Feuer Leads Dedication of Studio City Footbridge

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 concrete footbridge in Studio City 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.

“In Paris, everyone talks about the River Seine,” Feuer told the small crowd. “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.