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Orange Line Bike Path Cleaned Up for Now
A wine chalice, chains for drying clothes and a raised bed.
Today, over 20 people from various city departments, nonprofits and volunteer groups met to find a long-term solution to keeping the Orange Line bicycle in path in Van Nuys clear of transients and landscaping from growing onto the path. LAist first reported on the dire conditions of the bike path to which the Daily News picked up on.
The path is now much cleaner, but it's not over yet. The problem is unique to this part of Los Angeles, according to the city attorney's office, because you have a popular and highly used public space literally shared, but masked by shrubbery, with homeless encampments.
One runner said at the meeting that she's on the path twice a week and she sees the same trash, abandoned furniture and dead animals for weeks, sometimes months, at a time.
The LA Department of Transportation is responsible for the maintenance of the bike path portion that the lease from Metro. They will meet with the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council tonight to discuss developments and hear the community out.
Disclosure: Editor Zach Behrens serves on a volunteer LAPD committee that has been looking into this issue.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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