I started by daily graze of today’s transportation headlines with this story in the Argonaut: El Segundo, as we reported last month, is most unhappy with a light rail maintenance facility being proposed in the city as part of the Crenshaw Line. The city of Los Angeles doesn’t want it, either, so El Segundo is threatening to sue. El Segundo Mayor Kelly McDowell tells the newspaper:
“We’ve got two power plants, a giant sewage treatment plant, and we’re next door to an airport,” the El Segundo mayor asserted. “It’s time for government agencies and others to stop dumping these awful uses into the City of El Segundo. We have done our part.”
There’s just something about these maintenance facilities that must be inherently controversial. The proposed one for phase II of the Expo Line in Santa Monica caused a stink and there’s been a variety of issues trying to find a site in the San Gabriel Valley for the Foothill Extension of the Gold Line, although it appears that yard may land in Monrovia. In any event, the Metro Board of Directors is voting on Thursday on the preferred route for the Crenshaw Line and I suspect this will be part of the pre-vote conversation.
If you like to think about subways, go right away to the Designboom website to see some rather amazing pics of subway stations around the world, including a spectacular cave-like one in Stockholm.
The Huffington Post appears to be emphasizing transportation in its expanded coverage of the L.A. area. Downtown activist Brady Westwater has a piece on the HP today that contemplates the housing-transpo conundrum in L.A. “One of LA’s biggest problems is that jobs often aren’t where housing is, or housing isn’t where the schools are the best or the housing is too expensive for the workers in that area. There are too many housing choices and too many people,” Westwater writes. He also has an idea how to solve that problem — read the piece to find out.
The rest of today’s headlines, courtesy of the unstoppable force that is the Metro library, are after the jump.
75 Years Ago: Wilshire Boulevard Opened Through Westlake Park
Blog Downtown
And The Winner Is…You Decide (2009 Streetsie Awards)
LA StreetsBlog
Congress: Invest In Intelligent Transportation Systems To Create Jobs
The Hill
The Economics Of The Bike Boulevard
LA StreetsBlog
The French Revolution: How Strausbourg Gave Up The Car (And Why Midsized American Cities Can Too)
Next American City
Gold Line Extension Scrambling To Break Ground By June
Curbed LA
Guerrilla Sharrows Appear In Northeast L.A., Cleanup Will Take 60 Days, Says LADOT
LAist
Heavy Traffic Linked To Higher Miscarriage Rates
Sacramento Bee
How To Save The Los Angeles Times, End Rush Hour Traffic, Solve The Housing Crisis (And Not Have To Pay For It)
Huffington Post
Implementing Streetcars Demands Consideration Of The Way Traffic Works
Transport Politic
Los Angeles Transport Chief Proposes Law Protecting Cyclists From Harrassment
Road.cc
Map Of The Day: ExperienceLA Launches “Things To Do” Map (integrated Metro transit information)
LAist
NTSB Calls For Tougher Passenger Bus Scrutiny
Associated Press
Ridley-Thomas Wants Further Study Of Proposed Expo Line
Southern California Public Radio
States Vie For $69B In Infrastructure Funds
Washington Times
Subway Architecture (Must-see photos!)
Designboom
Transit Coalition To Metrolink: “Fare Increases, Not Service Cuts, Are The Least Painful”
LAist
What Have We Learned From The Recovery Act?
National Journal Transportation Blog
White House Unveils Transit Safety Bill To Cautious Praise On The Hill
DC StreetsBlog
Categories: Transportation News