The above closure comes addition to the northbound closure tonight from 11 p.m. to 9 a.m. Sunday at Santa Monica Boulevard — motorists will be able to exit the freeway at Santa Monica Boulevard and then re-enter, but delays are expected. More information about tonight’s closure here. The above flier applies to the closure Sunday and Monday nights.
Here’s the news release from Metro:
A short section of the northbound San Diego (405) Freeway, between the Santa Monica Boulevard on-ramp and the Santa Monica Boulevard off-ramp will be closed tonight and tomorrow night, Friday, May 17, and Saturday, May 18, from 11 p.m. to 9 a.m. Motorists traveling north will be able to exit the northbound freeway at Santa Monica, go straight through the traffic light and re-enter the freeway on the Santa Monica on-ramp. Because of the full northbound freeway closure, motorists are advised to avoid the area during that time period, as well as directly before and after.
The contractor will continue to repair the approach slab at the connection between the I-405 freeway and the Santa Monica off-ramp. Similar work was completed last weekend.
The following will be closed during the 10-hour time period:
What to expect:
Here’s the news release from Metro:
The I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project contractor is scheduled to conduct a full northbound I-405 freeway closure from Santa Monica Boulevard to Wilshire Boulevard in West Los Angeles beginning Thursday night, May 9 2013 from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m.
The full northbound freeway closure is scheduled to prepare the Santa Monica bridge for the approach slab repair work scheduled for Friday night, May 10.
What to expect:
Here is a look at some of the transportation headlines gathered by us and the Metro Library. The full list of headlines is posted on the Library’s Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.
ART OF TRANSIT — Click above to see a larger version; black and white version after the jump. I was walking through Union Station last week with camera gear in tow and noticed some very nice late afternoon light on the old ticket room at the front of Union Station, used these days mostly for special events and filming. It will be interesting to see what is recommended for the gorgeous old room in the ongoing Union Station Master Plan process. We’ve had a couple of recent posts on the plan: a powerpoint on early findings by the architectural team in charge of the plan and a Metro staff report explaining that making Union Station work as a transit hub is the first priority of the plan. Both are very interesting. Thoughts on how you would like to see the old ticket room used? Comment please! Photo by Steve Hymon/Metro.
Wilshire Boulevard, a Main Street that stands apart (L.A. Times)
The last of architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne’s series on major streets in the region and how they are changing (or in some cases not) with the times.
As would be expected, Hawthorne writes quite a bit about the Westside Subway Extension of the Purple Line, which will run mostly under Wilshire all the way to Westwood. If anything, Hawthorne writes, the subway will “intensify Wilshire’s traditional role as L.A.’s boulevard of reinvention.”
He also makes two other very interesting points: the first is that one way that UCLA could bring the campus closer to the subway station at Wilshire and Westwood boulevards is to develop the land it owns that is currently parking lot 36. First excerpt:
Because UCLA isn’t subject to local zoning or height limits, it could build atop the subway stop a very tall tower holding classrooms, apartments and even a museum or auditorium.
“We have a temporary building there now, but we do see this as a key site for UCLA in the future,” Jeffrey Averill, UCLA’s campus architect, said in an email. So do other architects, who look at the chance to design a tower on Lot 36 as the commission of a lifetime.
An architecturally bold skyscraper on the site “would dramatically change the image of the university,” said Neil Denari, an architect and UCLA professor who has produced a preliminary study for a cluster of connected towers at Lot 36. “It could be a kind of instant conversion to urbanism” for a school that until now “has been a drive-in, drive-out world.”
The other big point that Hawthorne makes is that the subway will bring visitors to the doorstep of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Excerpt two:
When the Getty Center opened on a Brentwood hilltop in 1997, inside a luxe billion-dollar campus by the architect Richard Meier, LACMA seemed to be falling even further behind in the chase for attendance. The Getty was right next to the 405 Freeway, after all, near the epicenter of Westside wealth.
Fast-forward 16 years and the conventional wisdom has dramatically changed. As became clear during the two recent Carmageddon shutdowns of the 405, when the museum was forced to close, the Getty’s reliance on the freeway system has become a liability. LACMA, on the other hand, will enjoy a new centrality once the Purple Line reaches Wilshire and Fairfax 10 years from now. It will likely get another boost in attendance when the subway is extended west to Rodeo Drive by 2025 or so.
Give the article a read – it’s very thoughtful. I also think that it’s inevitable that the subway will spur investment and some development near the new stations. As the real estate values rise near the stations, hopefully more investment will spread down to other parts of Wilshire that could use a boost.
