Chandler Boulevard's Missing Bike Link Runs Past Valley Village. Here's Where It Stands This Fall.

At each end, the protected bike route across the San Fernando Valley has been finished for years. Burbank turned its old Chandler rail line into a bike path in 2004. The G Line Bikeway runs west toward Chatsworth. Between them is a stretch of Chandler Boulevard of about three miles that never got the same treatment, and it runs right past Valley Village. That stretch is now under construction. If you have been working around the "bike lane closed" signs since spring, here is what the finished route is supposed to be, what has been built, and why it has taken this long.

The gap is short, and the hardest part to build

The Neighborhood Council Valley Village calls the full route a 21-mile "Cyclists' Highway" from Mariposa Street in Burbank to Lassen Street in Chatsworth, with a connection at the North Hollywood Metro station. In that description, the missing piece is the part of Chandler between Vineland Avenue in North Hollywood and Leghorn Avenue in Sherman Oaks. The council's own summary says that closing it lets Valley Village residents use the whole bikeway.

The Burbank segment had an easier start. According to the City of Burbank, Burbank and Metro converted the Chandler rail line in 2004 into a 2.2-mile path from Mariposa Street to the city line at Clybourn Avenue. That was an old rail corridor with no car traffic to work around. The gap near Valley Village is a working street. Cars, curb parking, left-turn pockets, traffic signals and the G Line busway all share it.

So the last three miles are the slowest part. This is the one segment where the bike lanes have to fit around everything else on the street.

Why the lanes are moving to the median

The city is spending $7 million to rebuild about three miles of existing Chandler bike lanes, from near the North Hollywood Metro B and G Line station west to near Coldwater Canyon Avenue, Streetsblog LA reported in July. The old lanes ran along the right curb. The new ones run on the left side of each direction of traffic, beside the landscaped median where G Line buses travel. Streetsblog says this placement was chosen to keep as much curb parking as possible.

That choice spares the curb, but it means moving everything else. The approved work includes removing concrete median islands, rebuilding pavement, curbs, gutters and curb ramps to current accessibility standards, changing traffic signals, and adding concrete transit platforms. For riders, the protection itself is lighter than all that concrete suggests. It consists of raised rubber curbs, called "armadillos," and soft-hit white plastic K-71 bollards.

The complexity showed up in the cost before construction began. The Neighborhood Council reported that the project was held up after contractors' bids came in at about twice the city engineer's estimate. City staff blamed the scale of the signal and striping work, temporary traffic control, and compliance with Disadvantaged Business Enterprise participation requirements.

How the work has gone so far

1. January 5, 2026. The Los Angeles Board of Public Works approved the construction contract for the Vineland-to-Leghorn segment.
2. March 2026. Councilmember Adrin Nazarian led a groundbreaking at the North Hollywood Metro Station, the Daily News reported.
3. July 12, 2026. Streetsblog toured the route. Most of the old right-side lanes had been scraped off and the new median-side lanes striped. The plastic bollards were not installed yet, and striping was unfinished at several left-turn pockets.
4. August 6, 2026. LADOT's weekly update said construction was underway, warned of lane closures in the project area, and said it hoped to finish "by the 28 Games."
5. September 29, 2026. Nazarian's Council District 2 roundup said construction had begun on the project connecting the Chandler Bike Path to the Orange Line Bikeway.

There is no published completion date. The only official target is LADOT's "by the 28 Games," and the most recent block-by-block account is Streetsblog's July visit. Anyone riding this stretch in November should expect active construction in some places.

At the groundbreaking, Nazarian made the case for the project directly, as the Daily News reported:

"Protected bike lanes work. They reduce crashes. They slow traffic. They make it clear where everyone belongs on the road."

What is already rideable, block by block

Streetsblog's July report described a route that was partly done, and the finished parts are uneven.

The same report flagged the pavement. Much of the three-mile stretch is in poor condition. The new median-side lanes run along the busway's landscaped median, where some sections are damaged and uneven, and some of the bike lane surface has been pushed up by roots from the median trees. Streetsblog also said more green paint and intersection treatments are planned. Until that work is done, the intersections are where the route is least finished.

The upgrades nearby that are already finished

While the median work goes on, a few blocks east in North Hollywood the existing Chandler Bike Path got a smaller project that is complete. The "Chandler Bicycle Path and Recreational Area" Phase 2 at Chandler Boulevard and Strohm Avenue gave the dead-end cul-de-sac at the south end of Strohm a paved connection to the path. Before, there was a steep, overgrown slope and no ramp. According to the city's project StoryMap, Council District 2 and StreetsLA built it with CRA/LA excess non-housing bond proceeds and the Street Furniture Fund. It added an ADA-accessible ramp, exercise equipment, drainage repairs, pedestrian-scale LED lighting, new fencing and handrails, shade trees and drought-tolerant plants. Phase 1, at Cartwright and Satsuma avenues, was finished in fall 2023.

The Neighborhood Council Valley Village promoted the ribbon cutting at 5350 Strohm Ave on Wednesday, April 1. By late September, the CD2 roundup listed repaired lighting, new planting, access ramps and gym equipment at the Strohm entrance.

The same roundup names two more places along the path's east end. North Hollywood Park has a new baseball complex with two hardball diamonds, a softball diamond, a multi-sport field and batting cages. The NoHo Plaza People Street, just off Chandler and Magnolia, has been improved, and the NoHo Gateway arch is now lit. Both sit at the eastern end of the Chandler stretch now under construction, near the North Hollywood Metro station where the project begins.

Where the finished route goes, and how long it is

Official sources disagree on the route's length and endpoints. The Daily News and the Neighborhood Council call it 21 miles, from Chatsworth to Burbank. LADOT's August update also says 21 miles but describes it as running from Burbank to the Sepulveda Basin. The CD2 roundup calls it a continuous 22-mile route from Burbank to Chatsworth. All of them agree on the main point. When the Chandler gap is finished, one protected route will link the NoHo Arts District, the Sepulveda Basin and Burbank's original rail-trail, and Valley Village will be partway along it.

A December date while the work continues

Your next scheduled neighborhood outing is closer to home. The Neighborhood Council lists Light Up Valley Village for Saturday, December 12. The Valley Village Farmers Market at 5000 Colfax Avenue runs from 10 a.m. to noon. From 5 to 8 p.m., Magnolia Boulevard and Whitsett Avenue host holiday shopping, treats, free food and Santa, with toy and food donations accepted. The Colfax market is a short ride from the stretch of Chandler that Streetsblog found closest to finished in July.

Changes like the Chandler bike route take years to finish, and we follow them closely here at Team Amalia-K. If you'd like to talk about how projects like this one shape daily life near your street, let's connect, or get your instant home valuation to start.