Little truck, big job, for Westside subway planning

Link: Little truck, big job, for Westside subway planning | Zev Yaroslavsky

Little truck, big job, for Westside subway planning

January 7, 2010

That rumbling outside isn’t the Big One—just a little visit from the

The “minivib”—a small truck that plays a starring role in seismic testing for the Westside Subway extension—will be paying a visit to Century City and Westwood neighborhoods next week. Its “field seismic investigations” will take place on Century Park West and Warnall Avenue on Jan. 12 and 13, beginning at the parking entrance for 1930 Century Park West and ending on Warnall at Eastborne Avenue. On Jan. 14 and 15, the work starts on Selby Avenue, beginning at a point between LaGrange and Missouri Avenues and ending at North Temple Way.

The seismic testing will produce an electronic image of the soil, including rock layers, near-surface faulting and information on bedrock elevations and depths. The process involves placing sensors along the street and then having the minivib press and vibrate a “plate” every two feet to obtain readings of the vibrations.

Ultimately, the work will help determine placement of subway tunnels and stations in Century City and Westwood. Anyone with questions about the testing can leave a message at (213) 922-6934 or email Metro via the “Contact Us” link here. For urgent matters, call (323) 889-5311.

About 240 letters have gone out to residents alerting them of the work, which will take place between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The night shift is necessary, according to Metro, to avoid competing vibrations from daytime traffic and to minimize disruption on nearby Santa Monica Boulevard, which will be reduced to one lane in each direction during the testing.

Metro says the noise will be moderate–not more than 70 decibels, in the range of daytime traffic volume–and should take no longer than 30 minutes in front of any one residence.

It’s a busy week for after-hours transportation action on the Westside–on Tuesday night, work also will begin on the 405 Sepulveda Pass widening project, as crews begin delineating new, narrower lanes to accommodate a work zone for the construction of a northbound carpool lane.

Expo Line Budget Derails The $640 million project has skyrocketed to $862 million (Source: NBC Los Angeles)

Link: Expo Line Budget Derails | NBC Los Angeles

Expo Line Budget Derails
The $640 million project has skyrocketed to $862 million
By SCOTT WEBER
Updated 2:45 PM PST, Tue, Dec 8, 2009



It was supposed to open this summer with the promise of fixing the congested Westside. Now the Expo Line rail project is $220 million over budget and at least a year behind schedule.

Officials had hoped that the 8.6 mile line connecting downtown to Culver City would be relatively simple and cost effective since it used right-of-way from the Southern Pacific railway. But the plan quickly derailed after a series of construction delays, problems with contractors, and project changes increased costs and delayed the opening.

According to the LA Times, problems included construction delays where the Expo and Blue lines meet on Flower Street, the decision to add a station at USC and safety improvements required next to public schools along the route.

The $640 million project has skyrocketed to $862 million and it may cost tens of millions more, the Times reported. Transit officials hope to open at least a portion of the route to west Crenshaw Boulevard next year.

The Culver City station may be running by the end of 2011 or the beginning of 2012 although no official decision has been made, the Times said.
First Published: Dec 8, 2009 2:39 PM PST

How about a Rail Line All the Way to LAX in 2010? MOVING LA

Link: CityWatch - An insider look at City Hall

How about a Rail Line All the Way to LAX in 2010?
MOVING LA
By Ken Alpern

Active ImageSo it’s a brand new decade, a brand new (well, sorta brand new) President and certainly a brand new paradigm of building improved transportation infrastructure in this city, county, state and country, so let’s finally get a rail line to LAX, shall we? We could go on and on forever about why the Green Line never made it to LAX: the greater costs, the turf wars between Metro (county-run, and formerly known as MTA and other titles) and LA World Airports (or LAWA), the demands of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to place the rail line in an underground trench as it intersects the runways, etc.

However, we’ve got a new plan that will get Green Line trains from the Expo to the Green Line, and perhaps someday from the Wilshire Corridor to the South Bay—and that’s the Crenshaw Light Rail Line just approved by the Metro Board last month.

Below is an old Transit Coalition map from several years ago that might be our reality circa 2040-50, reflecting an Expo Line that goes to Santa Monica, a Wilshire Subway that goes to the 405 freeway, and rail lines that goes up the Lincoln and Sepulveda/405 corridors. It also has a Crenshaw Line that goes from the Wilshire Corridor to the South Bay Galleria.

A few points need to be emphasized:

1) Note how “X Marks The Spot”, by and not to, LAX. Green Line trains and Crenshaw Line trains might share tracks between the current Aviation/Imperial Green Line station (at Continental City, located at the southeast corner of LAX) and a future Century/Aviation station to the east of LAX (at Manchester Square).

