Category Archives: Projects

Expo Line notches perfect safety record so far

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Here’s the press release:

Expo Line Achieves Rare Construction Safety Performance Goal

Expo Crews Have No Lost Time Injuries in Over 3,000,000 Hours Worked

Los Angeles, CA (December 22, 2010) – Since 2006, construction crews have spent more than 3,000,000 work hours constructing Phase 1 of the Expo Line. No lost time injuries occurred during this time, a remarkable achievement by industry standards.

“This is a rare goal in the industry,” said James Brown, Expo Line Director of Construction Safety, “and all crews should be very proud of this accomplishment.” Continue reading →

Gold Line Foothill Extension update

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A rendering of the bridge that will carry Foothill Extension tracks from the center of the 210 freeway over the eastbound lanes. The old bridge was demolished after being damaged in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.

Here’s the latest update on planning and pre-construction efforts on the Gold Line Foothill Extension project, which will extend the Gold Line from Pasadena to the Azusa/Glendora border adjacent to Citrus College. The Foothill Extension is a project funded by Measure R, the sales tax increase approved by Los Angeles County voters in 2008.

The update is from Habib Balian, the CEO of the Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority, the agency that is building the line, which will be operated by Metro when completed:

Before the year comes to a close, I want to update you on progress made this month critical to our schedule.

First and foremost is the outstanding cooperation we have received from Caltrans. This month, the agency approved the Phase 2A (Pasadena to Azusa) Project Study Report/Project Report (PSR/PR) and Type Selection Study, essential documents for the progression of the Iconic Freeway Structure (IFS) and overall Phase 2A project. The PSR/PR, a detailed technical document required by Caltrans when working in their right-of-way, was approved for all elements of Phase 2A including construction of the IFS; upgrades to existing bridges, underpasses, and the I-210/I-605 Interchange; conduit laying; fence replacement and other key elements. Caltrans’ “Bridge Type Selection Committee” approved the Authority’s “Type Selection Study” after a substantive meeting in Sacramento with the Authority and the Skanska USA team to discuss the engineering, technical studies, and preliminary design submitted for the IFS. These approvals not only keep the IFS on schedule to begin construction in June, but also keep the entire Phase 2A alignment on schedule as we prepare to select a design-builder in the coming months. Continue reading →

Five things I'm thinking about transportation

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This is a new feature for The Source in which I express actual opinions while working for government. Members of the media: please take any of these ideas and run with them — we could use the coverage!

1. As I’ve said before, bus lanes certainly sound good – until motorists grasp the fact they may lose a traffic or parking lane. So it’s going to be fascinating to watch the planning unfold for transit improvements along Van Nuys Boulevard and how such efforts are received by the public. A bus lane is among the possibilities for a project on a corridor that boasts very heavy ridership and offers connections to both

Nevada Falls with Liberty Cap and Half Dome in the background at Yosemite National Park. Photo by Steve Hymon.

2. I’ve seen little discussion of a topic I find interesting: how high-speed rail could positively impact national parks in California. If the bullet train gets built as planned, there would be stations in Visalia and Fresno – gateways, respectively, for Sequoia/Kings Canyon and Yosemite national parks. At present, the only way to reach the parks is to drive there or take a charter bus or to drive to one of the mountain towns outside the park and take a shuttle (which are few and far between).

The bullet train, on the other hand, could allow people to reach Hanford (which is near Visalia) or Fresno in speedy fashion and then – if someone puts this in place – catch a shuttle to the parks. Both Sequoia/Kings Canyon and Yosemite have had problems grappling with the volume of private cars driving through the parks and good shuttles from the bullet train – it seems to me – could reduce the need for everyone to drive to the parks. Continue reading →

Judge issues tentative ruling in favor of Phase 2 of the Expo Line

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A Superior Court judge today ruled tentatively in favor of the Expo Line Construction Authority in a lawsuit brought by some Westside homeowners that challenged the final environmental study for Phase Two of the project.

Judge Thomas McKnew ruled that the plaintiffs — the group Neighbors for Smart Rail — did not prove that the Construction Authority violated any laws in putting together their environmental document.

Here’s a copy of the ruling, posted on The Transit Coalition’s website. And here’s coverage of the ruling at LA Weekly’s website.

Phase 2 of the Expo Line will run from Culver City to Santa Monica. Phase 1 from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City is currently under construction, with initial service expected to begin in 2011.

FTA gives Metro the green light to study transit alternatives for Van Nuys corridor

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Van Nuys Corridor Map

Metro announced today that it has been selected to receive $2 million in Federal Transit Administration funding to begin two new transportation projects: an alternatives analysis for a premium transit service on Van Nuys Boulevard and work to improve the agency’s transit forecasting model. See the FTA’s announcement.

And here are the project descriptions.

This latest funding notice from the FTA injects new momentum into the agency’s Measure R program and is a win for the San Fernando Valley.

The Van Nuys Corridor is a main element in the East San Fernando Valley North-South Rapidways Project, which seeks to provide better transit service on key corridors in the Valley.

For the Van Nuys Corridor project, the goal is to greatly improve mobility on Van Nuys Boulevard for about 10 miles between Ventura and Foothill Boulevards. Anyone who has ridden a bus down Van Nuys Boulevard in this area knows this street is primed for some sort of premium service.

