Category Archives: Projects

Staff recommendations for Westside Subway Extension are posted online; staff selects Alternative 2 route to VA Hospital

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The subway alignment recommended by Metror staff. Click above for larger image.

Metro staff have issued their recommendations for a locally preferred alternative (LPA) route for the Westside Subway Extension. The project’s draft environmental impact statement/report was released last month.

The full report is posted as part of the Metro Board of Directors’ agendas for its planning and Measure R committees.

It will ultimately be up to the Board of Directors to select the LPA. They are scheduled to do so at their Oct. 28 meeting in downtown Los Angeles at Metro headquarters.

Among the highlights of the recommendation:

•Staff selected the alignment that mostly follows Wilshire and ends at the VA Hospital in Westwood. The rationale: this alignment provided for higher ridership than alternative one, which would end at Westwood/UCLA, and would also push the subway west of the 405 freeway. The big issue here is funding: besides some other issues, Metro only has the funds at present to build the subway to Wilshire/UCLA or the VA Hospital. The other alternatives added a line from Hollywood to Beverly Hills through West Hollywood (see more below) and extended the subway from Westwood to Santa Monica.

•They recommended not building a station at Wilshire/Crenshaw, which was deemed to be in an area of low density and too close (one-half mile) to the existing Wilshire/Western station. Elminating the station would also save the project $153 million.

•A station spanning the Fairfax intersection (as opposed to completely on the west side of that intersection) was selected to provide for better access to LACMA.

•A station east of La Cienega was selected because it is closer to commercial properties in that area and it was preferred by Beverly Hills.

•Just west of that station, no connection structure is recommended to be built for a future West Hollywood line. The rationale is that such a structure is expensive ($135 million) and it remains uncertain at this time if a subway will ever be built between Hollywood and Beverly Hills through West Hollywood, as was studied in the draft environmental report. Although the route performed well in terms of rail transit lines in L.A. County, it didn’t meet the very high federal target for heavy rail. Staff said Wilshire performed better and does meet the federal target and should be built first. There is no available funding in Metro’s long-range transportation plan for a West Hollywood line at this time. It was included in this study because the line performed well in the Westside Extension’s alternatives analysis, at which time Metro staff said they wanted to evaluate it further.

•Both station locations in Century City — at Santa Monica & Avenue of the Stars and at Constellation & Avenue of the Stars — would continue to be evaluated in the final environmental study. The Constellation north alignment would be further studied, the Constellation south alignment would not. Staff noted that the Constellation station was preferred by the public outside Beverly Hills and the Santa Monica Blvd. station clearly the preference in Beverly Hills. The Constellation station would require tunneling under a few residential properties in Beverly Hills. An issue still being explored is the earthquake fault that runs roughly parallel to Santa Monica Blvd. Continue reading →

Video from yesterday's transportation meeting at the White House

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Here is video of some remarks that President Barack Obama made on Monday following his meeting at the White House about improving transportation infrastructure.

As we posted yesterday, Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Director Antonio Villaraigosa attended the meeting to discuss the 30/10 Initiative, Metro’s plan to build a dozen Measure R transit projects in 10 years — not 30 — by using federal loans and other financing to be repaid by Measure R revenues. Among those projects are the Westside Subway Extension, the Eastside Gold Line phase 2 and the Crenshaw Line — to name just three.

One of the pitches that Villaraigosa is making is that 30/10 isn’t just a program for L.A. — it could potentially be used by any region that has transportation taxes to borrow against.

There is more info about the meeting, along with links to some recent reports at the White House blog. The White House is also using this new Treasury Department report to make the case for the need for more infrastructure investment; the report echoes many of Obama’s statements. Among the statistics is that the U.S. invests about two percent of its gross domestic product in infrastructure compared to nine percent in China or a five percent average across Europe.

The report also has this interesting graphic below on where America stands in terms of its satisfaction with public transportation and roads. I’m not really sure what to make of it, but it’s clear from his remarks and the report that Obama is trying to build a message on transportation across several fronts — we’re falling behind other countries, Americans need more options to help them save money and building infrastructure is a good way to create jobs.

We’ll see next year whether Congress agrees when they’re scheduled to finally begin drafting a new multi-year transportation spending bill.

Click above for a larger image.