However, Green Line trains would likely proceed from Century/Aviation to at least the southeast corner of Sepulveda/Lincoln by Parking Lot C, and Crenshaw Line trains would go from the northeast (the Expo and Wilshire/Purple Lines) to the southwest (South Bay Galleria, and thereby converting the South Bay Green Line stub to the Crenshaw Line).

2) To a cynic, this just means a rail line that makes it closer to LAX (Century/Aviation), then it does now at Aviation/Imperial, but it still misses LAX—but that cynic would lose sight of two critical points:

First, are we really going to ask every commuter traveling BY the airport to go into and stop at every terminal IN the airport? Don’t folks from the South Bay want to proceed to Wilshire Blvd. without that long, scenic 7-stop or so diversion?

Second, aren’t there both security and operational issues that necessitate a transfer from the regional light rail lines to the Automated People Mover that would bring passengers, luggage and workers through screening on their way to the airport terminals?

3) In answer to the BIG question, “getting a rail line to LAX” means getting it to Century/Aviation (Manchester Square) and then a transfer to an Automated People Mover (currently planned to be a type of monorail) that will proceed to the individual airline terminals and a consolidated rental car facility.

Manchester Square might just be one of the future hot spots of commercial real estate and an economic sparkplug to the entire region, where Green Line and Crenshaw Line and People Mover trains all converge to provide one of the most job-creating transit-oriented developments in the nation.

It is also hoped that Green Line and Automated People Mover trains whisk hotel and job-bound commuters along the Century Blvd. Corridor to enhance economic development that rivals current and future venues of the Wilshire Blvd. Corridor and Downtown Los Angeles.

Enter the Green Line Interagency Task Force, to whom I will be forever grateful to Bill Rosendahl and the CD11 office for establishing shortly after Councilmember Rosendahl was elected. Among the list of maps/plans the task force (comprised of representatives and planners from LAWA, Metro, the FAA and LADOT) explored is the one below:

What the final LAX reconstruction looks like after the economic downturn resolves is anyone’s guess, but the above map is as good a rough guess as any.

With the passage of the Crenshaw Light Rail Line EIR in 2009, however, the time to revisit a plan for the LAX Automated People Mover, Green Line to Sepulveda/Lincoln and other on-hold features of LAX Reconfiguration is needed in 2010.

Although the Crenshaw Line and other projects get first dibs from Measure R funds, a Green Line to LAX is also included for future funding. It is necessary to remember that LA World Airports (including LAX) is owned by the City of Los Angeles, not the other way around, so that figuring out how to start funding and planning the LAX People Mover is within our grasp.

Similarly, LAX Reconfiguration (if done right) can be a major source of revitalization for the economies of L.A. City and County—that, too, is within our grasp. I think that if Mr. Rosendahl, Mr. Villaraigosa and our other City leaders are willing to lead, they will find a lot of commuters who will support them in this major endeavor.

(Ken Alpern is a Boardmember of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) and is both co-chair of the MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee and past co-chair of the MVCC Planning Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and also chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at Alpern@MarVista.org.This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.) -cw

Cities collaborate for Gold Line extension along 60 Freeway (Whittier Daily News)

Link: Cities collaborate for Gold Line extension along 60 Freeway - Whittier Daily News

Cities collaborate for Gold Line extension along 60 Freeway
By Rebecca Kimitch, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/02/2010 06:23:22 PM PST

A group of San Gabriel Valley cities is hedging its transportation bets.

Another extension of the Gold Line East is not likely to happen for decades. However, South El Monte, Rosemead, Montebello, Monterey Park and El Monte are collaborating on preliminary work to try to show transportation officials that the line should run through their cities rather than a route that goes south to Whittier.

"Right away we realized this was something that could really transform South El Monte, and the whole corridor ... and we knew to do this we would have to get all the cities affected by the route on board," said South El Monte City Councilman Joseph Gonzales. He is the chair of the SR-60 Coalition of Cities.

The El Monte City Council voted last month to pitch in $10,000 to fund a design and engineering feasibility plan. And the other cities also are pitching in for a consultant to walk the coalition through the environmental and political process, according to South El Monte City Manager Tony Ybarra.

Transit officials are considering two very different routes for a future extension of the Gold Line East. One would take the light rail up the 60 Freeway through Monterey Park, Rosemead and South El Monte to the edge of Industry. The other would take the line through Montebello and Whittier.

