Category Archives: Projects

Metro to hold “all communities convening” open houses on SR-710 north project

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Metro will hold three “All Communities Convening” corridor – wide open house meetings as part of the Alternative Analysis of the SR-710 environmental study. The open house meetings will be held on the following dates:

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Maranatha High School Student Center, 169 S. Saint John Avenue, Pasadena CA 91105

Transit access: Metro Bus 180 and 181, Metro Gold Line Memorial Park and Del Mar Stations

Thursday, January 24, 2013

6 p.m. to 8 p.m., San Marino Community Church, 1750 Virginia Road, San Marino, Ca 91108

Transit access: Metro Bus 79

Saturday, January 26, 2013

9 a.m. to 11 a.m. California State University, Los Angeles Golden Eagle Building –Ballroom 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA  90032

Transit access: Metro Bus 487, 70, 256, 665, 71, Metro Silverline, Foothill SilverStreak, Metrolink CalStateLA Station

During the “All communities Convening” open houses Metro will share information about the five alternatives that will be carried into the Draft Environmental Impact Report/Statement (EIS/EIR) for in-depth environmental analysis.

The alternatives are:

1) No build

2) Transportation System Management/Transportation Demand Management (TSM/TDM)

3) Bus rapid transit (Los Angeles to Pasadena)

4) Light rail (East Los Angeles to Pasadena)

5) A freeway tunnel connecting the north and south termini of existing 710 freeway

The public is encouraged to attend any of the Open Houses to learn more about the SR 710 Study and the five alternatives under review. Information shared at each meeting will be identical.

For more information on the Sr-710 Study visit www.metro.net/projects/sr-710 conversations

Alternatives Analysis released for East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor project; bus rapid transit and light rail on Van Nuys Boulevard recommended for further study

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The project alternatives recommended for more study by Metro staff. Click above to see larger.

The project alternatives recommended for more study by Metro staff. Click above to see larger.

The bus rapid transit alternative recommended for further study for the Eastern San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor. Click above to see larger.

The bus rapid transit alternative recommended for further study for the Eastern San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor. Click above to see larger.

The light rail alternative recommended for further study. Click above to see larger.

The light rail alternative recommended for further study. Click above to see larger.

A bus rapid transit or light rail line along Van Nuys Boulevard are among the options recommended for further study in the Alternative Analysis released today by Metro for the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor project. The study considered more than 30 alternatives for improving transit in the eastern Valley and narrowed them down to six.

On Wednesday, the Metro Board’s Planning Committee will consider contract changes needed to advance the project into its Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Report phase, which is expected to take about a year to complete.

Several very busy Metro bus lines already run in the project’s study area, including the Rapid 761 on Van Nuys Boulevard. The corridor also includes connections to the Metro Orange Line and Metrolink’s Antelope Valley and Ventura lines, as well as Amtrak.

In plain English, an Alternatives Analysis details why the project is needed and identifies reasonable project alternatives based on cost, technical issues and community input. Some key points in the Alternatives Analysis study that we know are of interest to Source readers:

•Staff is planning to evaluate two “build” alternatives in the DEIS/R: light rail transit (LRT) and bus rapid transit (BRT). A streetcar was eliminated because of its lack of community support, speed and capacity.

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This photo explains why Metro is building the Westside/Purple Line Extension

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Click above to see larger.

Click above to see much larger on our Flickr page.

I took this photo Sunday afternoon from the Backbone Trail above the Pacific Palisades. In the foreground is Westwood and Century City — the telephoto lens smashes them together — and beyond is downtown Los Angeles. The many tall buildings along Wilshire Boulevard form a crescent shape across the left side of the image.

The photo is not an all-encompassing view of the Los Angeles Basin. But it certainly shows a healthy slice of it. And it vividly makes the point that the extension of the Purple Line to the VA Hospital in Westwood will connect the Basin’s key activity centers — probably the most vertical parts of the Basin in terms of building size.

Click on the photo to see a larger view. If you’re curious, here’s exactly where I took the photo. After the jump is a chart from the subway project’s final environmental study showing employment density in downtown L.A., Beverly Hills, Century City and Westwood compared to some other major American cities.

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Official ribbon cutting held for HOV direct connector between 5 and 14 freeways

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Officials cut the ribbon on the new HOV connector this morning. Rep. Tony Cardenas is holding the scissors. Photos by Luiz Inzunza/Metro.

Officials cut the ribbon on the new HOV connector this morning. Rep. Tony Cardenas is holding the scissors. Photos by Luiz Inzunza/Metro.

The blue pin shows the new connector that allows motorists to travel between the HOV lanes on the 5 and 14 freeways. Photo: Google Maps.

The blue pin shows the new connector that allows motorists to travel between the HOV lanes on the 5 and 14 freeways. Photo: Google Maps.

The long-awaited connector allows motorists in the HOV lanes on the 5 and 14 freeways to remain in the HOV lanes while traveling between the two freeways. It opened in late December and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Friday morning to celebrate the project, which began in 2008 and cost $175.8 million.

“A major investment in North County benefitting Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys, the I-5/SR-14 direct HOV connector will improve safety, traffic flow and air quality at this major bottleneck in our regional freeway system,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, Chairman of the Metro Board of Directors.  “We need more direct HOV connectors from the 5 to the 405 and 134 to link the North County HOV system to the rest of Southern California–as far away as San Juan Capistrano and San Bernardino–in the next 5 years.”