Reminder: Skirball Center Drive bridge demolition work begins Tuesday night

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As a result, there will be some full freeway closures on the 405 at night this week. Here’s the press release that we posted here last week.

The best place to get frequent closure and construction updates is the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvement Project’s Twitter feed.

A couple more endorsements for 30/10 Initiative

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Two agencies recently voted to endorse the 30/10 Initiative. Neither are a surprise. But it’s good to see more on board with the plan to speed up construction of Measure R projects because influencing Congress to approve elements of 30/10 will not be easy and the more local support, the better.

Here are the details from Metro CEO Art Leahy’s daily email to staff:

SCAG Approves Support for 30/10 Initiative

Yesterday, the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Regional Council approved a SCAG Board Report to support the 30/10 Initiative. This item was held over from last month due to last month’s lengthy discussion on SB 375. Art Brown from the City of Buena Park complimented me on a recent presentation to cities regarding 30/10. He stated that the initiative makes a lot of sense and expressed his support for the approach. The report passed unanimously. Continue reading →

On behalf of Metro, Mayor talks infrastructure and 30/10 Initiative at White House this morning

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Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Director Antonio Villaraigosa at a White House press briefing this morning. Immediately to his left is U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

President Barack Obama held a meeting at the White House this morning on investing in the nation’s infrastructure — a follow-up to his Labor Day announcement of a plan to rebuild the country’s roads and rails. Among those in attendance was Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraiogosa, who also serves on the Board of Directors of Metro.

Villaraigosa, of course, was there to put in a good word for the 30/10 Initiative, the policy that Metro is pursuing to accelerate the construction of Measure R road and transit projects by using federal loans and other financing. Villaraigosa and Metro are also pushing 30/10 as a national program that could help other regions use their tax revenues plus federal help to get their transportation projects built now, not later.

Besides the president, there were some other heavy hitters at the meeting, including Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, former Secretaries of Transportation Norman Mineta and Samuel Skinner, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, and Mayors Antonio Villaraigosa, Mick Cornett (Oklahoma City), Julian Castro (San Antonio), Michael Coleman (Columbus), Michael Nutter (Philadelphia), Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (Baltimore), Kasim Reed (Atlanta) and Joe Riley (Charleston).

“We need a new plan for America’s roads, rails and runways for the long-term,” Obama said (here’s the link to the White House press release). “Over the next six years, we will rebuild 150,000 miles of our roads – enough to circle the world six times.  We will lay and maintain 4,000 miles of our railways – enough to stretch coast-to-coast.  And we will restore 150 miles of runways and advance a next generation air-traffic control system that reduces delays for the American people.  By making these investments across the country, we won’t just make our economy run better over the long haul – we’ll create good, middle-class jobs right now.”

Both the president’s plan and 30/10 will almost certainly need some legislative help in the next federal transportation bill, which is due to be tackled by Congress next year.

Moving the spaghetti of utilities under Sepulveda Boulevard

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Bonnie Verdin loves spaghetti, although she wishes she saw less of it during her work day.

Verdin is not a chef. For the I-405 Improvements Project, her title is Supervisor, Third Party Administration. But when she thinks of the tangle of underground utilities that must be moved to construct the project, she sees pasta.

“There’s a huge amount of utilities under this project,” she explains. “They resemble spaghetti under Sepulveda Boulevard. And we’re shifting Sepulveda east in some locations. And when you shift, you have to shift the utilities, sewers, water lines, etc.”

As an example, she describes the area near the Getty Center as having “multiple utilities and limited space.” Engineers refer to underground utilities as subsurface infrastructure. Under any name, Verdin has discovered it’s a challenge for project designers to create a utility corridor that holds everything.

Verdin has coordinated the relocation of utilities for large transportation projects since her work on the Metro Orange Line and Gold Line Eastside Extension. She has been working in third party administration (“third party” being other government organizations and the owners of utilities) since 1993. She has worked on the I-405 project since its inception.

Because of the menu of utilities within the project boundaries — she estimates that there are 24 utility owners impacted — this project will be her greatest challenge. Add to that the government jurisdictions with a stake in those utilities, and Verdin sees more spaghetti.

“Utility relocation can be a major threat to the schedule,” she explained. “So we have to design and relocate the utilities within the contractor’s aggressive time line.”

