Tag Archives: Regional Connector

Reminder: why Election Day matters in Los Angeles if you care about transportation

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Click above to find your polling place.

As you may have heard, there’s a runoff Tuesday in Los Angeles to elect the next mayor of the second-largest city in the nation — a city with about 3.8 million inhabitants and some well-known transportation challenges.

I ran the following post on March 4, the day before the primary election in Los Angeles. I’m running it again today as a reminder to vote in tomorrow’s mayoral election between Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel because whichever succeeds Antonio Villaraigosa will likely have a hand in many important transportation decisions, including project acceleration, the future of congestion pricing projects, the construction of five rail projects and possible changes in Metro’s fare structure in the future.

Look up your polling place here.

Metro is a county agency and is overseen by a 13 member Board of Directors who serve as the deciders on most significant issues. The Mayor of Los Angeles gets a seat on that board and gets to fill three other seats with his appointees.

A majority of the Metro Board — i.e. seven votes — is required to approve most items. Four of those seven votes are controlled by the Los Angeles mayor. That means that the mayor controls more than half the votes needed to approve items that have impacts across Los Angeles County and the region.

Here are some items that are likely to confront the Metro Board in the next four or so years, meaning they’re items likely to confront the lucky soul (if luck is the right word) who becomes the next mayor of the City of Angels and/or Parking Lots:

•There is the not-so-tiny issue of whether to accelerate the building of Measure R projects and, if so, how best to pay for it and which transit and road projects are included. The next mayor may also choose to use their bully pulpit to persuade Congress to adopt the full America Fast Forward program, which would greatly expand funding for transportation projects.

•Although Metro CEO Art Leahy has already said there will be no changes to Metro’s fares in the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1, he also said it’s an issue that will likely have to be revisited sooner rather than later in order to help Metro keep up with its expenses.

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Transportation headlines, Friday, May 17

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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.

L.A. Philharmonic concerned about potential subway noise (L.A. Times)

The story reports on the ongoing process by Metro to protect the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Colburn School from any noise from Regional Connector trains that will pass under or near the buildings. Metro CEO Art Leahy told the Times that the Regional Connector is being designed to have zero net impact on acoustics at either building.

Two other points to add: Metro has hired Rick Talaske, a renowned acoustic engineering consultant, to assist with the Regional Connector project. And, the project will not go out to bid until appropriate sound levels for trains are determined. In other words, the construction firm or firms that wins the contract to build the Regional Connector will have to build the project to the sound standards mandated by Metro and agreed upon with both the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Colburn School.

Orange crush (ZevWeb) 

Very good story on crowing on the Orange Line busway, particularly at peak hours. Excerpt:

While improvements are planned to handle the growth in ridership during off-peak hours, rush hour is a different story.  One additional bus trip will be squeezed onto the back end of the peak traffic period but, after that, the agency is just about maxed out on how many buses it can run at a time. Among other issues, the line is constrained at intersections with north-south roadways, which are managed by the city of Los Angeles’ Department of Transportation.

“Running buses every 4 minutes during rush hour is the best we can do under the current traffic configuration,” Hillmer said. “The city is reluctant to go below the 4-minute frequency level.”

Jonathan Hui, a spokesman for the city agency, said it allows buses to pass through the intersections every two minutes, but they only get special priority—early or longer green lights—every four minutes. That preferential treatment is important to keep the line moving swiftly.

“Not everybody can get the green at the same time,” Hui said. “The Orange Line is obviously important, but so are drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists.”

The two agencies are currently working on a solution to the problem. Hillmer said possibilities include sending two buses in tandem through intersections, or shortening the length of the green lights the buses get, which could enable more of them to get through.

Is future baseline the baseline of the future? (Thomas Law Group) 

A good look at the legal arguments in the Neighbors for Smart Rail versus Expo Line Construction Authority case made earlier this month before the California Supreme Court. In the case, Neighbors for Smart Rail (which wants the train to go underground in the Cheviot Hills and Rancho Park area) is challenging the EIR for the second phase of the Expo Line project, saying it was improper for the Construction Authority to use future traffic conditions as the baseline for determining the train’s impacts. The Authority argued using future conditions is a better way to gauge the real impacts.

According to the blog, four Justices seemed receptive to Neighbors for Smart Rail’s arguments, another Justice seemed to favor the Construction Authority’s stance and two other Justices didn’t say anything during the hearing. A ruling is expected within 90 days. With construction of the project underway, it remains to be seen if an unfavorable ruling would impact work — or whether the Court just wants to clarify how agencies should handle the baseline issue in future EIRs.

New concept developed to better connect the Regional Connector to Grand Avenue; community funding, however, will be needed

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One of the three new stations for the Regional Connector project will be at 2nd and Hope Street. Due to the topography of downtown Los Angeles, that presents some challenges for future patrons: those exiting the station bound for Grand Avenue would have to walk uphill to reach the many attractions along Grand Avenue, including the front side of Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, MOCA, the Colburn School and the Broad, the new art museum that is presently under construction.

At the request of members of the Regional Connector Community Leadership Council’s 2nd/Hope Committee – a group of area residents and stakeholders interested in the Regional Connector project — Metro has developed a concept that would provide a direct connection from the new station to Grand Avenue.

Before I go any further, it’s important to understand that this proposed concept is not presently funded as part of the project. Metro intends to put the concept in the package going to construction firms interested in proposing to build the Regional Connector project as an option in order to determine the additional cost of the connection concept. The Contractor will price the connection concept as an option and will honor this price proposal for 180 days from the awarding of the contract. The funds related to this connection would need to come from contributions from the community. The Design/Build construction contract for the project is expected to be awarded around the end of this year.

