Taylor Yard Bridge, Connecting Cypress Park And Elysian Valley, Is Now Open

A new pedestrian and bicycle bridge opened Monday at the L.A. River.

The Taylor Yard Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge will allow pedestrians and cyclists to walk and bike across the river, connecting the Elysian Valley and Cypress Park neighborhoods.

The bridge is part of the L.A. River revitalization project, a massive municipal undertaking that was approved by City Council in 2007. Construction on the bridge began in 2019 and was expected to be completed by mid-2021, but was reportedly held up by supply chain delays.

The structure has been on city officials' radar since long before the river's master plan was complete. First broached as a possibility in the early 1990s, city officials agreed to build the bridge rather than fight a lawsuit over their alleged failure to solicit community comment around development plans for the area.

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The current structure was designed by SPF:a, the same Culver City-based architecture firm responsible for the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, and the Getty Villa. It features a series of open-air orange squares melded together, inside of which floats a slightly slanted walkway.

Two viewing platforms jut out from the middle of the walkway, one looking north and one looking south.

One of three bridges built recently in the stretch of river known as the Glendale Narrows, the Taylor Yard bridge is 400 feet long, 30 feet high and 27 feet wide. It is one of approximately 240 planned projects along the banks of the nearly 50-mile waterway.

Mayor Eric Garcetti joined local and state officials at a ribbon cutting and grand opening ceremony Monday morning.