The Van Nuys corridor consistently ranks as one of the top ten busiest bus corridors in Los Angeles County. In the Valley it is the busiest corridor. Total weekday boardings on Metro buses serving this boulevard even beat the Metro Orange Line and Ventura Metro Rapid in terms of daily ridership. (Metro has approximately 27,000 weekday boardings for buses running on Van Nuys compared to the Orange Line’s 23,500 and Ventura Rapid’s 5,500 boardings).

So what are the possible transit alternatives the Alternatives Analysis will study? Besides the obligatory No-Build and Transportation Systems Management alternatives, Metro will be looking at the following options:

Metro's clean and green New Year's resolution

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In a video getting interest on You Tube, Metro’s CEO Art Leahy said the transportation agency with the “largest clean air fleet in the nation” will make a clean and completely green start in the new year when the last remaining 14 diesel buses in the fleet of more than 2,500 will retire.

Leahy talks up Metro’s clean public transportation systems and other improvements underway in “AQMD On the Air,” a video produced by South Coast Air Quality Management District and posted on YouTube.  The AQMD online program highlights agencies who have demonstrated a strong commitment to improving air quality and the difference they have made in helping clear the air we breathe.

News from the federal funding front for Metro projects

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Here are three items that were sent this afternoon from Metro’s government relations staff to the Metro Board of Directors. The first two relate to the pursuit of federal funds to help build the Westside Subway Extension and the Regional Connector projects:

Senators Feinstein and Boxer and Congressman Waxman Urge USDOT To Support Metro New Starts Projects

U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Congressman Henry Waxman (D-30) have co-authored a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood urging that the Obama Administration move both of our New Starts Projects (Regional Connector and Westside Subway Extension) into the Fiscal Year 2012 New Starts Report. The correspondence also encourages Secretary LaHood to provide funds for both projects as they await approval from the USDOT to enter into Preliminary Engineering. In a related development, a draft omnibus appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2011 that is being circulated by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations includes a $6.5 million earmark for the Regional Connector and Westside Subway Extension and a $1.2 million earmark for the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project. For your review, please find attached a copy of the letter sent to Secretary LaHood by Senators Feinstein and Boxer and Congressman Waxman.

New Starts Projects Await Permission To Enter Into Preliminary Engineering

We are hoping to receive correspondence shortly from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) permitting entry into Preliminary Engineering (PE) for our Westside Subway Extension and Regional Connector projects. Traditionally, the FTA outlines issues in its PE approval letter that they would like the transit agency to address as the projects move forward in the Federal New Starts process. With respect to our projects, we expect the FTA letter to include matters related to “Risk Assessment”, as well as other topics. I look forward to keeping the Board apprised of this matter over the next several days. Continue reading →

Five things I'm thinking about transportation

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This is a new feature for The Source in which I express actual opinions while working for government. Members of the media: please take any of these ideas and run with them — we could use the coverage!

1. Like many readers, I was pleased to read in a recent Metro staff report that the so-called “stored value” for TAP cards is finally planned to roll out in the second quarter of next year. I think that this could have a huge impact in attracting discretionary riders. This would allow Metro riders to put, for example, $20 on their card and simply have the cost of a ride deducted when they take them. My domestic partner is one of those discretionary riders who takes Metro once or twice a week — meaning that once or twice a week I get to hear how she missed a train while fiddling with a ticket vending machine. And that’s the whole point of “stored value” — no one should have to visit the ticket machines twice a day.

2. I think the flyover ramps being built for the 405 freeway-Wilshire Boulevard interchange aren’t getting the attention they deserve as part of the 405 Sepulveda Pass Improvement Project. Of course, the carpool lane for the northbound 405 is the main attraction, but flyover lanes are a great idea, separating traffic trying to exit the freeway from traffic trying to enter the road. Across the region are entrance and exit ramps built too close to one another decades ago and those shortsighted designs are responsible for daily tie-ups across the region. Continue reading →

New Facebook page for South Bay Green Line Extension project

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Here’s the link for the project’s new fan page. If you’ve been on the project’s group page, please migrate over to the fan page, which will be updated frequently. It’s an easy way to follow the project while also following your friends’ “I’m taking out the garbage” status updates.

The project, attentive readers know, is studying (among other things) extending the Green Line from its current terminus in Redondo Beach to a new transit center in Torrance. Here’s the project’s web page on Metro.net.

Sup. Knabe delivers his thoughts on the State of L.A. County

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Despite a California shortfall of $25 billion and a national debt of around $13.7 trillion, there’s good news for L.A. County, according to Metro Board Chair and L.A. County Supervisor Don Knabe. And a chunk of that good news relates to transit. Well, transit and jobs.

In his State of the County speech last week, Sup. Knabe noted a long list of on-going transit projects and the thousand of jobs that they have or will produce for our region. He attributed much of this growth to the foresight and frustration of L.A. County residents who voted three times for taxes to help fund a modern transit system.

The results are paying off at a time when we most need them. Not only are jobs an important byproduct of our transit development. “In part, the air is getting cleaner because Metro is getting greener,” he said, pointing out that next month when metro retires its last diesel bus, the agency will become the first major transit system in the U.S. to run totally on alternative fuels.

Chair Knabe delivered his speech at the Long Beach Convention Center and it’s posted on his website. A portion of it — the part concerned with transit — is posted above..