With that caveat in mind, please flip through the above slide show. The first several renderings show the station as is planned. The entrance would be at 2nd/Hope and a series of elevators would take patrons 77 feet below street level to the station concourse.

Under the proposed concept that Metro has developed, a second level could be added to the station as well as a bridge over Hope Street, subject to community funding. In this concept, the elevators would stop both at ground level and at bridge level, 23 feet above Hope, at the same level as the proposed GTK Way Plaza deck.

The 2nd/Hope Committee will now have to begin to discuss ways to raise the funding to build this proposed connection. I personally think it’s a very intriguing idea that will make an already good project even better and even more attractive to potential riders.

Rep. Howard ‘Buck’ McKeon authors letter supporting Metro New Starts projects

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The federal New Starts program helps local transit agencies build large and high impact transit projects; Metro is seeking $2 billion of New Starts money to help fund the Purple Line Extension and the Regional Connector.

The letter from Rep. McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) is very helpful, given the uncertainty of transportation funding in Congress these days. The 25th district that McKeon represents includes Santa Clarita, Palmdale, Lancaster and parts of eastern Ventura County.

President Obama’s proposed budget calls for $130 million for two Metro projects: Purple Line Extension and Regional Connector

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This page from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation booklet of budget highlights. Click above for the full document (pdf).

This page from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation booklet of budget highlights. Click above for the full document (pdf).

Some very welcome news via the proposed budget released today by President Barack Obama: the budget includes $130 million to help fund two of Metro’s big rail projects: the Purple Line Extension and the Regional Connector. The budget allocates $65 million to both projects.

This is the first time that both projects will actually receive federal money. The funds are extremely significant because they help supplement Measure R funds for two projects that are both very expensive and need additional funds. Although Congress still must approve the budget, historically these type of funds don’t change much during budget negotiations.

There’s another reason the money is important. The funds are the first payment for more federal dollars that will flow to both projects in future federal budgets via the federal New Starts program that helps local transit agencies pay for big, pricey transit improvements — such as new rail lines.

Formal agreements that detail the New Starts money are expected to be signed between Metro and the Federal Transit Administration later this year. The subway will be asking for $2.3 billion in New Starts money and has a budget of $2.4 billion for its first phase to La Cienega Boulevard. The Regional Connector will be asking for $671 million in New Starts money and has a budget of $1.3 billion.

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Metro Board to consider change to Measure R expenditure plan as part of latest project acceleration effort

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UPDATE: The item will be considered at April’s meeting of the Metro Board of Directors.

In 2010, the Metro Board of Directors approved the 30/10 plan, the idea being to build 30 years worth of Measure R projects in the next decade. Although it hasn’t yet worked out, that policy is still very much on the books — and Metro staff are still trying to advance Measure R road and transit projects.

The first part of a new acceleration strategy will come before the Metro Board at its monthly meeting on Thursday. In particular, Metro staff are recommending that the Board approve a public notice of a planned change to the Measure R expenditure plan that would allow second- and third-decade Measure R projects to begin receiving funds this decade.

If approved, the proposal would then be vetted by a three-judge panel that provides oversight for Measure R. After the judges release their findings, the plan is for the Metro Board to vote on the new dates for the expenditure plan and a new acceleration plan at the Board’s May meeting.

And what will the acceleration strategy be this time around? I don’t know the details beyond what’s in the staff report issued last week (the report is below). The report shows that Metro is looking at assembling funds from a variety of sources — Measure R, America Fast Forward loans and bonds (30/10 was renamed America Fast Forward in 2011) and possibly revenues from Prop A and C, the half-cent sales tax increases approved by L.A. County voters in 1980 and 1990, respectively.

So stay tuned. As always there’s a lot of balls in the air, particularly at the federal level, where Metro is trying to lock down New Starts money for the Westside Subway Extension and Regional Connector while also getting getting Congress to fully adopt and fund the America Fast Forward plan.

Upcoming meetings for Community Leadership Council for Regional Connector project

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Metro’s Regional Connector project will connect Metro’s Blue, Expo, and Gold lines via a 1.9-mile extension of light rail tracks beneath downtown Los Angeles. Early pre-construction activities, such as utility relocations, are already underway and construction of the three new stations and track is expected to begin in late 2013/early 2014.

As part of the ongoing community engagement process, Metro has established the Regional Connector Community Leadership Council (RCCLC). The mission of the RCCLC is to foster, advance and promote community-based dialogue and information-sharing regarding the needs and preferences of stakeholders in the neighborhoods where the Regional Connector will be constructed and operated.

The RCCLC is comprised of a diverse group of stakeholders from along the alignment, with all meetings open to the public. In addition to monthly meetings of the full RCCLC, smaller Station and Area Committees meet on a regular basis to discuss issues specific to their geographical neighborhood.

To sign up to be notified of upcoming committee meetings and to receive the meeting agendas, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/rcclclist

The current upcoming RCCLC and Station/Area Committee Meetings are as follows:

Regional Connector Community Leadership Council: 
April 2 @ 1:30 p.m. (No March Meeting)
Metro Headquarters, One Gateway Plz, Los Angeles

Station/Area Committees:

2nd Street/Hope Place: March 12 @ 1 p.m.
Metro Headquarters, One Gateway Plz, Los Angeles

1st Street/Central Avenue: March 13 @ 4 p.m.
244 S San Pedro St, Los Angeles

Financial District: March 19 @ 9 a.m.
626 Wilshire Blvd Ste 200, Los Angeles

2nd Street/Broadway: April 10 @ 2 p.m.
To Be Determined

Please RSVP for the meetings you plan to attend as this assists the stakeholder-led committees in making logistical arrangements. These meetings do not typically consist of public presentations, but rather are working group-style committee meetings consisting mainly of stakeholder-led group discussions.