The Wilshire Subway: Oh, Say, Can You Sea? By Ken Alpern (Source: Citywatch)

Link: CityWatch - An insider look at City Hall

The Wilshire Subway: Oh, Say, Can You Sea?
By Ken Alpern

Whether the Subway to the Sea will ever reach the Sea, or whether students from UC can travel the future Purple Line to the Sea, or whether we’ll ever be able to see the Sea from wherever the Subway reaches its sea-most terminus is still an unanswered question…you see. I give lots of props to Subway/Purple Line Metro staff like David Mieger and Jody Litvak, who have worked tirelesActive Imagesly on this and other projects for years, so my critique on where the currently-proposed terminus west of the 405 isn’t so much a slam on their work as much as it is a reminder that we’re putting the proverbial cart way too far ahead of the horse…or, perhaps, the railcar ahead of the tracks.

(Please contact David Mieger or Jody Litvak at WestsideExtension@metro.netThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it for all of your comments and/or questions—they’re first-rate at gathering and evaluating input)

The Westside Subway (of which the Wilshire Blvd. segment is called the Purple Line) will be built in Minimal Operating Segments that are functional extensions that are individual “chapters” in the completion of this line. Each segment will likely take years for the funding, design and construction to occur.

The first MOS (MOS-1) is roughly to Fairfax/La Cienega, MOS-2 is from Fairfax/La Cienega to Century City, MOS-3 is from Century City to somewhere just west of the 405 freeway and includes Westwood, MOS-4 is from the 405 freeway to the beach, and MOS-5 is the popular connecting segment between the Red and Purple Lines down Santa Monica and Fairfax.


A project as huge as the Wilshire Subway is just too darn big and expensive to do it all at once—which is probably a good thing, because as this project moves further west the uncertainty regarding station and routing details increase, and resident/political consensus becomes more elusive.

For this very reason, I’ve heard different folks describe which MOS should be MOS-4 or MOS-5, because the need to extend this line to the beach doesn’t at all enjoy as much support and consensus as does the need to connect the Red and Purple Lines…and the question has been frequently asked as to whether the money to bring the Purple Line all the way from the 405 freeway to the beach isn’t better spent on expanding the budget to create a connecting rail line from the San Fernando Valley to the Westside and maybe to LAX.

Nobody really knows much about that “405 Line” between the Valley and the Westside, either. Ask ten folks for ideas and you’ll get ten different ideas—should it be above or below ground, should it be alongside the 405 or bore underground to come up in the Valley at Van Nuys Blvd., should it be light or heavy rail, etc.?

I am entirely baffled as to the entire lack of organized grassroots support for such a “405 rail line” despite the innumerable individuals who’ve raised the idea as one that remains overdue and unresolved. Perhaps when the Expo and Purple Lines become realities instead of science fiction will such a “405 rail line” project be taken more seriously…but it will compete for dollars and planning with a Purple Line that goes all the way to the beach.

At this time, the Purple Line Subway appears to be on its way to meeting several key goals, such as suggesting the best future connections to the future Crenshaw Light Rail Line at La Brea or thereabouts, to Century City and to the Beverly Center and to Westwood.

The Purple Line planning effort does NOT, however, at this time address the traffic crunch on Wilshire Blvd. that starts west of the freeway and makes it a nightmare to traverse one side of the 405 to the other. At this time, for financial, logistic and other purposes the western terminus of MOS-3 (to Westwood/405 freeway) is favored to be at the Westwood/VA Hospital.

Traffic is monstrous well to the west of the hospital, however, and issues such as parking and access to federal property are HUGE and make this a much thornier problem to resolve than most of us realize (memba’ getting the Green Line to LAX and working with those fun-loving feds?). Any station at the VA Hospital will (rightfully) serve primarily the needs of the patients and workers there…but not the needs of the general public.

Unfortunately, a proposed compromise of having the western terminus of MOS-3 at/near the western edge of the VA property at Federal (near Barrington) is not proceeding forward; the hospital continues to be the favored western terminus.

