Here’s a look at some of the transportation headlines gathered by the Metro Library. The full list of headlines is posted on the library’s blog. Don’t forget you can also follow the Metro Library on Facebook and Twitter.

Walking in L.A.: Trees as Sidewalk Vandals (GOOD)

This segment of GOOD’s mission to send a Brooklyn writer to discover L.A. from the street level is particularly interesting as it chronicles the trees that tear up our often-neglected sidewalks. Did you know L.A. spends $3 to $5 million a year on lawsuits from people who have fallen on the city’s sidewalks? Ill chosen trees with massive root systems buckle and crack sidewalks and can turn the most basic form of human mobility – walking – into a real challenge.

Fillmore Gold Line Station Remodel Almost Complete (Pasadena Real Estate with Brigham Yen)

Brigham Yen takes a look at the improvements to the Fillmore Gold Station in Pasadena and is pleased with the results. Aesthetic and functional improvements including new landscaping, seating and bike racks that ransform the area surrounding the station (previously just a useless cul-de-sac) into a pedestrian plaza. Of course, as Brigham notes, the area surrounding the new plaza (which includes an auto oriented drug store  and strip mall) could really use an update in order to transform Fillmore into a transit destination. On the other side of the tracks, there’s a parking garage for a medical office that has a few spaces for Gold Line patrons and a mostly vacant parcel that used to have free parking for the Gold Line but is now a privately-operated parking lot.

New bike racks, vegetation and seating adorn the redesigned plaza. Photo: Brigham Yen.

Expo Phase I – Coming June 1, “The Last Battle of Farmdale” (Streetsblog LA)

Streetsblog reports that the ever controversial Expo Line Phase I will face one of its final battles before completion. The California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) will soon decide on the fate of the contested Farmdale rail crossing – a crossing that has drawn the ire of the Citizens Campaign to Fix Expo who fear the at-grade rail line will present a danger to students at nearby Dorsey High School. While Fix Expo’s solution is to place the line underground, it’s not clear if they represent the views of everyone involved in the dispute. Many politicians, however, support the new station and the LAUSD has been in negotiations with Expo officials over the new station. Ultimately it’s up to the PUC to approve of the station and the crossing.