As many of you are aware by now, the New Blue Improvements Project is currently underway. The south closure of the Blue Line will last through May, and the north closure is expected to take place from May through late July. And some of you may still be wondering: why will this project take so long?
As Metro’s oldest and busiest light rail line, the Blue Line has had its share of wear and tear, with mechanical issues becoming more prevalent in recent years. Knowing that, I thought it was important to take a look back at the history of the Blue Line and how we got to this point.
For more information on the project please visit metro.net/newblue.
Categories: History, Projects, Transportation News
Metro needs to address the impact the Blue Line closure is having on the Silver Line. The Silver Line is packed and sometimes skip pickups at stations on the 110 Freeway. Buses are too crowded!
Despite the hiccups and delays, I am very glad all of this is being done. People have been complaining that the Blue Line gets no love. Well now it’s finally getting its upgrades, up to the standards of the other newer lines. I’m most looking forward to the signal and relay upgrades (so we don’t get failures during the rain), the new crossovers (so trains can get around car accidents), and the improvements to Willowbrook station.
Are you going to do a photo essay on how the Blue Line bus shuttles are going? I’d like to see a first-hand account of how operations are actually going.
I would like to see several improvements once it’s completed: an effective way of ensuring only paying riders board the trains; staff that will enforce the no eating, drinking or loud speaker cell phone conversations/music nobody else wants to listen to. Better security for passengers from unruly or potentially dangerous people. Enforcement of the “senior/disabled seating” only being used by seniors or disabled people. Too many times people that need those seats are standing while a young perfectly healthy person is occupying a senior/disabled seat. These people should be fined, just as if parking in a handicap parking when they should not.
So is the Blue Line finally getting quad gates at all of the crossings instead of just the Compton area?
The bus substitute is not as bad as I thought it would be. But I can sure see why people will ride rail lines and drive before riding a bus. I road the 860 freeway express. I road at the end of rush hour and it took about as long as the train. But bus ride was cramped, nosie, very bumpy and overall not a good experience. Occasionally I will take the bus, but I would mostly drive if the Blue soon to be the A line were not coming back. At least I did not have to deal with venders, homeless and rouadey fellow passengers. Do you think that they would close the 405 or 5 freeways for 6 months during improvements or widening to make it easier for Caltrans and their comtractoco?