Meanwhile, huge commuter/pedestrian destinations on Barrington and Bundy exist to the west, as does the aforementioned 405 freeway-clustered traffic. Bundy was the original western terminus of MOS-3, but has now been relegated to MOS-4 to Santa Monica and the beach at a time when there are no shortage of individuals wondering if we need this Purple Line to go all the way to the beach.

So…why would Wilshire Blvd. commuters jump on board the Purple Line Subway if they’ve already fought through most of the traffic to get to the 405 freeway?

Might we consider including Wilshire/Bundy as the western terminus of MOS-3, and cancel MOS-4 for now since Santa Monica will get its Expo Line and other priorities of connecting the Valley and the Westside via the “405 rail line” and the Red-Purple Line connection (MOS-5) also exist?

Most importantly, with the understanding that we have no idea of if, how or where the 405 rail line will connect to UCLA and the Purple Line, why are we committing so far in advance to the VA vs. Barrington vs. Bundy?

The Wilshire Subway might not get the political and budgetary blessings to move further west than a Fairfax/La Cienega Blvd. Extension by 2015-18. However, it packs a much greater ridership, planning and economic punch if it can be built in a longer first-phase to Century City by that time.

That still gives us lots of time to talk with the folks at Metro, the VA and with both the political and grassroots entities of West Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley and Santa Monica to figure out what we want west of the 405 freeway.

I look forward to what reasonable folks who really want this line can achieve with long-term visioning while more immediate extensions to Century City and Westwood can be prioritized.

And, on a final note…

…between cancelling classes and raising student tuitions, it might behoove UCLA to finally lead a visioning process of the once and future 405 rail line as well as the Purple Line effort. How and where will its station(s) be, and what kind of Westside and Valley links fit the need of UCLA students, workers and faculties, to say nothing of Valley/Westside commuters in general.

As I see it, the Subway to the Sea needs to be seen as a sea change for how we see comprehensive rail networking and urban planning for the seaside neighborhoods of West LA and Santa Monica.

And as for the UC that should oversee this Subway to the Sea…I grade it as best a “C”.

(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/Land Use Management 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

MTA Approves Alternate Rail To Sea ( Source: LA Weekly)

MTA Approves Alternate Rail To Sea - Los Angeles News - LA Daily

MTA Approves Alternate Rail To Sea
By Dennis Romero in City News, Environment, community, politics
Fri., Feb. 5 2010 @ 12:12AM

Thumbnail image for metro.jpg
MTA
​The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Thursday night approved a railway to the beach, but it wasn't the "subway to the sea" Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has been touting as a way to get from downtown to Beverly Hills and ultimately to Santa Monica.

The board voted to approve a final, seven-mile leg of the already-under-construction Expo Line. The last leg, "phase two," will run from Culver City to Santa Monica, concluding only blocks from Santa Monica pier. (Map).

The MTA approved tapping $1.5 billion in state funds to seed the above-ground, light-rail project. Residents in Cheviot Hills have fought the plan for years, even though the line wouldn't run through their neighborhood (it would run close, to the south). Some would like to see at least part of the line run underground in the area, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Now that a Westside light rail line has been approved, does L.A. need a second transit railway concluding only a few blocks north in Santa Monica too? It's already part of the MTA's $298 billion Long Range Transportation Plan, so it could be a done deal.

Mayor seeking Subway to Sea funding (Source: LA Daily News)

Link: Mayor seeking Subway to Sea funding - LA Daily News

Mayor seeking Subway to Sea funding
By Rick Orlov, Staff Writer
Updated: 01/31/2010 06:41:27 PM PST

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has his bags packed for an upcoming trip to Washington, D.C., where he hopes to secure support and money for his proposed Subway to the Sea.

Villaraigosa had planned to travel to the nation's capital in January, but canceled the trip when a series of rainstorms raised concerns about widespread flooding.