And while on the subject, which pencilhead in City Hall decided strip malls along Wilshire were a good idea? Really? REALLY?
New York City commuter cycling stays flat in ’12 (New York Times)
After three years of significant gains, the number of cyclists counted at six survey locations during the traditional riding season was flat last year, according to the city’s annual count. As with other places, one of the key questions bouncing around in New York is how many cyclists are actually using the new bike infrastructure aggressively installed under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The mayor’s office says that thus far this year they are seeing more people riding and the traditional count didn’t include some places where new bike lanes were installed. It would be great to see a survey here across the region to see which bike infrastructure is being used and which isn’t — the idea being that perhaps the lanes not being used need to be modified to attract more riders. I’m talking to you, Venice Boulevard bike lanes!
At 40 years, San Francisco’s transit first policy still struggles for traction (San Francisco Streetsblog)
Despite a plan adopted in March 1973 to give priority to transit, the bulk of San Francisco’s streets are still used to operate and store private vehicles, sometimes leaving little space for transit, pedestrians and cyclists, writes Streetsblog. Good post with some great photos and other visuals. Some interestingness: in San Francisco, about 45 percent of people drive to work and about 33 percent take transit — rates that stand apart from most other large American cities in which many more people drive and fewer people take transit.
Photo by Dave Sotero/Metro.
The I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements contractor is on schedule with Northbound I-405 paving work between Montana Avenue and Getty Center Offramps. Earlier this morning, the contractor completed grinding the pavement in this 2.5-mile area, and is now paving lanes. Striping work and K-rail shifts will follow as work continues today.
With extended delays now occurring on the 405 as a result of lane reductions in the area, motorists are reminded to avoid this part of the 405 and seek alternate freeway routes. Monitor traffic conditions at Caltrans Quickmap web site.
Here is a look at some of the transportation headlines gathered by us and the Metro Library. The full list of headlines is posted on the Library’s Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.
For those who missed, there was a booth at the Taste of Soul Festival on Crenshaw Boulevard on Saturday with information from Metro and the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy about Metro’s new Careers Construction Policy to help workers get apprenticeships and jobs building Metro projects. For more info, please visit http://www.metro.net/about/pla/
OCTA Board rejects toll lanes for I-405 (Los Alamitos-Seal Beach Patch)
The Board voted 12 to 4 in rejecting a proposal supported by OCTA staff to convert the existing carpool lanes to toll lanes between the 73 and 605 freeways. Among the issues raised were the cost of tolls and the potential for freeway traffic to spill onto local streets. The Board instead voted to add one general traffic lane in both directions to the 405 between the 73 and 605 at a cost of $1.3 billion. Sounds like OCTA staff do not believe that’s sufficient for growing traffic in the region. On a side note, I think the Patch’s story is much more clear than the Register’s story.
L.A.’s Orange Line shows the way for Montgomery County’s BRT (Greater Greater Washington)
Blogger Dan Reed rode the Orange Line during his visit to L.A. for last week’s Rail-Volution conference. And he liked what he saw:
Why does the Orange Line work? It goes where people want to go, it’s frequent, and it connects to the subway, major bus routes, and commuter rail. But more importantly, it gives riders a fast, pleasant experience that rivals driving in a place known for its car culture….
What makes the Orange Line really effective, however, is that buses have their own special lanes for the entire 18-mile route, the result of using a former rail line and a wide boulevard. There are also special sensors that turn stoplights green when buses approach so they don’t have to stop. This allows buses to reach speeds of up to 55 miles an hour, cutting commutes across the Valley nearly in half and making it as fast, if not faster, than driving. The busway is lushly landscaped, while a popular bike and foot path runs alongside it. The result is a commute that’s not only convenient, but very pleasant.
Reed believes the Orange Line could serve as a model for a BRT proposal in suburban Washington D.C. It’s always interesting to hear the perspective of an outsider – and I know from our comments section, some of you disagree with the above.
Westsiders could shut down Expo Line Phase 2 work, starting this week (Curbed LA)
Curbed LA reports that a group of Cheviot Hills homeowners who have sued over the Expo Line Phase 2 light rail extension to Santa Monica have asked the California Supreme Court to halt construction on the $1.5 billion project, which could delay the train by at least a year, cost taxpayers $90 million and put thousands out of work. Stay tuned to find out if they succeed. In the meantime, here’s more info on Expo and here’s the legal brief filed by the Expo Line Construction Authority in the lawsuit.
