Marvin Braude Bike Trail

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Marvin Braude Bike Trail
Bike path and Manhattan Beach pier
Length22.3 mi (35.9 km)
LocationLos Angeles County, California
Established1974
Completed1989
TrailheadsWill Rogers State Beach
UseMixed
DifficultyModerate
Websitebeaches.lacounty.gov

The Marvin Braude Bike Trail (also known as the Beach Bike Path,[1] Coastal Bike Trail[1], The Strand, or the South Bay Bicycle Trail[2]) is a 22-mile (35 km) paved bicycle path that runs mostly along the shoreline of Santa Monica Bay in Los Angeles County, California.[3][4] The coastal bike trails is widely acknowledged as Los Angeles’ “most popular bike path.”

The path “leads cyclists past colorful piers, lively crowds, and beach vistas unseen by automobile travelers.”[2]

A 1985 bike touring guidebook reported that this was “deservedly the most popular (and most crowded) bike path in Los Angeles County. Riders see exhilarating views of the Pacific Ocean, fleets of weekend sailors, and, on a clear day, Catalina Island riding on the horizon.”[5]

For most of its length the concrete route is 14 feet (4.3 m) wide.[6] The northern terminus of the trail is at Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. The southern terminus of the trail is in Torrance County Beach in Torrance, at the base of Palos Verdes Peninsula.

County officials reported that at the time the trail was completed (in 1989), as many as 10,000 people a day used the route.[7]

For most of the trail, the bicycle path is Class I (no automobile contact) but for a few miles in Marina del Rey, the route is Class II where the bicycle route crosses six streets with automobiles and nearby traffic lights, adding moderate danger for bicyclists, pedestrians, roller skaters, and skateboarders.

See also: California bikeway classifications
Ballona Creek Bike Path joins Marvin Braude Bike Route near the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve.

Near the midpoint, between the two ends of the path, this coastal bicycle path intersects with another Class I bicycle path, with abundant wildlife viewing opportunities, known as the Ballona Creek Bike Path. This urban river bicycle path goes inland for approximately 7 miles (11 km) into Culver City, and there connecting to the Expo Line Bikeway (ending near USC) and the Park to Playa Trail (ending in the Baldwin Hills).

Route

The Santa Monica portion of the path is an 8.5-mile (13.7 km) Class 1 path in Los Angeles County running from Temescal Canyon. The path begins in Will Rogers State Beach in the Pacific Palisades area of the city of Los Angeles.

It continues southbound along the beach and passes through Santa Monica State Beach in the city of Santa Monica, where the path passes underneath the Santa Monica Pier.

The path then passes through in Venice Beach. The Class I bicycle path ends at the Venice Fishing Pier and riders must continue on the Class II bicycle path along Washington Boulevard.

The Class II path eventually veers off of Washington Boulevard and takes riders around Marina Del Rey until it reaches a Class II path running alongside the main channel of the marina, an extension of the Ballona Creek Bike Path. [8]

This is the bike path looking west at Admiralty Way and Fiji Way, where it once again becomes a Class 2 bike lane.

The path continues south through Dockweiler State Beach (which abuts Los Angeles International Airport and the city of El Segundo), El Porto Beach and Manhattan County Beach (both part of the city of Manhattan Beach).

A section of the bicycle trail with the Manhattan Beach pier in the background

In Hermosa Beach, riders have the choice of either continuing along the Class II bicycle path that runs alongside Hermosa Beach (which can get quite busy with pedestrian foot traffic, especially during the summer months) or riding on a Class II bicycle lane that runs parallel to Hermosa Avenue. The bike path/pedestrian trail that runs alongside the beach in Hermosa Beach is known as The Strand.[8]

The path continues along the beach through Redondo County Beach in the city of Redondo Beach. The path passes through the parking structure of the Redondo Beach pier. Signs instruct riders to dismount and walk their bikes across the main entrance to the pier and the King Harbor marina.

The path ends in Torrance Beach, below a parking lot at the base of the Palos Verdes Peninsula hills.