During his solo visit this month, he plans to ask federal officials to advance the city funding for the West L.A.-to-Santa Monica subway. Voter-approved Measure R would provide $40 billion in sales tax revenue for the project over a 30-year period. However, the mayor hopes to secure that much in federal money over a 10-year span.

Labor unions, Los Angeles business leaders and transit activists support the plan.

However, Villaraigosa has not asked his colleagues on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board to endorse his proposal out of concern that it would get bogged down in the kind of politics that threatened to derail the region's long-range transit plan.

The mayor has had to fend off criticism that his 30-10 effort would jeopardize some of the other projects in the MTA plan. However, Measure R lays out which programs will be funded and in what order.

Villaraigosa hopes to get the subway project started before his second term ends in 2013.

The mayor also plans to join a delegation from the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce that is traveling to Washington in March.

There was a lot of enthusiasm last week after federal officials announced a grant of $2.3 billion for the California High-Speed Rail project. But that was quickly followed by the question of where the equipment will come from.

The German manufacturer Siemens AG has an assembly plant in Northern California. And Villaraigosa and the MTA tried last year to convince Ansaldobreda to open a plant in L.A., but the Italian company backed away from the deal.

"What we hope is that one of these (overseas) firms will at least open a local assembly plant to produce the cars," MTA Commissioner Richard Katz said.

"It's not like there isn't the business here," he continued. "The MTA alone will need 500 cars and we are trying to convince manufacturers that with all the rail projects going on in the country, it would be worth their while to build something here."

Perhaps, it is a sign of the economy. Or maybe there are just a lot of thrill-seekers out there.

But the search to fill what some consider the most dangerous job in Los Angeles - Animal Services director - has drawn a field of 33 candidates in only the first week of posting.

The city has hired Citygate Associates of Sacramento to review the resumes of applicants who want to succeed Ed Boks as general manager. Boks left amid controversy over how he was managing the department and a decision to suspend vouchers for spay and neuter programs. The department has had five general managers in the past five years.

Villaraigosa has the sole appointing authority for the job, although there are plans to have Citygate rate the six to 10 most-qualified candidates. These applicants will be interviewed by screening committees, with a final recommendation of the top two or three to the mayor.

The job opening comes as the city is looking at all of its operations and whether to merge Animal Services operations with the county or contract it out to a group such as the ASPCA.

One benefit of the job search is that animal activists have, temporarily, called off their protests at the house of the mayor and Animal Services top brass. Rick Orlov is a Daily News staff writer. His column, Tipoff, appears on Mondays. for a daily fix on politics, go to the Sausage Factory at www.insidesocal.com/politics. Contact him at rick.orlov@dailynews.com or 213-978-0390.

Comments Sought on Westside Subway Station Metro evaluating several routes for construction. (Source: www.myfoxla.com)

Link: Comments Sought On Westside Subway Station

Comments Sought on Westside Subway Station
Metro evaluating several routes for construction.

Updated: Sunday, 31 Jan 2010, 4:57 PM PST
Published : Sunday, 31 Jan 2010, 4:57 PM PST

Posted by: Scott Coppersmith / myFOXla.com

People who work or live around Century City are being asked for their opinions on where the Westside subway station should be located, and an open house will be held at an office building Tuesday to gather comments.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation is evaluating several routes for the proposed $4.2 billion subway, and would like to place subway stop somewhere in Century City. The question is: where?

"We know that Century City is a huge regional employment center," said Metro project director David Mieger. As many as 40,000 commuters work in the office buildings, mall and Fox movie studios in Century City.

Most commuters arrive and depart Century City by car through jammed sections of Beverly Hills or West Los Angeles. Los Angeles traffic planners have erected stop signs and banned turns along a major commuter shortcut through Cheviot Hills in order to spare that leafy neighborhood from heavy traffic.

Metro is planning to extend the Purple Line underground tracks down Wilshire Boulevard across the Fairfax District to downtown Beverly Hills, then dip southwest to serve Century City. The Tuesday hearing is to determine where to place the Century City stop.