"We have many people in the area who don't have quality transportation alternatives," said Ybarra, making the case for the 60 Freeway route. "There are a number of housing developments along the route and if we can get this transportation, we can really reduce the number of cars on the road. We can also get students to Rio Hondo College, East Los Angeles College."

Metro has released contradictory information regarding the potential ridership and cost of the 60 route, Gonzales said, so the coalition is attempting to determine potential ridership. Gonzales added that the route could attract weekend riders visiting Whittier Narrows.

And each city in the coalition is working with the Southern California Association of Governments to determine potential residential and mixed-use development along the corridor, Gonzales said.

Though the route would not pass directly through El Monte, officials say their city also stands to benefit.

"It will benefit our residents to have it nearby. It won't benefit us at all if it is in Whittier," El Monte Mayor Andre Quintero said.

"This is an extraordinary extension and we need to have it nearby," Councilwoman Patricia Wallach said.

El Monte officials hope to build a connection between the light rail line and the El Monte bus station. Officials have placed high hopes on expansion of that bus station into a mixed-use development, the El Monte Transit Center.

"It's all part of a bigger puzzle that is 10, 20, 30 years out, but we have got to start thinking now," Councilman Juventino "J" Gomez said. "We really need to be more aggressive than we have been."

The east side of the Gold Line was recently extended from Union Station through Boyle Heights to Monterey Park, just south of the 60 Freeway.

There is funding for another extension through Measure R, the half-cent sales tax approved by voters last year. However, it is not scheduled to be completed until 2037.

Staff Writer Dan Abendschein contributed to this story.

rebecca.kimitch@sgvn.com

626-962-8811, ext. 2105

Metro Gold Line may extend more to East L.A.

Link: Metro Gold Line may extend more to East L.A. - 1/03/10 - Los Angeles-Southern California-LA Breaking News, Weather, Traffic, Sports - abc7.com

Metro Gold Line may extend more to East L.A.
Sunday, January 03, 2010

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The newest extension of the Metro Gold Line has been open for just a few weeks, and already officials are considering how to extend it further.

The cities of El Monte, Montebello, Monterey Park, Rosemead and South El Monte are collaborating on a plan to extend the rail line east from East L.A., parallel to the 60 Freeway.

A competing plan would have the trains veer into Whittier, to serve a number of dense housing developments.

Cities in the northern San Gabriel Valley have already won an extension from Pasadena east through Montclair, eventually connecting to Ontario International Airport.
(Copyright ©2010 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Year in Review: Year of the Gold Line (I Will Ride)

Link: Year in Review: Year of the Gold Line « I Will Ride Blog

Year in Review: Year of the Gold Line
Posted by Albert

If you’re a resident along the Foothill Extension corridor, 2009 was the year of the Gold Line. As you recall, voters ended 2008 with overwhelming support for Measure R and 2009 began with the communities throughout the County celebrating that victory and working together to plan for our united future. Many thanks here go out to the San Gabriel Valley voters who pitched in the votes needed to pass the required two-thirds mark for Measure R, allocating a minimum of $735 million for the Foothill Extension.

Here we look at the highlights of 2009, which culminated in securing $851 million for the project, and plans to break ground in June 2010!

Revival of the I Will Ride Movement

I Will Ride was formed in 2008 under the direction of students from colleges across the San Gabriel Valley, and in the beginning of this year it was handed over to the Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority to continue their work. Hence, this blog. The unmistakable gold shirts started spreading its way throughout the San Gabriel Valley once again – onto college campuses, community events, and large business centers. Then we had a rally. Then we started showing up to the Metro Board meetings. Somewhere along the way, Bob Davis started an unofficial groundbreaking at the Gold Line’s Arcadia tracks. We showed up to a few more Metro Board meetings.

Then we celebrated!

All eyes were on Art Leahy as he took over as the new boss at Metro in April of this year. While his rise to the top made quite the story for many newspapers (former bus driver, from family of transit operators, fulfills destiny by returning home to run Metro), the San Gabriel Valley looked on with cautious optimism that he could smooth out the regional bickering that had gone on for too long. Meanwhile, in the middle of the intense Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) debates, we saw Ara Najarian take the Chairman post on the Metro Board.

What was evident was that Art Leahy and Ara Najarian seemed intent on changing the tone of the agency and Board as they hammered out arguably the most important transportation plan for our county’s future. Only a month after starting his job as CEO of Metro, Art attended and spoke at the San Gabriel Valley’s Measure R and Economic Recovery Forum, where he laid out the importance and priority of the Foothill Extension for his agency. Metro “was duty bound, honor bound, to do the project,” said Art to the San Gabriel Valley legislative leaders and community members. He had also acknowledged the rift that existed between regions across Los Angeles County and pledged to the audience that he would build a consensus when working on the LRTP.

