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City map of 20th Street bike/ped improvements project
The 1/8-mile-long Z-shaped facility is an extension of the city’s Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway, called MANGo. The project includes two short bike/walk paths and one block of two-way protected bike lanes.
The new bike/walk facility is smart and strategic, aptly extending an existing low stress bikeway across a barrier – the 10 Freeway. The design and execution are very good, though the proximity to the freeway and its off-ramps means that the area remains full of car traffic. It can be a pretty loud place, especially for people on foot or on bike waiting for the light to cross 20th Street.
Below is a photo tour of the project from west to east.
The west entrance to the 20th Street bikeway/walkway at the end of Michigan AvenueAt this end the city improved a very basic walkway, adding a short bike path (about 70 feet long), lighting and landscaping. The asphalt two-way bike path runs alongside a concrete walkway.The facility narrows near 20th, where cyclists and pedestrians briefly share the sidewalkPedestrians and cyclists cross 20th at a signalized crosswalk. It’s difficult to make out in this photo, but the green light near the center is a bike signal.The facility includes a block of protected two-way bike lanes along 20th, with concrete curbs at each endThe protected bike lanes along 20th Street cross the 10 FreewayImmediately north of the freeway, the facility turns eastThe east end of the facility is a roughly 320-foot-long bike/walk path running between Crossroads schools and the 10 FreewayThe bikeway/walkway currently ends at Michigan and 21st Street, about half a mile ride or walk to the E Line Bergamot/26th Station
Joe Linton is editor of Los Angeles Streetsblog. He is also a longtime urban environmental activist. His main areas of interest have been restoring the Los Angeles River and fostering bicycling for everyday transportation. He’s worked for many Los Angeles livability non-profits, including Friends of the L.A. River, Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, C.I.C.L.E., Livable Places, and CicLAvia. He also served as deputy to Los Angeles City Councilmember Ed Reyes.
