MTA Media Relations - Press Release

MTA Announces Completion of a $3.8 Million San Fernando Valley Metro Rapidway Bridge over the Los Angeles River

Media: Request hi-res photos of bridge completion.

photo by Luis Inzunza

MTA CEO Roger Snoble, left, and MTA Board Chairman and County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky at first bridge to be completed for the San Fernando Valley Metro Rapidway Project.

With construction proceeding on the San Fernando Valley Metro Rapidway Project, MTA today announced the completion of the first of three key bridges for the project that will carry thousands of passengers from North Hollywood to Warner Center on a dedicated busway.

"This new bridge will be capable of handling high-capacity, clean-fuel Metro Rapid buses across the Los Angeles River providing a lifeline to Valley schools, colleges and major business centers," said MTA Board Chairman Zev Yaroslavsky. "This is truly a major milestone that has been achieved towards the completion of this vital project.

MTA awarded a $3.8 million contract earlier this year to Fontana-based Brutoco Engineering and Construction for construction of a bus bridge over the Los Angeles River in the Sepulveda Basin.

The new bridge is 525 feet in length and spans 400 feet over the Los Angeles River with the deck of the bridge some 32 feet above the river channel. The new bridge will accommodate two 15-foot bus lanes. Completion of the bridge was done on budget and ahead of schedule.

"This Metro Rapidway project is the first of its kind in Southern California and represents an innovative solution whereby transit buses operate on mostly exclusive guideways unimpeded by surrounding traffic," said MTA CEO Roger Snoble.

The San Fernando Valley Metro Rapidway is a 14-mile landscaped busway connecting Warner Center and the North Hollywood Metro Rail Station. When completed in 2005, Metro Rapid buses will travel one mile on city streets and 13 miles on an exclusive bus lane constructed in the former railroad right-of-way along portions of Oxnard Street and Victory and Chandler boulevards.

Spaced approximately one mile apart, the Rapidway will include 13 stations at major activity centers. The stations will feature original art as well as lighting, seating, security cameras, public telephones, bicycle racks and ticket-vending machines. Station signage will display the wait time between buses, along with other operating information.

Park and ride lots will be built at five stations, providing approximately 3,000 new parking spaces. Landscaping will add approximately 5,000 trees, and a bikeway and pedestrian path will be built adjacent to much of the Rapidway.

The San Fernando Valley Metro Rapidway Project is being built at a cost of $329.5 million, with an additional $8.1 million for the bikeway and pedestrian path being built parallel to the Rapidway.