Regional Connector PPT

Metro is holding a round of community meetings this week to seek community input on a plan to extend work hours for specific activities requiring limited periods of overnight work to construct the Regional Connector underground light rail line through Downtown Los Angeles. (See community presentation above).

The plan is expected to give the future project contractor and its third-party vendors the tools needed to shorten the duration of construction-related impacts to the community and help bring the nearly two-mile, $1.366 billion project in on-time on and on-budget.

Currently, Metro has issued its Request for Proposals to a group of pre-qualified design/builders, and expects to receive proposals in July.  The contract is expected to be awarded at the end of 2013.

Night-time operations may include station box decking cut and cover operations, which both consist of temporary deck that maintains traffic flows while tunneling and other construction activities take place underground.

Metro plans to apply for three types of permits from the City of Los Angeles:

• Extended Work Hours. Metro’s request for extended work hours requires Metro to comply with night-time noise limits established in the environmental documents.Variance approval only extends allowable night-time work hours Monday through Friday from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., with additional weekend work-hour periods.
• Peak Hour Exemption. The exemption will enable crews to work between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• Holiday Moratorium. The permit will exempt work restricted from before Thanksgiving to after New Year’s Day holidays.

If approved, the permits would give the contractor immediate flexibility to work extended hours if required, but would have to be renewed by the contractor. Renewal is based on compliance.

Metro’s project team says that community support for the extended work hours is essential.  The support for extended work hours does not change how the project is constructed.  Metro is still required to abide by the environmental documents and required mitigation, monitoring and reporting efforts.

The project team also says that it will continue its commitment to working with the community to further identify ways to reduce construction impacts and expedite construction work.  All work will be scheduled with plenty of advance notice to the community.