Glendale Councilman and Metro Board Member Ara Najarian speaks at this morning's event.

Glendale Councilman and Metro Board Member Ara Najarian speaks at this morning’s event.

New Director joins Gold Line Construction Authority Board

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Here’s the news release from the Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority, the agency building the 11.5 mile extension of the Gold Line from eastern Pasadena to the Azusa/Glendora border. A further extension of the Gold Line beyond Azusa is in Metro’s long-range plan but is not currently funded; officials in San Bernardino County have long expressed a desire to one day extend the line to the Ontario Airport.

Alan Wapner, Ontario Councilman, is appointed by San Bernardino Associated Governments

 MONROVIA, Calif. – At their January meeting this week, the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority (Construction Authority) Board of Directors welcomed its newest member – Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner, appointed by the San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG).

Councilman Wapner joins the nine-member board following passage last year of Assembly Bill 1600 (Torres) which amended the Construction Authority’s enabling legislation to extend the Foothill Extension project boundaries to Montclair in San Bernardino County. The change also made Montclair an “Extension city” and SANBAG a non-voting member of the Construction Authority board of directors.

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Metro seeking to persuade Congress to expand America Fast Forward program

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It was a huge victory last year when Congress approved part of Metro’s America Fast Forward program in the latest federal transportation spending bill. The expansion of the federal loan program called TIFIA will supply transit agencies across the nation with low-interest loans backed by the federal government. Lower borrowing costs = lower project costs.

However, Congress didn’t include the other half of America Fast Forward — a bond program in which the federal government subsidizes most of the interest. That would be a big score for transportationagencies that are often saddled with long-term debt they incur to build big projects that provide big mobility benefits.

One of the big legislative goals of Metro this year is to persuade Congress to adopt such a program. While the bond program would modestly expand federal spending — controversial in some quarters — it would also help create jobs, spur infrastructure improvements and create tax credits for investors who purchase the bonds. It may also provide a more reliable funding stream for transportation projects than the current Highway Trust Fund – which is spiraling rapidly towards insolvency.

The above flier describes the bond program in greater depth. Metro is lobbying now as the current transportation bill expires in mid-2014 and now is time to start work on the next multi-year bill.

Latest update on Gold Line Foothill Extension: work throughout the corridor!

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Here’s the latest update on the Gold Line Foothill Extension, which will extend the Gold Line for 11.5 miles from eastern Pasadena to the Azusa/Glendora border from Habib Balian, CEO of the Foothill Extension Construction Authority:

With the majority of design for the 11.5-mile Pasadena to Azusa Alignment now finalized, the new year will bring about widespread construction throughout the corridor cities.  This is especially true in Azusa, where work is already underway to relocate the freight track in advance of the light rail track construction; and in Monrovia, where crews are mass grading the 24-acre operations campus. Just this week work started in Arcadia on the Colorado Boulevard Bridge, and construction will begin next week on the Foothill Bridge in Azusa. (Here is a link to photos of work on the Colorado Boulevard Bridge in the Pasadena Star News).

These and other upcoming activities will require periodic and/or long-term closures of lanes and streets, noise and other local impacts and we will do everything possible to inform neighbors and the general public of the expected impacts. Your patience and understanding is appreciated – after all, the long-term benefits of this project will be everlasting.

Starting this month, we will be begin sending e-notices of the latest closures, anticipated impacts, and general hotspots along the corridor. If you have not already, I encourage you to sign up to receive these important notices. Here is a link to the sign-up page.

The start of construction could not have been possible without the hard work of our project partners, including city staff from each of the corridor cities, Metro and other third parties who have spent hundreds of hours reviewing their respective design packages. We truly appreciate their dedication of staff time which allowed the design process to stay on schedule.

Click on the following links to read recent San Gabriel Valley Tribune stories about current construction at the operations campus and about the Colorado Boulevard closure.

Groundbreaking ceremony held Tuesday for new Gerald Desmond Bridge

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Metro Board Member Diane DuBois speaks at the event this morning. Photo by Luis Inzunza/Metro.

The new bridge will replace the existing structure that was built in 1968 and at the end of its lifespan. The new bridge will also sport a new design and will continue to be the big link between the 710 freeway and Terminal Island at the Port of Long Beach.

Caltrans and the Port of Long Beach are leading the replacement effort along with funding help from Metro and the U.S. Department of Transportation. Both Metro CEO Art Leahy and Metro Board Member Diane DuBois spoke at the ceremony this morning.

Here's a fact sheet about the project:

Bridge Replacement Fact Sheet

Expo Line Phase 2 rail bridge takes shape over Cloverfield Boulevard in Santa Monica

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Photo courtesy of Expo Line Fan.

Photo courtesy of ExpoLine Fan.

Photo courtesy Expo Line Fan.

Photo courtesy of ExpoLine Fan.

The pace of work on the second phase of the Expo Line between Culver City and Santa Monica remains very impressive. Above are a pair of photos taken by Expo Line Fan of the bridge that will carry the Expo Line over Cloverfield Boulevard and toward the bridge over Olympic Boulevard in Santa Monica.

Check out ExpoLine Fan’s Flickr page — he has been documenting construction on the entire project for several years now and has a lot of great images of work on both phase one and phase two of the project.