Letter to the Editor: The time is right for a Downey bike trail

Dear Editor:

The City of Bellflower has a convenient mixed-use bike path that runs through the city called the “Bellflower Bike Trail.” They currently have plans to continue the path deeper into Paramount, eventually ending at the LA River Trail.

When completed, this trail will be convenient for cyclists as it connects the San Gabriel to the LA River trails.

Whittier has a similar mixed use trail called the Whittier Greenway Trail. Both of these trails run adjacent to train tracks that are either abandoned or get very little use. All walks of life use this trail for exercise, recreation or leisure. Both trails are safe and don’t draw in a lot of crime.

Now let’s talk about Downey. Besides the San Gabriel River Trail and a small portion of the Rio Hondo Trail, Downey does not currently have good biking or walking infrastructure. The city places cars as the number one priority. But like Bellflower and Whittier, we also have a rarely used train system that runs from east to west. Why couldn’t we use this area to build a mixed-use bike trail that not only connects east and west Downey, but also a convenient way for cyclists to get from the San Gabriel River to the Rio Hondo and LA River without having to ride with cars?

LA Metro is currently working on a project called the LA River Path Project, in which they plan to connect the missing 8-mile portion of the upper and lower LA River Bike Paths in Vernon, Downtown LA and Elysian Valley. They plan to be done by 2027. If Downey built a bike path concurrent to Metro’s LA River project, one could easily bike from Downey all the way to Downtown LA, Dodger Stadium, or even Griffith Park without encountering a single car or riding on the street. How awesome would that be?

But it wouldn’t just be awesome for cyclists. Think of all the walkers, joggers, runners, rollerbladers, skaters, and families walking their dogs who would enjoy the trail!

As far as funding goes, maybe ask the federal government or the state for funding and tell them they owe us for all of the poor air quality from all the freeways (and LAX flight path) that surround our city.

Rob Mendoza
Downey