Category Archives: Measure R

Construction overview fact sheet now online for Westside Subway Extension

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The rendering shows temporary lane closures for initial excavation prior to installation of concrete decking.

I’ll cut right to the part of the new construction fact sheet for the Westside Subway Extension that will likely interest you most:

Construction Schedule

Construction timing for the Project is dependent upon how the funding package for the project comes together. Presuming that the environmental clearance process concludes in 2011 and funding is secured, final design and contractor selection processes would occur in 2012.

It is likely that early utility relocation work and removal of paleontological resources (fossils) below Wilshire Bl in the vicinity of the La Brea Tar Pits could start sometime in 2012, with heavier construction starting on tunnels and stations in 2013. If funding is secured to build the 9-mile extension all at the same time, construction along the entire alignment to the Westwood/VA Hospital could potentially be completed by 2022. In this case, several pairs of TBMs would be used, tunneling various segments of tunnel at the same time, with work proceeding on all stations simultaneously.

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Regional Connector meetings continue this Wednesday and Thursday

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As we reported last week, community update meetings are under way for the Regional Connector. There are two more coming up this week, so be sure to check one out — the content will be the same at both. If you can’t make it, there will be a live internet video stream of the Wednesday, June 29 meeting.

All the details are in the press release below:

Community Update Meetings
Metro is currently completing the Final Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (Final EIS/EIR) for the Regional Connector Transit Corridor project. Ahead of the Summer 2011 release of the Final EIS/EIR, Metro is hosting three community meetings to present the designated Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) and project refinements accomplished since October 2010. Please mark your calendar and plan to join us at one of these upcoming meetings:

Wednesday, June 29, 2011; 6:30 – 8 p.m.
Japanese American National Museum
369 E First St, Los Angeles
(This meeting will be broadcast through Ustream)

Thursday, June 30, 2011; 6:30 – 8 p.m.
Los Angeles Times, Community Room
145 S Spring St, Los Angeles

Meeting format and content will be identical.

For more information:
Email: regionalconnector@metro.net
The Web: metro.net/regionalconnector
Facebook: facebook.com/regionalconnector
Twitter: @metroconnector or twitter.com/metroconnector
UStream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/community-update-meetings
Phone:  213.922.7277

Each meeting will have Japanese, Korean, and Spanish interpreters and materials available.

Remembrance of trains past: the Santa Monica Air Line

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Tracks from the original Santa Monica Air Line travel through an industrial part of Santa Monica

Ever since I learned about the Expo Line — and the path that trains used to travel a century ago — I’ve relished in stumbling across bits and pieces of the old infrastructure that still dot the Westside.

The original tracks were built by a predecessor to the Southern Pacific Railroad in the late 1800s and then turned over to Pacific Electric for daily passenger service in 1911. The line closed to the public for good in the early 1950s, while freight service continued intermittently into the 1970s.

To some the remaining infrastructure might just be pieces of rusty metal, but to me they are an interesting representation of our urban environment and history. So I grabbed my camera and hopped on my bike to document what was still left in the Phase II segment — focusing on the area between 17th Street in Santa Monica and the 10 Freeway.

Why go to all the trouble?

First, there’s the sense that what is old is new again. For several decades in the 20th Century, we seemed to collectively forget the benefits of mass transit in Los Angeles. But now, thanks in part to Measure R, we are seizing the opportunity to go back to those historic corridors and breath new life into them, transforming them back into the vital connective tissue they once were.

Second, I enjoyed seeing how L.A. has grown up around the old rail corridor with little bits of track peeking through in random places such as parking lots and medians along the Exposition Boulevard right-of-way.

And lastly, much of this infrastructure will be torn out and replaced by the new Expo Line, so this is my contribution to the historic record. For more information on the history of the Santa Monica Air Line, the website Abandoned Rails has a good introduction, as does the Electric Railway Historical Association.

Check out the photos in the gallery below and the dozens more on the Metro Flickr page.

Bicyclist passes under a train signal structure on 20th Street in Santa Monica
Air Line tracks travel in front of a cement plant near 19th Street in Santa Monica
Train signals at the Barrington Ave. crossing
A track switching device in a parking lot in Santa Monica
Military Ave. crossing sign
Air Line tracks head east towards the 405 Freeway

Regional Connector team hosts community meetings in advance of environmental certification

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The Regional Connector will allow "one-seat rides" in either direction between the Westside and East L.A., and between the San Gabriel Valley and Long Beach.

Thousands of new boardings system-wide. Reduced transfers saving up to 20 minutes on some trips. An 11-minute ride from Union Station across downtown to Pico Station. Increased service efficiency. New transit stations in the employment heart of Los Angeles County.

Take your pick, because the 1.9-mile Regional Connector has something for everyone. For those reasons and many others, it’s no surprise that this Measure R project scores high marks on federal cost-effectiveness evaluations.

When completed, the project will connect the Blue, Gold and future Expo lines with three new underground stations, creating one seamless system.