A developer who wants to demolish the historic Century Plaza Hotel, in the middle of Century City, wants to bring the subway there. But that would mean tunneling beneath residential neighborhoods in Beverly Hills, and the Century Plaza project is mired in controversy.

The alternative would be to keep the subway beneath Santa Monica Boulevard, but that would mean the station would be at the northern end of Century City, instead of in its center.

Tunneling under some houses and apartments is likely necessary west of either subway station alternative, because planners want the subway to swing away from Santa Monica Boulevard to serve a station either on Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood or at UCLA, according to Metro planning documents.

Metro has narrowed down 15 Westside subway alignments to two major concepts. Both would see the subway extended west from the Vermont/Wilshire Station to at least Westwood, or maybe to the VA Hospital just west of the San Diego (405) Freeway.

Options are still being considered to extend that leg west under Wilshire to downtown Santa Monica. A second option would add a leg of the subway north and east from Beverly Hills to serve the Beverly Center area and West Hollywood, ending at the Red Line station at Hollywood and Highland boulevards.

Tuesday's open house will start at 11:30 a.m. and include two short presentations by subway planners. It will be held in the concourse level conference center of the highrise at 2029 Century Park East.

The Wilshire Subway: Oh, Say, Can You Sea? (Source: Citywatch)

Link: CityWatch - An insider look at City Hall

The Wilshire Subway: Oh, Say, Can You Sea?
MOVING LA
By Ken Alpern

Whether the Subway to the Sea will ever reach the Sea, or whether students from UC can travel the future Purple Line to the Sea, or whether we’ll ever be able to see the Sea from wherever the Subway reaches its sea-most terminus is still an unanswered question…you see. I give lots of props to Subway/Purple Line Metro staff like David Mieger and Jody Litvak, who have worked tirelessly on this and other projects for years, so my critique on where the currently-proposed terminus west of the 405 isn’t so much a slam on their work as much as it is a reminder that we’re putting the proverbial cart way too far ahead of the horse…or, perhaps, the railcar ahead of the tracks.

(Please contact David Mieger or Jody Litvak at WestsideExtension@metro.netThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it for all of your comments and/or questions—they’re first-rate at gathering and evaluating input)

The Westside Subway (of which the Wilshire Blvd. segment is called the Purple Line) will be built in Minimal Operating Segments that are functional extensions that are individual “chapters” in the completion of this line. Each segment will likely take years for the funding, design and construction to occur.

The first MOS (MOS-1) is roughly to Fairfax/La Cienega, MOS-2 is from Fairfax/La Cienega to Century City, MOS-3 is from Century City to somewhere just west of the 405 freeway and includes Westwood, MOS-4 is from the 405 freeway to the beach, and MOS-5 is the popular connecting segment between the Red and Purple Lines down Santa Monica and Fairfax.


A project as huge as the Wilshire Subway is just too darn big and expensive to do it all at once—which is probably a good thing, because as this project moves further west the uncertainty regarding station and routing details increase, and resident/political consensus becomes more elusive.

For this very reason, I’ve heard different folks describe which MOS should be MOS-4 or MOS-5, because the need to extend this line to the beach doesn’t at all enjoy as much support and consensus as does the need to connect the Red and Purple Lines…and the question has been frequently asked as to whether the money to bring the Purple Line all the way from the 405 freeway to the beach isn’t better spent on expanding the budget to create a connecting rail line from the San Fernando Valley to the Westside and maybe to LAX.

Nobody really knows much about that “405 Line” between the Valley and the Westside, either. Ask ten folks for ideas and you’ll get ten different ideas—should it be above or below ground, should it be alongside the 405 or bore underground to come up in the Valley at Van Nuys Blvd., should it be light or heavy rail, etc.?

I am entirely baffled as to the entire lack of organized grassroots support for such a “405 rail line” despite the innumerable individuals who’ve raised the idea as one that remains overdue and unresolved. Perhaps when the Expo and Purple Lines become realities instead of science fiction will such a “405 rail line” project be taken more seriously…but it will compete for dollars and planning with a Purple Line that goes all the way to the beach.

