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What is the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor?
Perhaps not as well known as some of the others, the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor is one of the 12 Measure R transit projects. The project is currently in the Alternatives Analysis (AA) phase in which different types of transit and alignments for the corridor are being studied.
The recently-opened Orange Line Extension runs along Canoga Avenue and serves the western side of the Valley. The East San Fernando Valley project, as the name implies, is intended to help north-south travel further east.
After reviewing options as far east as Lankershim, it was decided to focus the study within the Van Nuys and Sepulveda Boulevard corridors. With about 23,000 boardings on an average weekday, Van Nuys is the heaviest travelled north-south corridor in the San Fernando Valley. And it’s the 2nd heaviest corridor in the Valley behind the Metro Orange Line. Based on community input and the proximity of Sepulveda Boulevard, Metro staff decided to evaluate that street as well.
Staff reported all this to the Metro Board earlier this year. Here’s the staff report (pdf).
So what happens now?
Metro will be holding community meetings later this year to share information on the options being explored and to gather public input. We’ll post that information just as soon as it’s available.
The two big questions obviously are what will the route be for the project and what kind of project will it be? Light rail? Bus Rapid Transit? Something else?
The short answer for now: we don’t yet know. One purpose of this early stage of environmental analysis is to determine what makes the most sense transit-wise given the needs and demands in this corridor. Once the options are narrowed down, further stages of analysis will delve into the environmental impacts of those alternatives.
When it comes to routes, the project could extend as far south as Ventura Boulevard and as far north as the Sylmar Metrolink station or the 210 Freeway. In between, it could generally follow Van Nuys Boulevard, Sepulveda Boulevard or a hybrid of both.
As required, the study also has to evaluate different types of travel options, known as “modes” in the parlance of planners. These include bus rapid transit, possibly like the current Orange Line, and light rail, such as the current Blue, Green, Gold and Expo Lines. The evaluation also has to consider a “transportation systems management” alternative that would enhance existing transit services and make other low cost upgrades to improve traffic flow in the corridor. Lastly, the study is required by law to evaluate a “no-build” option.
Various factors will be used to weigh the alternatives including ridership, travel speed and reliability, connectivity with the regional transit network, cost-effectiveness, economic and land-use considerations, community input and others. Currently, the project has been allotted $170.1 million, with most of that money coming from Measure R. That money has to cover the cost of the environmental studies as well as construction for the project itself. Staff may try to seek additional funds from the federal government, but that is still down the road.
Many Source readers and those who have left comments on the project’s Facebook page have said they favor a light-rail alternative. If that happens, the project will also need to acquire land and build a yard to store and maintain the cars — since the project wouldn’t connect with other Metro light rail lines. Metro already has two bus divisions in the San Fernando Valley. For the sake of comparison, phase one of the newly opened Expo Line cost $932 million for 8.6 miles of light rail. An East San Fernando Valley transit project that stretches the full length of the study area could be 11 or twelve miles long.
We know your next two questions: What about the future Sepulveda Pass Transit project? Shouldn’t this project connect with that one?
That is a separate project. Under the current Measure R schedule, the East San Fernando Valley project is scheduled to be complete by 2018, 21 years before the Sepulveda Pass project which isn’t scheduled to open until 2039. The East San Fernando Valley project is something that could provide needed mobility benefits within just a few short years and still be planned to connect with the future Sepulveda Pass project. We wrote about that recently.
It might make sense to combine the two projects sooner if the Sepulveda Pass can be accelerated — although that project has funding challenges, too, as it will likely cost more than the $1 billion allocated to it by Measure R. Given those uncertainties, it may be best to do something as soon as possible for north-south commuters in the Valley and to build a project that can be smartly linked to a future Sepulveda Pass project.
Once this AA phase of the study is completed, it is expected that some of the options will move forward for further evaluation with the preparation of an environmental impact statement/environmental impact report. That could begin this winter.
So, what kind of a project do you like? What route? And, if funding is limited, what would do you think about phasing the project? Let us know.
