Pedestrian View Of Los Angeles

This blog focuses on rail lines in LA country that exist, are under construction or under consideration. The Californian high-speed rail project and southern CA to Vegas project will also be covered. Since most of the relevant developments in the news, rail websites and blogosphere take place on weekdays, this blog will be updated primarily Monday through Friday and occasionally on the weekends. Your comments, criticism and suggestions are encouraged. Miscellaneous stuff will also appear here.

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Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Everyone wants Expo, nobody wants dirt (Source: www.smdp.com)

Speeding toward Expo Line’s proposed maintenance yard
Everyone wants Expo, nobody wants dirt

The proposed maintenance facility for the Exposition Light Rail Phase 2 expansion into Santa Monica still is generating a lot of heat. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is specifying the Verizon property — a 7-acre industrial property adjacent to Stewart Street and Exposition Boulevard — for its Expo Light Rail train storage and maintenance yard.

Pico Neighborhood resident (and school board member) Oscar de la Torre wrote a letter to all the local media a few weeks ago. Tossing around terms such as "toxic triangle" and "environmental injustice" as only Oscar can, he laid out a case that City Hall and the MTA are discriminating against the neighborhood by asking residents to "shoulder the burden" by accepting another noisy, pollution-generating facility in the Pico neighborhood.

He wrote that the proposed rail yard would be in addition to negative environmental impacts originating from the nearby I-10 Freeway, a recycling center and two solid waste facilities in the immediate area.

While I share de la Torre's concerns about noise, chemicals and other factors that may be harmful to the local environment, a lot of people should have seen this coming long ago.

Expo's maintenance yard along with other more serious impacts -— including exacerbation of traffic problems and public safety due to trains running down the middle of Colorado Avenue -— were ignored and glossed over by promises of an "exciting new era in transportation" and a "solution to traffic problems" by transit cheerleaders, City Hall bureaucrats and local politicians. But now, the realities are beginning to settle in.

The January, 2009 Draft Environmental Impact Report drafted by the Expo Construction Authority and approved a couple months ago by the governing MTA Board of Directors noted that the Verizon site was the obvious choice after extensive and lengthy analysis of numerous other locations that were deemed inadequate.

Because of the growing number of complaints about a rail yard across the street from residences, politicians and city staff are grasping at straws to deflect complaints and placate the public. One proposal is to shift part of the facility across Stewart Street and further away from homes.

Another flawed scheme suggests using two square city blocks bounded by Colorado, Olympic Boulevard, Ninth and 11th streets as a possible site. Numerous other locations along the Olympic/Colorado corridor have also been reviewed but all have suitability problems including security, access, size, location or closeness to residences.

I'd bet the family Prius that residents near these other potential sites, like de la Torre, will also be screaming about their own "environmental injustice" if the yard is relocated to their neighborhoods. I predict Expo's maintenance yard will be built on the Verizon property. City Hall needs to stop chasing its tail and start spending its resources on ways to mitigate its noise and pollution.



Bill Bauer can be contacted at mr.bilbau@gmail.com.


What Should Be Done with the Crenshaw Corridor (Source: Streetsblog Los Angeles )

Streetsblog Los Angeles » What Should Be Done with the Crenshaw Corridor
What Should Be Done with the Crenshaw Corridor

by Damien Newton on August 27, 2009

Photo: Practical Visionary/Webshots

I'm going to be honest with you for a moment. I haven't been paying attention to the Crenshaw Corridor Transit Study in South L.A. Maybe it's that a preferred mode hasn't been selected yet. Maybe it's that more controversial projects have grabbed my attention. Maybe it's that it's mysterious. Regardless all of that is going to change soon.

A press release from the office of Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas announced that the Metro Board will vote in October on whether or not to go forward with a Bus Rapid Transit project for the corridor or an "underground light-rail." The Crenshaw Corridor extends approximately 10 miles from Wilshire Boulevard on the north to El Segundo Boulevard on the south on Crenshaw Boulevard. Measure R allocates $1.7 billion for whatever project the Board chooses. A history of the numerous studies done on the area can be found at Metro's website.

Ridley-Thomas' office hasn't announced their preferred alternative, but instead is pushing for a process that allows the effected communities to choose. However, when discussing the alternatives for the Corridor they don't mention the "no-build" or "Transportation Demand Management" options. Ridley-Thomas is kicking off the outreach, which will include public hearings in September and October, with a media availability later today.

Since I admitedly don't have a lot of expertise in the area, I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on what is the best transit option for the area. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section.