Bike trail connecting Burbank to Metrolink station gets funds

A new bike lane to connect the downtown Metrolink station with the Lake-Alameda bike path will cost $4.4 million, but when it’s completed in 2016, officials say it will fill a missing link for commuters.

Though most of the project will be grant funded — including $2.7 million from the state — the city will tap a transportation fund to pony up a $680,000 local match.

Councilman David Gordon called the project cost — which comes in at roughly $1,066 per foot of construction — “staggering,” noting that a longer stretch of the Chandler Bikeway was constructed for much cheaper. The roughly two-mile stretch — from Mariposa Street to Clybourn Avenue — was reportedly built for $2.7 million.

But deputy city transportation planner David Kriske said the new bike path, which will run along the Burbank Channel, was more complex and will require ground leveling and the construction of a grade-separated crossing at Alameda Avenue.

Once completed, the lane will provide a connection between the Lake-Alameda path and the Metrolink station, which is important for the transit-reliant neighborhoods nearby, Kriske said.

“On a connectivity basis, the value is there,” he said.

To fund the local match, the city will pull funds generated by fees imposed on new, non-residential development that can only be used for transportation projects like roadway and bikeway improvements.

--

Follow Alene Tchekmedyian on Google+ and on Twitter: @atchek.