At this time, the Purple Line Subway appears to be on its way to meeting several key goals, such as suggesting the best future connections to the future Crenshaw Light Rail Line at La Brea or thereabouts, to Century City and to the Beverly Center and to Westwood.

The Purple Line planning effort does NOT, however, at this time address the traffic crunch on Wilshire Blvd. that starts west of the freeway and makes it a nightmare to traverse one side of the 405 to the other. At this time, for financial, logistic and other purposes the western terminus of MOS-3 (to Westwood/405 freeway) is favored to be at the Westwood/VA Hospital.

Traffic is monstrous well to the west of the hospital, however, and issues such as parking and access to federal property are HUGE and make this a much thornier problem to resolve than most of us realize (memba’ getting the Green Line to LAX and working with those fun-loving feds?). Any station at the VA Hospital will (rightfully) serve primarily the needs of the patients and workers there…but not the needs of the general public.

Unfortunately, a proposed compromise of having the western terminus of MOS-3 at/near the western edge of the VA property at Federal (near Barrington) is not proceeding forward; the hospital continues to be the favored western terminus.

Meanwhile, huge commuter/pedestrian destinations on Barrington and Bundy exist to the west, as does the aforementioned 405 freeway-clustered traffic. Bundy was the original western terminus of MOS-3, but has now been relegated to MOS-4 to Santa Monica and the beach at a time when there are no shortage of individuals wondering if we need this Purple Line to go all the way to the beach.

So…why would Wilshire Blvd. commuters jump on board the Purple Line Subway if they’ve already fought through most of the traffic to get to the 405 freeway?

Might we consider including Wilshire/Bundy as the western terminus of MOS-3, and cancel MOS-4 for now since Santa Monica will get its Expo Line and other priorities of connecting the Valley and the Westside via the “405 rail line” and the Red-Purple Line connection (MOS-5) also exist?

Most importantly, with the understanding that we have no idea of if, how or where the 405 rail line will connect to UCLA and the Purple Line, why are we committing so far in advance to the VA vs. Barrington vs. Bundy?

The Wilshire Subway might not get the political and budgetary blessings to move further west than a Fairfax/La Cienega Blvd. Extension by 2015-18. However, it packs a much greater ridership, planning and economic punch if it can be built in a longer first-phase to Century City by that time.

That still gives us lots of time to talk with the folks at Metro, the VA and with both the political and grassroots entities of West Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley and Santa Monica to figure out what we want west of the 405 freeway.

I look forward to what reasonable folks who really want this line can achieve with long-term visioning while more immediate extensions to Century City and Westwood can be prioritized.

And, on a final note…

…between cancelling classes and raising student tuitions, it might behoove UCLA to finally lead a visioning process of the once and future 405 rail line as well as the Purple Line effort. How and where will its station(s) be, and what kind of Westside and Valley links fit the need of UCLA students, workers and faculties, to say nothing of Valley/Westside commuters in general.

As I see it, the Subway to the Sea needs to be seen as a sea change for how we see comprehensive rail networking and urban planning for the seaside neighborhoods of West LA and Santa Monica.

And as for the UC that should oversee this Subway to the Sea…I grade it as best a “C”.

(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/Land Use Management 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

CityWatch
Vol 8 Issue 4
Pub: Jan 15, 2010

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.

The Thin Red Line: A Review of Taylor, Kim, & Gahbauer

The LA Subway Blog - Transportation, Real Estate, and the Future of Los Angeles: The Thin Red Line: A Review of Taylor, Kim, & Gahbauer

The Thin Red Line: A Review of Taylor, Kim, & Gahbauer
Posted by Juan Sunday, December 27, 2009

Brian Taylor, our esteemed professor of Urban Planning at UCLA and transportation finance expert, and John Gahbauer, our favorite transit geek and UCLA colleague, along with Eugene Kim, co-authored a paper on the history of transportation planning in the Wilshire Corridor in Los Angeles. This is a review of their paper, which appears in the Journal of Planning Education and Research (requires subscription or library access). I believe you can also visit the Metro Library to view a copy.

