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.
Delays, costs build up for 405 project (L.A. Times)
A good look at the various issues that have delayed completion of the project that is adding a northbound carpool lane to the 405 between the 10 and 101 as well as widening bridges and rebuilding the on- and off-ramps to/from Wilshire Boulevard. Excerpt:
The 405 project is being built under a speedier-than-typical process. State lawmakers fast-tracked the construction by choosing the so-called “design-build” method over the more traditional “design-bid-build.”
Design-build puts a single contractor in charge of final design and construction, in theory enabling projects to run more smoothly and to be completed at lower cost.
Shaving years off the project “saves hundreds of millions of dollars in construction impacts, costs and travel delays for the public,” said Dave Sotero, a Metro spokesman.
But there can be downsides to this approach.
Some tasks that normally would be completed before the bulldozers and pile drivers move in — such as relocating utility lines — must be completed while construction is underway. Nasty surprises can derail plans.
In addition to the utility relocations, other problems have involved retaining walls and securing a property easement to build ramps from Getty Center Drive. The project is scheduled to be completed by mid-2014 with some parts of it opening prior. That’s a year behind the original schedule but seven years ahead of the 2021 completion date if design-build had not been used.
Crenshaw Subway Coalition gets ready for Leimert Park station showdown (Los Angeles Wave)
A rendering from the Crenshaw/LAX Line’s final environmental document showing the light rail running at grade between 48th and 59th.
An update on a recent community meeting by the group fighting to add a Leimert Park station to the Crenshaw/LAX Line and have the segment between 48th and 59th streets put underground (as approved it will be built at street level). The article also included the Coalition’s update on what the Los Angeles mayoral candidates have written to the Coalition. Excerpt:
“As soon as possible upon taking office as mayor [I commit to directing] staff to review the design options in the [Environmental Impact Report/Statement] as well as funding opportunities for underground portions of Crenshaw Blvd between 48th and 59th streets,” Greuel wrote.
Meanwhile, Garceti declared: “As mayor, I will continue to aggressively fight for the rail stop in Leimert Park to improve safety, create jobs, boost local businesses and provide better access to a transportation option that will help South L.A. residents get where they need to go without a car, which will reduce congestion and pollution for us all.”
Bids to build the project are scheduled to be released soon by Metro, as well as a Metro staff recommendation for who should be awarded the contract. At this point, the earliest the Board would consider that contract is in late June; Garcetti or Greuel will take office on July 1. The Board has already approved adding a Leimert Park station if it could be built within the project’s budget. Putting the segment south of 48th Street underground is a bigger deal because that’s not the project approved that was approved by the Board or put out to bid, nor was it the project approved by the Federal Transit Administration in late 2011. Stay tuned!
L.A. Council approves controversial rail yard for port complex (L.A. Times)
Cargo ships on the Panama Canal in a 2008 photo. Credit: ThinkPanama, via Flickr creative commons.
The 153-acre facility in Wilmington would allow more cargo containers to be transfered from trucks to Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains closer to the ports. Proponents say it would vastly reduce truck trips on the nearby 710 freeway and that it will be the greenest facility of its kind. Opponents counter that the yard will spew more pollution into the area and have threatened to sue. Looming over the entire issue is the widening of the Panama Canal, which may or may not (depending on who is doing the predicting) inspire the largest cargo ships from Asia to bypass the West Coast and instead unload at harbors along the Gulf of Mexico and the East Coast.
Has high-speed rail been derailed? (Governing)
A good, balanced article on federal funding of President Obama’s initiative to build high-speed rail lines around the U.S. As the article notes, the $42 billion needed from the feds to build a San Francisco-to-Los Angeles line seems unlikely to come from the current Congress given recent budget cuts. But proponents point to smaller projects around the country that are speeding up existing Amtrak lines and say high-speed rail is much like the interstate highway system — it will be done in increments.
