After four long months of deprivation, next week we will finally regain access to Runyon Canyon Park. All 137 acres of the park will be back in action on August 2, according to the LA Times.
So what exactly will be different at the beloved recreation spot when it reopens? Probably not too much that you’ll notice right away since most of the work that was done was underground. Crews from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power replaced an aging water main that runs under the park for about a mile, part of an attempt to modernize the city’s pipeline infrastructure. The Runyon Canyon pipe had already sprung at least 30 small leaks and, if left alone much longer, was expected to soon burst completely.
One new above-ground development visitors may encounter is a new retaining wall built part of the way up one of the hiking trails, near the site of a no-longer-used tennis court. The wall was constructed by a private donor under an agreement with the Board of Recreation and Parks. The same donor also originally planned to convert the unused tennis area into a public basketball court, but a group of Hollywood Hills residents quashed that component of the renovation in June.
Before the closure, an estimated 35,000 people were making their way through Runyon Canyon Park every week, making it one of LA’s most popular destinations. We assume that many of them will be back—but it’s also possible some folks took the spring-season break to discover some of our other great parks and hiking trails beyond the basic Runyon routes.