Diesel fumes more polluting than gas, new California study finds (L.A. Times)
A study that appeared Monday in the journal PNAS says diesel fuel emissions are more polluting than previously thought. The study focuses on a specific form of pollutant known as secondary organic aerosol, or SOA. The pollutant is a major element of smog, it can contribute to heart and respiratory problems and there’s lots more of it in diesel emissions than in gas … further support for Metro’s January, 2011 move to a 100 percent clean-fueled bus fleet. Metro retired its last diesel bus at that time.
Commuters’ privacy is being clipped (San Francisco Chronicle)
The Chronicle’s editorial page says that Clipper Cards — the Bay Area’s version of TAP cards — are collecting detailed information on where individual commuters are traveling. As a result, the editorial board wants the cards to offer some type of disclosure policy to inform customers that data is being collected about them. I agree with the reader who emailed me the link and wrote: “The editorial’s slightly alarmist; while the Clipper Service Bureau may have your life history at their fingertips, someone who scans a Clipper Card won’t. There’s relatively little storage space on the chip — enough for about three weeks of recent trips on average.”
Amtrak hits record speed in Illinois (Welcome to the Fast Lane)
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood blogs about the test train last Friday that hit speeds of 111 miles per hour — noticeably faster than the old 79 mph speed limit on the tracks between Normal and Joliet. It’s part of the Obama Administration’s efforts to increase inter-city train speeds in the U.S. Although proposals for bullet trains have been resisted outside California, the Administration has had some success in terms of upgrading tracks to boost Amtrak speeds.
The Endeavour crossing a Carmageddon-like empty 405 freeway late Friday night. Photo by Steve Hymon.
Go Metro to see the Space Shuttle Endeavour being moved to the California Science Center today! Please see this earlier post and remember the Expo Line delivers you next door to the California Science Center, the Endeavour’s new home.
And remember that many bus detours remain in effect for much of the day. The full list is after the jump.
Photo by Luiz Inzunza/Metro.
Still a lot of traffic at 7 p.m. as ramp closures begin.
Here we go, folks. Carmageddon II is hours away, and if you’re adamant about not staying home all weekend, sipping cold drinks by the pool, go Metro to check out these fine Destination Discounts locations that are offering extra special deals just for this weekend.
Buca di Beppo at Universal City Walk is offering 20% off meals if you show the Metro-exclusive coupon. Enjoy great Italian food and do some shopping while you’re in the area. (Red Line or Metro Rapid 750 to Universal City Station, transfer to free shuttle)
In Hollywood, IRIS from Cirque du Soleil is offering certain tickets for just $40.50 if you reference code METROB at the box office. After the show, pop by Madame Tussauds and get 40.5% off admission if you mention “Carmageddon” at the box office. Schmooze with the crème de la crème of wax celebrities. (Red Line to Hollywood/Highland Station, Metro Bus 217 to Hollywood/Highland)
The downtown LA location of Qdoba Mexican Grill will give you 15% off your bill this weekend if you show your TAP card. Have a burrito or two…or three! (Red, Purple, Blue or Expo Line to 7th/Metro)
Present your TAP card at the box office and save 50% off adult admission at the Natural History Museum. Visit the recently opened Spider Pavilion if you feel like getting touchy feely with some creepy crawlies. Adult tickets are $3 and the discount does not apply at the Pavilion. (Expo Line to Expo Park/USC, Metro Bus 81 to Figueroa/State)
If none of the Carmageddon discounts strike your fancy, there are plenty of other ongoing discounts you can take advantage of by going Metro, like the LA Zoo (Metro Bus 96 to Zoo/Western Heritage).
This is great. Wish it happened more often! Here’s the news release from the Radio and Television News Assn. of Southern California:
Los Angeles, Sept. 26, 2012: Local television stations are forming an unprecedented joint operations plan to cut down on helicopter flights over Sepulveda Pass homes and businesses during the upcoming Carmageddon II weekend, according to the Radio and Television News Assn. which is coordinating the effort.
“We plan camera pools, year around, for many major court cases and other events in Southern California where cameras are restricted, but it’s always tough to arrange an ‘air pool’ due to technical challenges and the natural competitive urges of TV news departments,” said Rick Terrell, RTNA’s executive director. “This time, however, local TV news directors have made an extraordinary commitment to cut down helicopter hovering and cooperate to get news pictures for their viewers.”
The “pooling” plan calls for a single helicopter from a specific, participating station to make a fly over before the top of the hour when major newscasts are scheduled on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings and Monday morning, when the freeway is expected to reopen. The stations will not fly except for a single status-report video on Saturday and Sunday mornings, unless an emergency occurs.
