Metro’s plans to turn underused train tracks along Slauson Avenue into a bike path are moving right along. Last year, the transit agency received a $15 million federal grant for the project, which would connect the under-construction Crenshaw/LAX Line with the Blue Line before linking up with the LA River bike path. Now, The Source reports that the first segment of the project has all the funding it needs and that Metro hopes to have the walking and biking path open by 2019—the same year that the Crenshaw/LAX Line is expected to be complete.
6.4 miles long, the first segment will run from the future Fairview Station in Inglewood to Santa Fe Avenue in Huntington Park, following along part of the Harbor Subdivision rail corridor. This will allow travelers to use the trail to access the Crenshaw/LAX and Blue Lines, as well as the Silver Line rapid bus system and some of the area’s most widely-ridden north-south bus lines.
The second phase of the rail-to-river path will actually link the trail to the river, though Metro hasn’t yet settled on a route for that part of the project. The agency is currently weighing four options that range from 2.1 to 4.3 miles in length. Each alternative connects with the bike path running from Vernon to Long Beach.
Metro also hopes to connect the paths currently running alongside the river, creating a unified bike trail following the body of water all the way north into the San Fernando Valley. That project, however, may depend on whether voters approve Metro’s ballot measure instituting a permanent half-cent sales tax increase to pay for future transit projects.
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