Skip to main content

City Approves Gift of 21st Century Bridge across the L.A. River

Support Provided By
Current design proposal for North Atwater Multimodal Bridge, which may still be subject to tweaks and small changes, according to Jennifer Samson
Current design proposal for North Atwater Multimodal Bridge, which may still be subject to tweaks and small changes, according to Jennifer Samson

When the North Atwater Bridge is built sometime in 2013, it would be the first bridge to cross the historic river in the 21st century, which may explain its futuristic Calatrave-esque design.

The City Council meeting on May 22 adopted a motion to accept the multimodal, cable-stay bridge across the Los Angeles River from the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation (LARRC), a non-profit that acts as a developer for revitalization projects along the river.

"We hit a big milestone with the council motion adoption. That has made the bridge a 100 percent reality because now the city is on board," said LARRC project manager Jennifer Samson. The motion went through so smoothly because the city only needed $300,000 in funds to cover permit fees and environmental study expenses associated with the development. The question of upkeep costs -- which would have totaled the city $1 million over a period of ten years -- was resolved when the Los Angeles Conservation Corps agreed to take on maintenance of the project for the first decade of operation.

Once completed, the proposed North Atwater Bridge will span 300 feet across the river connecting Griffith Park to Atwater Village. The bridge is meant to accommodate pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians, who have long been making do by fording the sometimes-treacherous river to get to the trails on the other side.

The project has been a non-starter forabout twenty years until landscape architect Mia Lehrer introduced Morton La Kretz, a patronwilling to put up the $4 million needed to realize it last April 2011, to LARRC. Since then, some local builders have signed onto the project, including Lehrer of Mia Lehrer + Associates and Buro Happold for design and structural engineering.

The 30-foot wide bridge uses mainly steel and concrete, topped with a wooden deck. The bridge's distinctive 200-foot mast separates the bridge laterally, creating a physical barrier between equestrians on one side and pedestrians and cyclists on the other.

LARRC hopes to break ground by Spring 2013.

Support Provided By
Read More
EFEFF 2023 Banner Image

2023 Earth Focus Environmental Film Festival: Tickets and Information

The 2023 Earth Focus Environmental Film Festival is a hybrid event on May 22-25, offering virtual screenings on the Eventive platform and in-person screenings at the Landmark Westwood Theatre in Los Angeles.
A protestor speaks through a megaphone at a car caravan in Bell Gardens, California

Bell Gardens Residents Fight for Rent Control

When California Latinas for Reproductive Justice first started organizing for rent control, some policymakers didn't see the connection between housing and health. In Bell Gardens, the fight for housing stability is the fight to address the environmental determinants of health.
A boy stands near his home that was flooded due to rising sea levels.

Solastalgia: Naming the Grief of Climate Change

The word "solastalgia" aims to capture the loss and grief tied to climate change. But these emotions are experienced differently across cultures. While new language like solastalgia can be useful, Indigenous scholars and a psychologist describe how it also may miss the nuances of Indigenous peoples' experiences.