Preview of Thursday’s Metro Board meeting

by ,

The Metro Board of Directors’ final meeting of the year/decade is tomorrow at 10 a.m. at the Metro mothership adjacent to Union Station in downtown L.A. As always, the public is welcome to attend — comfy seats! — or watch the livestream (a link will appear here when the meeting begins).  The agenda is here.

Among the items the Board will consider:

•Programming $105 million for the first phase of the SR-71 Gap Closure Project to upgrade the 71 between Mission Boulevard and the San Bernardino County line. Upgrades include adding an HOV lane and general lane in each direction and closing the three intersections with the 71 in this stretch. Staff report

•The Board will be given an oral report on the reopening of the A Line and subsequent service issues. Presentation

•Approving a contract for $27.5 million to WP USA for study and planning work on the 405 ExpressLanes project to run between the 10 and 101 freeways. This is a Measure M project. Part of the work includes figuring out whether there could be one or two ExpressLanes in each direction. Point of emphasis: this is not a freeway widening project. Staff report

•Approving $7.5 million for final design work on the Lone Hill to White project to add a second set of tracks to Metrolink’s San Bernardino Line between San Dimas and La Verne. The San Bernardino Line is 67 percent single track, which creates bottlenecks as trains have to wait on sidings for other trains to pass. The project will also provide upgrades to 12 street crossings where trains will no longer have to blow their horns, meaning a lot more quiet for nearby residents. Staff report

•Extending the Exclusive Negotiation Agreement and Planning Document with Watt Companies for an additional 12 months for the joint development at the intersection of the Expo Line and Crenshaw/LAX Line. The development program includes a minimum of 400 total rental units (15% of which will be restricted to households earning 30% or less of area median income, and 5% of the total units restricted to households earning 30-80% of area median income), and at least 40,000 square feet of commercial and community space. Staff report

 

Categories: Policy & Funding, Projects

Tagged as: , , , , , , , , ,

3 replies ›

  1. Was unable to open up the Blue Line (A Line Discussion). Concerning the other proposed projects, why must millions be spent to further study the issue when the outcome will be the same. A case in point is the conversion of the HOV Lanes on the 405 to Express Lanes. The MTA already knows it’s needed and the only additional construction is signs and cameras. All of these delayed projects are a example why it takes so long to solve the issue and the waste involved that could be used for other projects.

  2. Steve, could not find this in the link to the Metrolink Lone Hill to White project, but if the board approves this, when would actual construction start and proposed to be finished ?

    I also live near and use the 71 Expressway regularly. San Bernardino County converted the 2 line State Highway 71 to a full freeway years ago, too bad it has take LA County this long to match it on this end.
    However, once LA County finishes their portion, there is still another bad bottleneck at the 91 because that interchange and segment of highway needs a major expansion, but because its in Riverside County, its another waiting period for that project. Very poor regional highway planning in this case.