Bikeways

Urban biking is healthful exercise for some and enjoyable transportationfor others. But as most experienced cyclists know, bikeways aren't immune to crime. A double homicide occurred on the L.A. River Bikeway near Glendale Boulevard on Sept. 14. Two men on foot, ages 18 and 33, were found shot to death, prompting questions about whether the trail is a safe place for bicyclists, children and families. Los Angeles Police Det.

Bicyclists in Orange County are doubly blessed: Known as a mountain bikers' paradise, the county also boasts a network of kinder, gentler paved trails. Not nearly so gnarly, they are as scenic as almost anything extreme biking can offer. The crown jewel of the system is the Santa Ana River Bikeway, a 28-mile joy ride from the Riverside County line to the ocean--and back, if you've got the legs.

Ten years ago, street gangs and homeless people claimed the Santa Ana River Bikeway as their own. Graffiti marred the concrete walls along the urban pathway. Makeshift homeless camps cropped up beneath bridges and in dense pockets of underbrush. Thieves, hidden in darkness, terrorized unsuspecting joggers and bicyclists; killers dumped bodies along the paved trail. It was a place that avid bicyclist Charley Simons avoided--until now.

Bicycle enthusiasts have a dream: a paved bikeway along Trabuco Creek stretching 16 miles that will offer bicyclists and pedestrians a scenic, mountains-to-the-sea route with no cars to interfere. Last week, more than 60 bicyclists, residents and elected officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the latest Trabuco Creek bikeway link, a $1.

Irate Orange County bicyclists have sued the state Department of Transportation, saying backpedaling bureaucrats at Caltrans have unlawfully barred them from zipping along a popular stretch of Pacific Coast Highway. At issue is an almost mile-long access ramp connecting Doheny Park Road to northbound PCH--a popular biking spot near the beach in Dana Point.

Irate Orange County bicyclists have filed suit against the state Department of Transportation, charging that backpedaling bureaucrats at Caltrans have unlawfully barred them from zipping along a popular stretch of Pacific Coast Highway. At issue is an almost mile-long access ramp connecting Doheny Park Road to the northbound lane of Pacific Coast Highway--a popular biking spot near the beach in Dana Point.

Work is expected to be completed next month on 2 1/2 miles of bike lanes on each side of Agoura Road, between Liberty Canyon and Kanan roads. The project is funded by city money and a $650,000 grant from the federal Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century, which was passed in 1998, City Engineer Jim Thorsen said. The work is part of a countywide plan to extend bike lanes from the city of Los Angeles through Calabasas and Agoura Hills to the Ventura County border.

Riding through red tape as if he had won the Tour De France, Mayor Richard Riordan on Wednesday officially opened a new stretch of the Los Angeles River Bike Path in Atwater Village. The $2.2-million segment runs 1.38 miles--from Fletcher Drive to Los Feliz Boulevard--along the west bank of the river and will eventually connect with Griffith Park. Construction of the segment began in April 1999.