Concrete Footbridge Officially Opened

At the site of a bridge-collapse scene in the 1974 disaster film “Earthquake,” City Councilman Mike Feuer joined other city officials and residents Thursday in dedicating a new concrete footbridge near Ventura Boulevard.

The new bridge replaces a wooden one built in the post-World War II era that inspectors declared unsafe after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Sharon Mayer, Feuer’s San Fernando Valley deputy, said engineers decided that another wooden bridge would be too difficult to maintain.

Feuer called the event the first step in “the greening of the L.A. River.” The $400,000 bridge, built with public earthquake rebuilding funds, enables pedestrians on Laurelgrove Avenue to cross the river to or from Ventura Boulevard.

“In Paris, everyone talks about the River Seine,” Feuer told the small crowd at the ribbon-cutting. “But what is it? It’s just water in a concretized box. Yet it makes a tremendous contribution to the community. We have a chance to do that here.”

At the ceremony, residents Robert Birchfiel, Art Howard, Berny Thorsch and Polly Ward received commendations from the city for their contributions to the bridge project and other community efforts.

During construction, Mayer noted, the old bridge was moved a few hundred feet down the river so that pedestrians could continue crossing.

In a nod to users of the bridge who happened upon the bright red ribbon and oversized scissors, Feuer briefly held up the festivities.

“We’re going to pause just a second. We have real people coming,” Feuer said.

One of the “real people,” 33-year Studio City resident Keith Wester, didn’t seem to mind Feuer’s description. He agreed with the councilman’s vision of a publicly funded effort to create parks, biking trails and picnic areas along the river.

“I think this area could be absolutely remarkable,” he said.