Little Tokyo Sounds Off About Metro’s Expansion Plans (Source: API Movement)

Little Tokyo Sounds Off About Metro’s Expansion Plans | API Movement

Little Tokyo Sounds Off About Metro’s Expansion Plans

Michael - Posted on 19 October 2009

Community leaders continue to meet with Metro officials to emphasize the area’s historical and cultural significance.

By Nalea J. Ko, Reporter
Pacific Citizen
Published October 16, 2009

Little Tokyo stakeholders are expressing concerns over Metro’s plans to expand the city’s mass transit system in the area.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or Metro, has been collecting community input about its 1.8-mile-long Regional Connector Transit Corridor project. It is a plan that would run through Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, connecting the Metro Gold, Blue and Expo Lines, and possible future transit projects.

Little Tokyo is one of the last three Japantowns left in the nation including one in San Francisco and one in San Jose.

Most residents and employees say they are in favor of improving the transportation in the area, but they are also concerned about how Metro will mitigate negative impacts during the construction phase.

“The Metro has to find ways which will in effect guarantee that businesses and institutions that reflect our ethnic heritage will not be destroyed or impacted to ruination through their proposed construction … and work with the Little Tokyo community after construction is done to help ensure that the ethnic flavor of the community can continue and not be swallowed up by big-money interests,” said Bill Watanabe, executive director of the Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC).

Watanabe said his opinions are personal and do not necessarily reflect of the feelings of LTSC.
Construction on the regional connector could take as long as four years, depending on which project option is pursued.

Metro officials have not broken ground yet. An 18-month environmental impact statement/environmental impact report is currently underway. It is expected to be complete by the summer of 2010.

In the interim, Metro officials are exploring four different options for constructing the regional connector: a no build alternative, a transportation system management alternative, an at-grade light rail transit alternative and an underground light rail transit alternative.

Metro officials will determine which option to proceed with depending on community input, Metro procedures and the Federal Transit Administration’s guidelines.

The regional connector is intended to provide those who live and work in downtown with “more access to the light rail system.” Little Tokyo is one of the communities that would be included in the project area. Others include Bunker Hill, the Jewelry District, the Civic Center, the Toy District, the Historic Core, the Arts District, the Financial District and the Jewelry District.

Constructing the regional connector would allow passengers to travel through the downtown area without having to transfer, said Dolores Roybal Saltarelli, Metro project manager.

“The elimination of these transfers would save passengers between 12 and 20 minutes of travel time per average trip, and would reduce the need for casual passengers — those without monthly transit passes who pay for each trip individually — to pay additional fares.” Saltarelli wrote in an e-mail to the Pacific Citizen.

“In order for the Metro system to accommodate the anticipated population growth and increases in transit users through the year 2035 and beyond, it will be important to address crowding at these stations.”

Each proposed regional connector option has varying price tags. The transportation system management alternative would have an estimated capital cost of $63 million and an operating cost of $13.6 million. That option would provide bus or shuttle service between the 7th Street Metro Station and Union Station.

The at-grade light rail transit alternative would be $796 million with an operating cost of $9.8 million. This option would go west along Main and Los Angeles Street and north along Temple Street. And the final option, the underground light rail alternative, is estimated to be $910 million, costing $5.2 to operate. Its route would run along Second Street, crossing into Little Tokyo.

“No option is really acceptable to us,” said Craig Ishii, JACL PSW regional director.

“Little Tokyo — this is the whole community — the whole community for the most part is not opposed to the idea of public transit and is not opposed to Metro. It is only opposed to these options that are being presented. The idea is that Little Tokyo should have been involved in the process where they went from 30 [project options] to four.”

Ishii said they oppose the underground light rail transit alternative because of the possible traffic congestion and loss of business during construction. The at-grade light rail transit alternative is also problematic because it sequesters Little Tokyo, said Ishii.

The JACL PSW regional board passed an Oct. 5 resolution, saying they are against all options presented by Metro, unless proper mitigations are implemented.

Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, also submitted a letter to Metro Chairman Ara Najarian urging him to be mindful of the regional connector’s possible impact on the Japanese American National Museum, which has “unique characteristics and compelling historic significance.”

Saltarelli said they are working with the community before finalizing their decision.

“The project team is conducting extensive outreach in the community to identify the best possible alternative,” Saltarelli said. “We are hopeful that we can identify an alternative that minimizes the impacts on the downtown community, and provides great benefits to businesses, residents, and visitors in downtown Los Angeles and regionally for the long-term.”

The next downtown-based Metro community meeting is Nov. 7 at 10 a.m. at the Wurlitzer Building.
Stakeholders hope Metro officials will consider the historical and cultural significance of Little Tokyo.

“If the Little Tokyo community can plan and coalesce in effective ways to ensure that the community will not be destroyed in the future, then perhaps there is hope for change that results in positive ends for the city and for the Little Tokyo community,” Watanabe said. “Without these guarantees and assurances, many in the community will be unsupportive of these changes.”