The Tujunga Wash Greenway and Bike Path is a trail and stormwater mitigation project in the

Valley Village Valley Village is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, located within the San Fernando Valley. History Founding According to Elke Garman, co-president of the Valley Village Homeowners Association in 1991, the history of Valley Village w ...

and

Valley Glen Valley Glen is a neighborhood in the southeastern section of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California. Once part of Van Nuys and North Hollywood, it became a separate neighborhood in 1998. Valley Glen is home to Los Angeles Valley Coll ...

neighborhoods of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

’s

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

Tujunga Wash Tujunga Wash is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 16, 2011 stream in Los Angeles County, California. It is a tributary of the Los Angeles River, providing about a f ...

is a tributary of the

Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River (), historically known as by the Tongva and the by the Spanish, is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. Its headwaters are in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and it flows nearly from Canoga Park ...

; Tujunga has its own tributary,

Pacoima Wash Pacoima Wash, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 16, 2011 is a major tributary of the Tujunga Wash, itself a tributary of the Los Angeles River, in the San Fer ...

. The wash was channelized for flood control by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s. Created between 2007 and 2012, the -long greenbelt extends from Oxnard Street in the south to Vanowen Street in the north. It “takes urban runoff from the flood control channel and creates a new stream with some of the natural characteristics from the Tujunga Wash, while native plants in the streambed help clean the water and establish habitat for animals such as birds, frogs and lizards.” The naturalized side channel within the greenway is a

bioswale Bioswales are channels designed to concentrate and convey stormwater runoff while removing debris and pollution. Bioswales can also be beneficial in groundwater recharge, recharging groundwater. Bioswales are typically vegetated, mulched, or xer ...

that recharges

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

with an average of annually. The

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

habitat lies within a greenbelt. Designed to attract both “migratory birds and pedestrians,” the ''Los Angeles Times'' said the beautification project “combines art and nature,” with the art aspect being the sculpted metal gates at the bike path entrances and the

Great Wall of Los Angeles The ''Great Wall of Los Angeles'' is a 1978 mural designed by Judith Baca and executed with the help of over 400 community youth and artists coordinated by the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC). The mural, on the concrete banks of Tuju ...

mural that’s been called “a California history lesson in sixth-tenths of a mile.” The

Class I bike path Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used di ...

runs for from Oxnard Street to Burbank Boulevard between the neighborhoods of the

Van Nuys Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1 ...

and

North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

. The road surface is mix of concrete, asphalt and gravel. At its southern terminus of Chandler Boulevard the Tujunga Wash Bike Path intersects with the

G Line Bikeway The G Line Bikeway is a cycle route in Los Angeles, California, that runs for from Chatsworth, through Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area to Valley Glen. It runs alongside the G Line bus rapid transit route, sharing a dedicated right-of-way ...

. There are access points at the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Oxnard Street, as well as Fallbrook Avenue, Lassen Street, Coldwater Canyon Drive, Nordhoff Street, Saticoy Street, and DeSoto Avenue. One local guide advises, “There are crossings every quarter-mile or so, except for about one mile in between Coldwater Canyon and Busch Motorway, where there are no crossings until it hits Saticoy Street.”

References

External links

;Maps
Los Angeles Map & Guide: Upper River
(PDF from FOLAR, Friends of the Los Angeles River)

Los Angeles Bikeway Map (Metro.net) - PDF hosted on Dropbox
;Info
L.A. River Revitalization

L.A. County: Tujunga Wash Greenway

KCET: Where Art and Greenery Meet: Hiking Along the Tujunga Wash

Recreational Use Reassessment of Engineered Channels of Los Angeles River
(Oct. 2014), Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board ;Videos
YouTube: Tujunga Wash Gravel Bike Path
(2-min helmet cam)
YouTube: tujunga wash bike path incl Great Wall of Los Angeles
(8-min helmet cam) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tujunga Wash Bike Path Los Angeles River Bike paths in Los Angeles Parks in the San Fernando Valley Transportation in the San Fernando Valley

See also

References

External links