Taylor begins by discussing the tendency of politicians to pursue large capital projects in favor of incremental operational improvements. The "monument" or "ribbon-cutting" effects of new capital projects have proven very attractive to politicians. It's difficult to hold a photo-op in front of increased bus frequency, but much easier in front of a subway station:

Most transit capital projects are subjected to cost-benefit analysis, but costs are often underestimated and benefits are almost universally overestimated.

These generalizations are present to varying degrees in the history of the Wilshire Subway. Planning on what will eventually become the Wilshire Subway began in the 1970s, but encountered many hurdles along the way. A giant hurdle was the 1980s prohibition of the use of federal funds to tunnel under Henry Waxman's district in Beverly Hills, which came after a methane deposit under a Ross store exploded and burned for several days. Out of the political negotiations surrounding this ban came the present day Purple line stub at Wilshire & Western. In order to circumvent this ban, planners proposed less cost-effective routes. Taylor shows how these alternate routes, which were never seriously studied, were inferior to the proposed Wilshire route.


Proposed Southern route

Taylor argues that the Wilshire Route, along the "linear downtown," is one of the most transit-friendly corridors in the West. With over 100,000 bus riders per day, traffic congestion, expensive parking, high residential density, high peak hour volumes, Wilshire Boulevard is likely the most cost-effective subway corridor in Southern California. There are 7x more workers on the Wilshire foute than the southern alternative along San Vicente & Pico. Later on, Taylor points out that just 3 of nearly a dozen lines which travel on Wilshire (18, 20, and 720) have a combined ridership of 90,033 per day, 1/3 more than the Gold, Green, and Orange lines combined (66,871 per day).

In 2005, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was elected. A strong proponent of the subway, he negotiated with Waxman to lift the ban on tunneling, and took implicit responsibility for any incidents that may arise from tunneling under Wilshire. Villaraigosa and other politicians pushed for Measure R, the voter approved 1/2 cent sales tax which will provide the funding for the first two segments of the subway. Federal loans and grants could build more subway quicker.

The proposed 2009 route isn't much different from the 1979 route.

Taylor, Gahbauer, and Kim offer a great overview of the history of the Wilshire Subway in Los Angeles. I learned a lot about the political tumult in the 1980s and early 1990s, and the power of one man, Waxman, to impact the urban form of a city for so many years.

Side Note: Monorails have been proposed along Wilshire for well over 100 years. They've never been taken seriously, as aerial structures would severely disrupt the nature of the neighborhood.

Metro Seek Millions for Westside Subway & Connector

$77.6 million from the federal government is sought by Metro and two members of congress to fund preliminary engineering for the westside subway and the regional connector. Both Rep. Diane Watson and Rep. Henry Waxman have written letters in support of Metro obtaining the money, despite a coalition of 14 others who rather see the money go elsewhere. $77.6 million is a drop in the bucket compared to the total costs of these projects, but Metro sees it as a "crucial test," as Metro puts it: "Do the projects meet the [Federal Transit Administration's] requirements for funding? And does the FTA want to find a way to get L.A. County — the nation’s most populous county — into the New Starts program?" their blog asks.

By Zach Behrens in News on December 17, 2009 1:29 PM

Please Sir, May We Have Some More Subways? (Source: Curbed LA)

Link: Curbed LA: Please Sir, May We Have Some More Subways?

Please Sir, May We Have Some More Subways?

