How a billion-dollar Calif. bike path ended up in bureaucratic hell

A new path along the LA River was supposed to be open by now. Instead, construction hasn't even started. - Erin Rode

Nearly a decade ago, Los Angeles County voters overwhelmingly approved Measure M, a half-cent sales tax to fund projects focused on public transportation, street and sidewalk repair, and traffic reduction. 

The idealistic vote gave park-starved and transit-hungry Angelenos a lot to look forward to, including a $365 million plan for an 8-mile bike path along the Los Angeles River, which would close a crucial gap between existing paths lining LA’s concrete channelized waterway. 

• The expected opening date: 2025.
• But, as the year nears a close, the bike path still isn’t open. 

In fact, construction hasn’t even started, and the environmental review process is still in the early stages. In the meantime, rising construction costs and other factors have increased the total project cost to approximately $1 billion...