What are the utilities under the 405 and the Sepulveda Pass? Continue reading →

Skirball Center Drive Bridge set for demolition beginning Oct. 12 as part of 405 improvement project

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Marking the second bridge replacement milestone for the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project, contractors are set to begin demolition of one-half of the Skirball Center Drive Bridge in the Sepulveda Pass beginning Tuesday night, Oct. 12 for approximately five consecutive nights.

This demolition work will require some full freeway closures in the area as well as individual freeway lane closures in order to safely demolish the north side of the bridge.

Work is anticipated to take place between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. over the five-night period. Actual bridge demolition is planned between 12 a.m. and 5 a.m. Two nights of bridge abutment demolition are planned approximately one month later. While the bridge will be closed during night-time demolition, it will be opened again to thru traffic by 6 a.m. the next morning.

Planned freeway closures are as follows:

Oct. 12,13 — Southbound I-405 freeway from Burbank Boulevard to Getty Center Drive
Oct. 14,15 — Northbound I-405 freeway from Getty Center Drive to Ventura Boulevard
Oct. 16 — Northbound Skirball Center Drive off-ramp

The demolition schedule and associated closures may change if the contractor is able to complete demolition work earlier than currently planned. Continue reading →

Art for the Expo Line: Neighborhood Reconstructed by Jessica Polzin McCoy

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Mosaika
Artisans at Mosaika translate Jessica Polzin McCoy’s watercolor paintings into hand glazed ceramic mosaic art panels for Expo/Vermont Station.
When added together, the ten new Expo Line stations under construction will feature 176 art panels. All are currently in the fabrication phase, which means teams of artisans are translating the original designs from works on paper to durable materials ranging from hand assembled glass and ceramic mosaic to digital photographic processes on porcelain tile.

Art panels include historic architecture found in West Adams.

All the selected materials are resistant to graffiti and vandalism and guaranteed not to fade in the intense Southern California sun. Also important, these materials require minimal maintenance. This was a big consideration given the speed at which Metro’s bus and rail lines are expanding.

The Expo/Vermont Station features 24 art panels, to be spread above gateway arches and seating areas. Over a period of several months, Metro art program staff worked closely with an Art Advisory Group to create a Community Profile – an insider’s guide to the neighborhood’s history and culture created by people that live and work near the stations. Artist Jessica Polzin McCoy (more about Jessica here) used the profile as a tool to learn more about the historic architecture of the neighborhood surrounding the station.

To create the artwork designs Jessica initially took hundreds of photographs of the neighborhood. She returned to her studio with the photos and cut and pasted the photos into collaged reconstructions of the neighborhood environment. Finally, she created intricate watercolor paintings of each of the collages. Art panels over gateway arches focused on distinctive exterior spaces found in the local area such as the windows and doors of historic homes, the Felix car dealership sign and front yards. Panels above seating areas featured more private interior spaces: living rooms, a USC dorm room and the Omar Ibn Al Khattab Foundation adjacent to the station. Continue reading →

South Bay Green Line Extension meetings begin Oct. 20

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Metro will hold four community meetings beginning Wednesday, October 20, to update the public on the South Bay Metro Green Line Extension project. The purpose of these meetings is to seek public comments and input as the environmental process continues for extending rail service farther into the South Bay to improve mobility in southwest Los Angeles County.

Metro is currently preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement / Environmental Impact Report (DEIS/DEIR) to identify transit improvements that would provide an alternative to the I-405 corridor by accessing the regional rail network through connections to the proposed Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor, currently under environmental review.

As part of the Draft EIS/EIR, Metro will assess existing conditions in the study area, further refine the project alternatives, assess their potential impacts and identify possible and reasonable mitigation measures.

Two ‘build’ alternatives are being considered in the DEIS/DEIR. The Light Rail Alterative will evaluate extending the Metro Green Line from its current terminus at the Redondo Beach Station to the proposed Torrance Regional Transit Center (RTC).

The freight track alternative will evaluate operating self propelled rail transit vehicles on the Harbor Subdivision right-of-way using upgraded rail tracks from the El Segundo/LAX area to the proposed Torrance RTC. In addition the Draft EIS/EIR will evaluate the No Build and Transportation Systems Management alternatives. Continue reading →