Web of Shady ‘Greenways’ Envisioned in Rail Corridors : Parklands: The RTD director has suggested lanes for bicyclists and pedestrians as a means of connecting communities and bringing ‘the country back to Los Angeles.’

A group of community leaders presented a plan Wednesday to transform a dusty 15-mile stretch of Southern Pacific railroad track in the San Fernando Valley into a swath of tree-lined trails for bicyclists and pedestrians.

The group envisions a shady strip connecting North Hollywood with Warner Center as the first section of what they hope will be a web of many “greenways” built along old Southern Pacific right of ways around Los Angeles County.

“We are going to bring the country back to Los Angeles,” said Nikolas Patsaouras, director of the Southern California Rapid Transit District.

The Los Angeles greenways are the brainchild of Patsaouras, his solution to the dearth of parkland in a county where land is scarce and expensive.

“We have to be creative, innovative,” he said.

Nationwide, a number of cities--such as Boston and Washington--have developed greenways, many of which snake along former railroad rights of way. In addition to recreational uses, greenways can aid wildlife migration and encourage use of people-powered alternatives to automobile traffic.

County Supervisor Mike Antonovich and City Councilman Marvin Braude, who helped develop bike trails in Santa Monica, supported the concept.

The proposed Valley greenway follows the route of the proposed Metro Rail extension that will run between North Hollywood and Warner Center. The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission is negotiating to buy the rights of way on old Southern Pacific lines around the county. Neil Peterson, the commission’s executive director, said the commission would like to see the land developed as greenways.

Patsaouras said the Valley greenway would be the first of many such grassy sarteries around the county. Other proposed greenways would connect Los Angeles with Santa Monica, South Gate with Anaheim and Highland Park with Baldwin Park.

Ryan Snyder, a transportation planner and expert on bikeways, said the proposed Valley greenway could be used by bicycle commuters to alleviate traffic congestion.

“The route would directly serve several important destinations, including Warner Center, the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area, Birmingham High School, as well as several other smaller schools and parks,” he said. “It could be used as a commuter route, and would likely be popular as a recreational route.”

Homeowners who heard the proposal liked it.

“We support very actively what you’re trying to do here,” Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys Homeowners Assn., told Patsaouras.

Patsaouras estimated that the greenway would cost about $1.5 million and would be funded in large part by money from Proposition 70, which was passed in 1988 and made about $120 million available to cities for open-space projects such as greenways.

Communities along the route would be primarily responsible for developing individual sections of the greenway. On Tuesday, Antonovich proposed an Adopt-A-Tree program that would encourage residents to defray the cost of landscaping by paying for a tree along the route.