Orange Line Extension progresses toward June opening

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UPDATE: Here is a video from the tour:

The view looking north toward Chatsworth station from the new bridge that will carry the Orange Line Extension over the Metrolink and Amtrak tracks.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa talks with media and Metro officials on the new Orange Line Extension bridge. This view is looking south.

Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Board Chair Antonio Villaraigosa and Metro officials provided a media tour of the Orange Line Extension this morning. The news release below has many details on the four-mile line between the existing Canoga station and the Chatsworth train station.

Mayor Villaraigosa added a few comments worth noting. Among them:

•Although the Orange Line Extension is a Measure R project, Metro was able to secure state funds to help pay for the busway. That, said the Mayor, will free up the Orange Line’s Measure R funds — about $182 million — to help pay for other Measure R projects in the San Fernando Valley.

•The Mayor said that the Orange Line is another project that creates linkages as part of Metro’s growing network of transit — in this case linking Metrolink and Amtrak to job-rich Warner Center and to the rest of the Orange Line that connects with the Red Line. “If we build these projects, people will use them and realize there is an alternative to the single-passenger automobile,” the Mayor said.

•As for other projects, the Mayor said that the Expo Line light rail should be opening soon — although he did not provide a date — and that there should be a groundbreaking on the Crenshaw/LAX Line later in the year.

Construction Progress Press Release

There are a couple more photos after the jump along with a map of the project.

A view from a bus on Canoga Avenue of the Orange Line Extension and its parallel bike and walking path in the foreground.

The new platforms for the Orange Line Extension at the Canoga station. The existing platforms will serve the east-west portion of the line and the new platforms will serve the buses coming from and going to Chatsworth station.

 

Categories: Policy & Funding, Projects

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7 replies ›

  1. I second what Dennis said. While the orange line bus transfer TO the red line its pretty quick because there is almost always a red line train waiting at the station ready to leave with the new red line frequencies, coming back is the problem and takes longer especially at night because of the wait times for 20 minute bus intervals. So I certainly hope that this will effectively double the frequency between Canoga and NoHo because then it will match the frequency of the red line ensuring much quicker transfers to the bus going westward. Also, whats the status of metro’s project to improve the transfer layout in NoHo anyway? Is it a grade separated transfer? I haven’t really heard anything else about that besides that metro is doing it.

  5. How about constructing dedicated bus lanes for the Metro Silver Line in Downtown LA?

  6. Does the additional route mean more frequent bus service from the North Hollywood Red Line station or will you have to wait every other bus to get to your final destination at the other end of the line? Also, will the passenger load coming from the subway be spread out more evenly by having two buses loading at the same time during peak hours, instead of four minutes apart as they are now? More frequent service and having two buses start at the same time at the subway stop, to relieve crowding, will both likely increase the amount of customers on the existing route.