This steel boned, steel-gray pedestrian bridge spans the Amtrak rail line along the north side of Raymer Street between Kester and Van Nuys Blvd.
This is an industrial section of Van Nuys, not far from that hard-to-find Target hidden nearby in the maze of factories.
What seems remarkable to me in photographing this bridge, is the gruesome architecture of it. Graceless, complicated, hideous. It does not invite one to cross it but rather to run away from its police state cruelty. This crossing would not look out of place in Communist East Germany, or perhaps as a gateway to a Maoist re-education facility. Yet, even Hitler would have demanded something more comely.
In general, our American public environment stinks. We spend far less than we should on our own nation’s infrastructure, and we are left with a choice between crumbling beauty such as the 80-year old graceful spans across the LA River downtown, and the new gargantuan violence of constructed indifference (see photos).
Would anyone want their wife, or child or older parent to walk across this bridge alone, either at night or during the day? Is it stupid to expound upon the aesthetics of one forgotten bridge? Or does this forlorn moonscape of industrialism have something to say to us?
Here in Van Nuys 
I agree that it looks pretty bleak in these photos, but it seems to mostly stem from the graffiti and lack of landscaping.
If I had designed it, it would have been different, but as the first commenter said, design is a matter of preference. I respect this bridge for being a somewhat direct expression of its construction technology.
I can also say that most of my ideas for improving the design would add to its cost.
LikeLike
Besides… pretty bridges invite crime!
LikeLike
The bridge was placed there to allow students from the north side of the rail road tracks to attend the school on the south side of the rail road tracks. (LAUSD didn’t want to alter the attendance boundaries) After a couple of fatal accidents after the opening of Metrolink the local community demanded some safety. The bridge allows kids to cross without fear of getting hit. As for the design and look of the bridge a respected architect bid on the project and designed it after a series of community meetings held on the design. The City of Los Angeles bid it out usng MTA money. Design is clearly a matter of preference but comparing it to east germany isn’t fair.
LikeLike