Yes, light rail requires a maintenance center and some acquisition of land. Los Angeles Metro is well versed in these areas and I have the utmost confidence that we as a county can come together to forge an inclusive, regional rail system. BRT is very nice and hundreds of thousands of people ride it but it does not have the capacity or staying-power of steel tracks. In the SFV, this will be necessary. Truthfully, this I-405 corridor (of which the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor is merely the northern portion) should be heavy rail. Wilshire gets heavy rail and moves a fraction of people that the I-405 moves (yes, that’s a bit simplistic).
I’ve always been a little annoyed that the Orange and Silver lines get their own colors as if they were the same as light rail, though I suppose the same argument can be used wrt heavy rail vs light rail.
Here’s the Transit Coalition’s Facebook page for the Metro JEM Line concept, with links to maps and a fact sheet:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Valley-WestsideI-405-Rail/220362574667298
Please *like* the page on Facebook!
Note that Transit Coalition is calling for LRT, mostly at-grade, from Sylmar Metrolink to the Metro Orange Line station, which would cover the bulk of the current Van Nuys Boulevard ridership. With the acceleration of Measure R funding through the extension vote this November, the Sepulveda Pass segment, starting with a grade-separated crossing of the Metro Orange Line, could be built much sooner.
Finally, funds from the extension of Measure R would be available to augment the existing Measure R commitment to the East SFV and Sepulveda Pass transit corridors. The first few years of the extension would go toward the 30 year bonds that will be issued now to accelerate funds committed by Measure R, but the out-year revenue streams would be available for bonding for funds beyond Measure R levels.
For those of you who believe that it has to be a train on every one of these major projects, well there would not be enough money to put in a train along the east San Fernando Valley corridor if the Orange Line extension was put in as a LRT. Instead of costing $188 million to complete as a BRT line and money left over to do a more substantial east San Fernando Valley project, the Orange Line extension could easily have cost $400 million to complete as a LRT. That would have used all of the money set aside for a Rapidway improvement for the San Fernando Valley under Measure R. The LRT on the Orange Line extension would have very little passengers because the westend of the valley is not transit dependent and the transit dependent Van Nuys corridor would have been stuck with buses running in mixed traffic just like they do now.
I hate flying, bot our HSR utopianism will do us in if we don’t wake up and get realsitic! Governor Brown wants Californians to raise taxes, all the while telling schools to go to hell since he wants HSR full-speed-ahead, no matter what the cost for this train to nowhere. ASAP, we need to have a ballot measure to cancel HSR and divert the funds equally between rail, bus and highways. Otherwise, our unwillingness to cut our losses and compromise will wreck (no pun intended) much regional rail just like Woodrow Wilson’s utopianism killed the League of Nations.
If you built a LRT down Van Nuys Blvd it will likely cost at least $100 million a mile at grade, which would be one billion dollars. Any grade separation brings that cost up substantially. There is something like $100 milion set aside for this project and it will cost at least ten times that if its a LRT.
The other fantasy is to have a train run over the Sepulveda pass through what would probably be a tunnel. Where would this train stop at…Westwood…Wilshire Blvd? Are we going to take out 2 1/2 lanes along Wilshire Blvd to put in a train station? Residents who were livid about taking out two parking lanes for bus only lanes during peak hours only would love that idea. The cost of this would be in the multi billions of dolars. There is only one billion dollars in Measure R funds set-aside for this project. Where would the other billions of dollars come from?
Lots of people commenting here are stuck on the technology for transit, rather than trying to see how to improve service to where people want to go, which is what most transit users want.
If the project is going to be completed by 2018, the line would have to be another bus line. I think the line should go as far north as possible. I’m not sure if the Sylmar Metrolink station or the 210 Freeway is the furthest point north but, the Sylmar Metrolink station makes the most sense for a stop for transfers to the Metrolink and maybe the high-speed trains.
Rail, Rail, Rail. If there was ever a perfect corridor for METROLINK CRT service this is it. Second best would be grade separated LRT from Roscoe down to Ventura, third best would be no build. If Metro planners can’t find federal dollars to build a rail transit alternative to the busiest freeway in human history, then it’s time for those folks to brush up their CV’s and move to the OC. Even a 1-mile long , 2 station rail segment would be preferable to a 10-mile bus line that would ultimately be subject to (and generally increasing) street traffic.