History

Realizing the success of paved bike paths in Europe, in the 1890s L.A. city planners proposed a bike path from Los Angeles to Santa Monica. The cost for the path was estimated at $200 per mile, with agreements from local farmers to allow the path to run across their lands.[9][10][11][12]

The current path was proposed in the late 1960s—the Los Angeles Times reported “Chamber Studies Plan for Bikeway in Venice” in 1967–and was approved by L.A. County Supervisors in 1971.[6]

Initial gaps in the route, which was otherwise largely complete by 1974, were in Marina Del Rey and Santa Monica, Hermosa and Redondo Beach. At the Marina, “proposed route around basins F, G, and H, and established route on Ballona Creek jetty are separated by locked gate at Via Venetia apartments.” The L.A. Times reported “strip may be acquired.”[6] At Playa Del Rey there was a gap between the Pacific Avenue Bridge and Culver Blvd., and in Santa Monica the section near “the abandoned Pacific Ocean Park amusement complex, the Synanon headquarters [at Casa del Mar], and the Santa Monica Pier” was deemed “geographically impassable.”[6]

There was also talk about routing the Hermosa section entirely inland to Hermosa Avenue or Valley Drive, and sections of the Redondo portion were disconnected because of problems with “its Redevelopment Agency and harbor-area lessees.”[6]

The Strand in Hermosa Beach, looking north

The entire path is along the beach and was adamantly opposed by beachfront homeowners,[13] who managed for two decades to stop the path from reaching Santa Monica.[14][15]

The mile-and-half segment between California Avenue to Chautauqua Boulevard in the Pacific Palisades was added in 1985.[5] The last section of the path was opened in 1989.[7]

The Marvin Braude bicycle trail was officially named in 2006 for Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude and dedicated by State Senator Sheila Kuehl.[16][17]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "LA County Beach Bike Path – Beaches & Harbors". Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  2. ^ a b Sunset Travel Guide to Southern California. Menlo Park, Calif.: Lane Publishing Co. 1974. p. 43. SBN 376-06754-3.
  3. ^ "Marvin Braude Coastal Bike Trail Map" (PDF). Marina Del Rey Convention and Visitors Bureau. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-04-01.
  4. ^ L.A. Beach Bike Path – Santa Monica to Redondo Beach – maps.google.com
  5. ^ a b MacArthur, Loren (1985). L.A. Bike Rides: A Guide to 37 Specially Selected Bike Routes in Los Angeles County. San Francisco, Calif.: Chronicle Books. p. 62. ISBN 0-87701-316-0.
  6. ^ a b c d e Ferderber & Allan, “Beachfront Path Popular,” Los Angeles Times, 1974-05-09, p. CS1.
  7. ^ a b Wilkinson, Tracy (1989-05-05). "Coasting Cyclists Get in Gear for Opening of Beach Bike Path's Last Link Cyclists Get in Gear for Opening of Beach Bike Path's Last Link". Los Angeles Times. p. Metro 2. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  8. ^ a b Brady, Patrick (2007-04-28). Bicycling Los Angeles County: A Guide to Great Road Bike Rides. Menasha Ridge Press. pp. 132–144, 208–221. ISBN 978-0897329507.
  9. ^ "The Bicycle Path: The Executive Committee Submitted a Report". Los Angeles Times. 1895-08-16. p. 6.
  10. ^ "Local Cycle Paths: The Initial One to Be Built to Santa Monica". Los Angeles Times. 1899-08-21. p. 8. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  11. ^ "Cycle Path Assured: Encouragement for the Committee Coming from All Sides. Success of Cycleways". Los Angeles Times. 1899-08-28. p. 6. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  12. ^ "Cycle Board of Trade Meets and Does Things". Los Angeles Times. 1901-06-12.
  13. ^ Fanucchi, Kenneth J. (1986-11-30). "Santa Monica to Oppose Moving Bike Path Inland". Los Angeles Times. p. 2. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  14. ^ "Santa Monica Bike Path Plan Approved". Los Angeles Times. 1988-04-28. p. 2. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  15. ^ "Santa Monica Extension of Bike Path OKd". Los Angeles Times. 1988-07-14. p. 2. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  16. ^ "SB 1583 Senate Bill - Bill Analysis".
  17. ^ "PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE". Archived from the original on 2012-06-15. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
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