a $23.8 million state grant from the SMART SCALE Grant program. This phase will extend the eastern part of the trail by 2.8 miles,connecting South Birdneck Road to London Bridge Road.
It’s why I would never get into rental property. The house next door is a rental. No pets allowed so they have 3 dogs and a cat. Hoarders. Only one of them can read and she died a few weeks ago. Social services took the children because the parents don’t live there and never did. Wonderful people but it’s like watching a plane crash in slow motion.
I think it was P.T. Barnum that once said, “Never let a sucker keep his money”.
A billion dollars for an 8 mile bike path? It shouldn’t even cost 100K.
My sons volunteered to work at the new Boy Scout Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia.
They and hundreds of other volunteers worked on various infrastructure projects.
My sons worked all week building an off-road bike trail system.
Several miles were completed.
So, California wants a Billion Dollars and 15 years to build an 8-mile trail.
Ya right, a Billion dollars for the trail, more like a few hundred thousand and the rest goes into pockets.
Or a couple of Eagle Scouts
The future CA “High Speed Rail” bike path will beat that! “Rails to Trails” doncha know!
“Wonder what would happen if they just outlawed the Democrat party in Calif.?”
They would just change the name of it and continue as usual. The answer is to make those who espouse a certain proven dangerous ideology extremely uncomfortable.
Can’t they just tell the lawyers to chase ambulances, or is that market overcrowded? At least this way, nobody has gotten mugged on the bike path yet, and it’s not overrun with homeless tents.
They should have made it a bike path from the get go.
In CaliFUBAR ... no surprise considering their high speed rail fiasco.
I still ride a bike. I will probably continue riding until a bad fall convinces me to start acting my age. So as a cyclist, "closing a crucial gap" is a key thing to note.
When you see bicyclists out on inappropriate, busy roads, rest assured that it is not because they want to be riding on commuter sewers. It's generally a sign that there is a gap or chokepoint that forces cyclists (and often pedestrians) onto arterial roads because there is simply no other practicable way to get from A to B. Closing these gaps is a big deal.
That said, the price tag associated with this project is California level insanity. Do not let California government stupidities, graft, regulatory paralysis, union driven multiplication of costs, and general entropy cloud your view of the merits of the underlying project.
This is a point at which the points of view diverge between the cyclists and multi-modal transit advocates and the carheads who are high on gasoline fumes. As hard as it is for suburban cowboys to believe, some people get on a bike and actually want to go somewhere, as opposed to endless loops around your cul-de-sac or loading your bike on a car and going out to some designated bike trail area. The car addicts design communities where you can't get a loaf of bread without getting in your car. Some of them probably get in their cars to visit a neighbor two doors down. Kids can't walk to school. If there are no sidewalks or paths, people can have trouble finding suitable places to jog or walk their dogs or just take a stroll.
And the part that infuriates me, and a lot of other cyclists, pedestrians, joggers and dog walkers, is that very often this happens in neighborhoods that used to have civilized options for non-automobile movement, but it was eliminated decades ago to add more traffic lanes or to turn neighborhood streets into limited access, high speed commuter sewers, leaving people who just want to get across the street to take a lengthy detour.
Dang it, if the commuter lobby wants to convert existing non-motorized infrastructure into car-exclusive barriers, there should be an obligation to mitigate the damage and build viable replacement options. But oh, we are told: that's too expensive. No, it's not. It's a matter of not allowing the carheads to externalize the very real costs they are imposing on people and neighborhoods that are misfortunate enough to be caught in the path of suburban cowboys who are happy to sacrifice your neighborhood to shave five minutes off their commutes.
Beyond that, solutions get very granular. I'm not familiar enough with LA to know the history of the area and the practicable options. But closing the gaps is important.
Assessing the benefits is also a very granular analysis. I've lived on Capitol Hill in DC for over 45 years. The Hill dodged a bullet when community opposition blocked a couple of proposed interstate highways that would have slashed across it. It subsequently recovered from the white flight and Marion Barry slumps and has emerged as a lovely walkable, bikeable, historic neighborhood.
But here's the relevant thing. DC is choking on traffic congestion; we are now the most congested city in America. The carheads, naturally, think the solution is to destroy more neighborhoods to build more commuter sewers and parking garages. But on the Hill itself, fewer than 50 percent of people take a car to work. Because we are centrally located, we have excellent metro service, as well as relatively short commutes. I commuted by bike for years, until my daughters started school and I became a chauffer. My commute was less than a mile. Why the heck should I get in a car and park all day in an expensive parking lot to go a mile? It was faster on a bike, and it was pleasant exercise. Getting people out of their cars is a good option if we build and maintain multi-use neighborhoods with multi-modal transit options. The Hill is an outlier because of its central location, but more and more, good redevelopment in the DC area is built around flexible options. Sure, most people in the suburbs will still drive, but if we can get 10 or 15 percent out of their cars, it makes a difference.
An eight mile bikepath to link two existing trail networks in LA, whose traffic congestion is legendary? Sounds like a good idea to me. But leave it to California to inflate the costs out of sight. All it really takes is a wide sidewalk, because in a pinch, all sidewalks can double as bike paths. It's not ideal, but for closing a gap, it's a workable option. At least provide the option for people who are at a stage of life at which the option is attractive.
Some of the carheads seem to think that putting a treadmill in your basement or maintaining a gym membership (so you can drive to the gym) beats walkable, bikeable neighborhoods. They can go pound sand.
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