In a testament to Ara Najarian’s own efforts to build a consensus among the regions, it should be pointed out that he came in as Chairman of the Metro Board at a time when residents were losing patience and the Board had enough votes to pass the LRTP. Rather than hurrying up and ending it all with a simple majority vote, he decided to delay the approval of the long range plan until he could secure unanimous approval from the entire Board of Directors. In several public appearances in the San Gabriel Valley, he has not been shy to state his support for the Foothill Extension and his desire to see the project break ground while he is Chairman of the Metro Board.

Fast forward to today and we’re seeing the fruits of Mr. Leahy and Mr. Najarian’s labor. The LRTP passed with unanimous approval by the 13-member Metro Board of Directors in October – securing the funding ($851 million) for the Foothill Extension and commitment from Metro to find other sources of funds to finish the line to Claremont. The Board also unanimously committed to operate the next two segments (Pasadena to Azusa and Glendora to Montclair) when construction is completed. This was a huge victory for the project, the San Gabriel Valley voters and I Will Ride supporters.

Iconic Bridge Gives San Gabriel Valley and Foothill Extension a Spotlight

Show me another area in Los Angeles County with transit architecture that doesn’t resemble your old plain structures – that’s right, you can’t.


Infamous Federal Funding Map, Congressional Letter Sets Transit World Ablaze

The future wasn’t looking so bright for our county when Metro staff presented a federal transit funding map that painted a very bleak funding picture for our region in comparison to much smaller and less populous cities across the country. If you’re a Los Angeles County resident, it’s probably safe to say you were up in arms over the thought of cities with 1/10th our county’s population receiving ten times more funds from the federal government. In response, Metro staff picked the Subway to the Sea and Regional Connector as the projects they would apply for to receive federal money in as little as three years. Then came the mother of all responses.

Fourteen Congress members signed and sent a letter to the Metro Board of Directors – urging them to consider a different federal funding strategy than the one they had just approved. Their reasoning? A more inclusive strategy that includes shovel-ready projects like the Foothill Extension would make it more likely that our county doesn’t get left behind with a huge gap in federal funding in future years. The letter hit home for many on the Metro Board, who unanimously revised staff’s recommendation to make other projects – such as the Foothill Extension – priorities for the agency to seek federal funds.

2009 Ends with State of the Project Workshops

Two weeks ago, more than 150 guests – including Congress members Judy Chu, Adam Schiff, and David Dreier, and state and local legislators – came out to Glendora to celebrate a job well done on the effort to get funding for the extension and to hear Authority staff give status updates on their progress. Those present were also able to attend workshops on the iconic freeway structure design and the success of the art used on the Union Station to Pasadena phase of the Gold Line.

The lunch portion was highlighted by keynote speeches from our Congressional representatives and, while it was a reflection on past successes, it was a reminder of the job that still lies ahead – starting with the effort to get that groundbreaking going in June 2010. Speaking of the word job, our federal elected officials emphasized that, with construction jobs at an all-time low in our county and a still-hurting economy, the groundbreaking represents an opportunity to get people working again. Let’s all hope this opportunity becomes a much-need reality by the middle of next year. And to keep a positive tone going forward, Congressman Adam Schiff gave a few words to the crowd. Adam Schiff, who championed the original Gold Line as a State Senator back then, put on his best inspirational speaker hat and told the audience that, in their current battle for the Foothill Extension, if they ever got discouraged, they should look at the past struggles of the first Gold Line and how it eventually became a success.

And about that schedule. The Authority has a roadmap to get the Foothill Extension to Azusa up and running by 2013. All this begins with the much anticipated groundbreaking in June. A few meetings with Metro in January will determine the feasibility of this schedule, so here’s to hoping for some more positive news.

Call of Duty Award: Citrus College Owl mascot – for braving over 100-plus-degree weather in an owl suit (in the sun) for the sake of rallying supporters at the Citrus College rally. Show me a more brave mascot and I’ll show you a phony.

Tony Robbins Award: San Gabriel Valley resident Bob Davis – for taking initiative and starting his own groundbreaking a year before the proposed official groundbreaking. You will not find a bigger supporter of the Foothill Extension. Thank you Bob.

Parallel Universe with Office Supply Shortage Award: City of Hope employees – for going through 25 boxes of Foothill Extension supporter pens in a span of 3 hours when we showed up at the Fall Benefits Fair at the City of Hope campus. We normally have a hard time giving away one pen at most I Will Ride booths.