Off the Agenda: Metro Board Not Talking Bikes or Rail Acceleration This Week (Source: Streetsblog Los Angeles)

Link: Streetsblog Los Angeles » Off the Agenda: Metro Board Not Talking Bikes or Rail Acceleration This Week

Off the Agenda: Metro Board Not Talking Bikes or Rail Acceleration This Week

by Damien Newton on July 20, 2009


Streetsblog, Sallam Allah/Flickr

Last week, two proposals by Metro staff dominated a lot of the Livable Streets discussion in Los Angeles.

The first was what seemed to be a proposal to accelerate three rail projects funded by Measure R, the Downtown Connector, Gold Line Eastside Extension 2, and Green Line to LAX. The proposal garnered a lot of interest on the blogs after I Will Ride first noticed the proposal on a committee agenda and began asking how they could get their favored project, the Gold Line Foothill Extension, moved up as well.

It turns out the report in question had nothing to do with picking projects to accelerate, but instead was about illustrating what any sort of acceleration schedule would mean to Metro's finances. As we noted here last week, the "proposed" acceleration didn't really make fiscal sense for an agency that is already projecting lower-than-expected revenue from Measure R. While the Metro Board is scheduled to "receive" this report at Thursday's Board Meeting, there is no serious talk about accelerating any of the time lines for any rail project at this point in time.

Also up for debate were the proposed revisions to Metro's "bikes on trains" policy. Two weeks ago, cyclists were happy to hear that Metro was planning to revise its policy towards bikes to remove any rush-hour restrictions on bicycles. However, when cyclists were invited to a meeting with Metro staff to discuss the proposal, they ended up hearing about a plan to restrict bicycles to a "two-per-car" limit even in cars where there's a lot more space available.

After an outpouring of negative feedback, and a strong turnout by cyclists at the Metro Operations Committee, the proposal has been shelved for, at least, this month's Board Meeting. Instead of Metro staff's original plan, Stephen Box reports that a new motion to "direct staff to investigate further and to involve the cycling community" took its place.

Cancel That! Accelerated Rail Projects just a Hypothetical (Source: LAist)

Link: Cancel That! Accelerated Rail Projects just a Hypothetical - LAist

Cancel That! Accelerated Rail Projects just a Hypothetical
Today a Metro committee on Measure R funds were to discuss the possibility of pushing up the opening dates of three rail projects in the county--the regional connector in downtown, the second eastside extension of the Gold Line and the Green Line to LAX. After the meeting, Foothill Gold Line Extension advocates (they want the line to run beyond Pasadena towards Ontario) announced that the acceleration of project timelines in the agenda were picked at random to study the feasibility of earlier than planned opening dates. Still, they contend that their project is shovel ready and Mayor Villaraigosa is behind the line opening as far as Azusa by 2013.

New Train Lines to be Fast-Tracked Tomorrow? (Source: Curbed LA)

Link: Curbed LA: New Train Lines to be Fast-Tracked Tomorrow?

New Train Lines to be Fast-Tracked Tomorrow?

Wednesday, July 15, 2009, by Neal Broverman


At 9 a.m. tomorrow, the Metro board is holding the "Measure R Project Delivery Committee Workshop." For the layman, it's where the schedules and funding will be hammered out on the rail and freeway projects to be funded with the new half-percent tax increase LA County residents began paying this month. What's notable is that Mayor Villaraigosa and the rest of the Metro Board wants to light a fire under three of these projects and speed up their delivery to their public. How exactly? According to Streetsblog, the plan is to borrow against future Measure R income, with the debt being offset by projects that are cheaper, since they're built sooner and without inflation. The downside, according to Streetsblog, is "the accelerated project list means a $3.5 billion funding gap and a larger than anticipated operating defecit which would result in either fare increases or service cuts." It's one thing to build all these projects, but it costs big bucks to operate them. Meanwhile, the folks behind the I Will Ride blog are saying the Gold Line Foothill extension should be on the list (it currently is not) since it's shovel-ready. Tomorrow's meeting at Metro HQ Downtown is open to all, so there will be much public commenting and screaming.

Downtown Regional Connector that will connect various light-rail lines: Originally set to open in 2025, now maybe 2018

Green Line to LAX: Originally set to open in 2028, now maybe 2017

Eastside Extension II of Gold Line to Whittier: Originally set to open in 2035, now maybe 2018

So, how big would the Gold Line be with the extension to East LA, the further eastern extension into Whittier, and if the Foothill extension stretched to the Ontario Airport (which is what locals are advocating for)? Over 60 miles long by our calculations. (13.7 from Downtown LA to Pasadena, about 32.5 miles to Ontario Airport from there, 6 miles from Downtown LA to East LA, and 8.7 miles from East LA to Whittier)


· Measure R Acceleration Plans No Slam Dunk [Streetsblog]
· Villaraigosa Wants Gold Line Extension in 2013 [I Will Ride]