Tuesday’s meeting was an opportunity for Metro staff to update community members and stakeholders on the project’s status and to receive community feedback. Scrupulous readers of The Source will recall that the Metro Board of Directors approved the draft environmental plan in October 2010 and selected a fully-underground option for the light rail connector.

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Westside Mobility Plan kicks off round of community meetings

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Community members peruse displays highlighting local mobility issues.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation held the first of a series of spring community meetings last night in Venice. The goal of these meetings is to introduce the community to the Westside Mobility Plan, which will examine mobility challenges and needs in the notoriously congested Westside.

The impetus for this plan comes from the Los Angeles City Council, who — like perhaps all Angelenos — had seen mobility deteriorating on the Westside and so “requested a comprehensive study to develop potential short-, mid- and long-term multi-modal solutions,” according to the plan’s website.

While the study’s primary focus is the city of Los Angeles, LADOT and its consultants are coordinating their project with neighboring cities, L.A. County and Metro. Continue reading →

Metro officials talk planning at TOD conference

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A 30-10 map on display at a Metro information table.

A 30-10 map (ca. 2010) on display at a Metro information table.

The Los Angeles Chapter of the Urban Land Institute held a conference in Pasadena on Thursday to discuss transit-oriented development in the greater-L.A. area.

The aim of the conference was to figure out a way to put more development around transit hubs. It’s a strategy embraced in many places to promote alternatives to driving and provide housing closer to jobs.

There is also evidence it’s already taking hold here in Los Angeles County. Thousands of units of new housing near transit have sprouted in North Hollywood, Hollywood, Koreatown, Long Beach, downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena in recent years. That said, there are many places along the Metro Rail system where there has been little or no development.

Metro played a big role at the conference because it’s involved in building transit-oriented developments on land it owns near rail and bus stops.

One panel’s topic was: “Where is the ‘T’ in TOD? What is the status of major projects in Los Angeles County.”

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Public hearing kicks off environmental planning process for downtown streetcar project

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A Metro staff member discusses the various phases and timeline for the project.

In the lobby of the historic Los Angeles Theater, nearly 100 Angelenos participated in a workshop last night to learn about the proposed downtown L.A. streetcar project. Those who attended were also given the opportunity to make official public comments as part of the “scoping” process, during which planners will sketch out the basic parameters of the project.

Metro staff members began the meeting by bringing the audience up to speed on a project whose conceptual roots go back to the mid-1990s. In short, Metro was brought on last year to head up the environmental planning process on behalf of the city of Los Angeles and the non-profit Los Angeles Streetcar, Inc., which are working to secure funding for the $125-million dollar project.

In March 2011, the City of L.A. and its Community Redevelopment Agency allocated seed money — including funds from the city’s Measure R local return funds — to pay for preliminary engineering, continued community outreach and other planning work.

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Expo Phase II kickoff meetings draw numerous, engaged participants

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The meeting kicked off with an overview of the Expo Light Rail project.

On Monday and Wednesday this week, the Expo Construction Authority held open house-style community meetings to introduce Westside residents to the Expo Phase II construction process and the contracting team, Skanska/Rados. The second phase of the Expo Line will connect Culver City and downtown Santa Monica.

As a Source writer, Westside resident and eager awaiter of Expo’s completion, I decided to check out yesterday’s event in Cheviot Hills. I wasn’t alone. My rough headcount found upwards of 150 others — on top of the 200-plus who attended Monday’s meeting in Santa Monica.

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Metro Comments on Beverly Hills Unified School District Complaint

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This week several online news sources have reported that the Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) has filed a “Writ of Mandate” petition in Los Angeles Superior Court that seeks to require Metro to release documents on the Westside Subway Extension Project, as well as station location alternatives in the Century City area.

The reason for the petition, according to the news release from BHUSD, is that Metro is not responding fast enough to the school district’s written requests for information.

Metro reports that it has received numerous requests on an ongoing basis from BHUSD during the development of the Final Environmental Impact Study/Report [FEIS/FEIR] for the subway that is now underway. The agency provided all publicly available documents and will continue to fulfill BHUSD’s requests as additional documents are finalized and released to the public. Continue reading →

Former NYC traffic commissioner lauds America Fast Forward

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Over at the Engineering News Record, former New York City traffic commissioner Sam Schwartz took to his transportation blog to extol the benefits of America Fast Forward. A lot of the issues he touches on will be familiar to Source readers. Here’s an excerpt from the piece in which Schwartz discusses how AFF could forge a new — and perhaps more sustainable — relationship between the federal government and cities:

Essentially the idea is the same as the 30/10 method: the Fed would lend sizable sums upfront to local entities with dedicated revenue streams such as sales tax proceeds. The carrot for the taxpayers is the promise that transportation projects are completed in a timely manner, in some cases that could be years, rather than decades.

There’s a carrot for Congress too: according to America Fast Forward supporters, passing legislation to enact the program can put 920,000 Americans per year building our national infrastructure without contributing to the national debt.

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