Thursday, September 24, 2009, by Neal Broverman

 In a statement released today, Metro announced they were officially applying for federal money to help pay for the Wilshire subway extension, as well as the Regional Connector that would link up various light-rail lines and provide transfer-less trips around the County. "The two projects are expected to score highly in the rankings necessary to secure Full Funding Grant Agreements (FFGA) under current federal New Starts requirements," according to the release. Metro is hoping the president helps fund these two easy-to-sell projects, so local Measure R monies can be freed up to pay for less high-profile rail lines like the Gold Line Foothill extension into Montclair. [Metro]

Wilshire Bus Only Lanes: The Above-Ground Subway to the Sea (Source: LA Subway Blog)

Link: The LA Subway Blog: Wilshire Bus Only Lanes: The Above-Ground Subway to the Sea

Wilshire Bus Only Lanes: The Above-Ground Subway to the Sea
Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The LA City Council voted to move ahead with the EIR for the LA City Wilshire Bus Only Lanes (Streetsblog Reports). This project would improve transit travel times in the Wilshire Corridor. You could think of it as the low cost peak-hour above-ground subway (that runs in mixed traffic through Beverly Hills and Santa Monica).

Paul Koretz from CD 5 has taken a page from David Vahedi's playbook and bowed to Westwood Wilshire Corridor Condo interests (some of which fear change and the realization that they don't live on a two-lane back country road) in expressing skepticism over the project. Paul is a 25-year member of the Sierra Club and surely is aware of the positive environmental implications of improving transit service using natural-gas fueled buses. While localized environmental concerns should be studied in any project, I suspect the Corridor Condo interests will seek to use the CEQA/NEPA process to derail any attempt to change the pastoral nature of their homestead, even if it provides a street buffer that only professionally-trained drivers will have access to. The regional environmental implications of improving transit service will be favorable.

Schedule permitting, Sirinya and I will be at the Westwood meeting.

Here's the latest from Metro:
===
Metro, the City of Los Angeles, and Los Angeles County are considering the feasibility of implementing a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project on Wilshire Boulevard. This joint effort will be evaluated through the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Assessment (EIR/EA).

The EIR/EA, which will be prepared in compliance with State and Federal environmental requirements, will examine the potential for dedicated curbside bus lanes during the morning and evening rush hours along Wilshire Boulevard, from just west of the I-110 freeway to the Santa Monica city line, excluding the City of Beverly Hills.

These same three agencies began evaluating the proposed Wilshire BRT Project in November 2008 as part of preparing an Initial Study/Environmental Assessment (IS/EA). An EIR/EA is now being prepared as a consequence of input received at several community meetings held along the corridor at that time, additional public input, and technical analyses that have been conducted.

Please join us at any of the four (4) scoping meetings to learn more about the Proposed Project and Project Alternatives. These meetings will provide the public the opportunity to comment on the project and any potential effects of the project that should be considered in the Draft EIR/EA. The content presented at these four meetings will be identical, so please make sure to attend at the time and location most convenient for you.

Monday, October 5, 6:00 – 8 pm
Felicia Mahood Senior Center
11338 Santa Monica Bl
Los Angeles, CA 90025

Wednesday, October 7, 6:00 – 8 pm
Wilshire United Methodist Church
4350 Wilshire Bl
Los Angeles, CA 90010

Thursday, October 8, 6:00 – 8 pm
Westwood Presbyterian Church
10822 Wilshire Bl
Los Angeles, CA 90024

Tuesday, October 13, 6:00 – 8 pm
Good Samaritan Hospital, Moseley-Salvatori Conference Center
637 Lucas Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90017

All meeting locations are accessible by public transit. Please go to Metro.net to plan your trip. Parking is also available. Garage parking at Good Samaritan is not validated and costs $8.

For additional information or questions, please visit the Wilshire Bus Rapid Transit EIR/EA website at metro.net/Wilshire.

Council Approves Moving Forward With Wilshire Bus Lanes (Source: Streetsblog Los Angeles)

Link: Streetsblog Los Angeles » Council Approves Moving Forward With Wilshire Bus Lanes

Council Approves Moving Forward With Wilshire Bus Lanes

by Joe Linton on September 22, 2009
Bus lane free. Photo: LA Wad/Flickr

The city of Los Angeles' Wilshire Boulevard Bus-Only Lane project took another step forward at this morning's full city council hearing. The project would implement peak-hour bus-only lanes from Pico Union to Santa Monica. It's calculated to speed bus times by about 25%. More information at Metro's project website.

Last week, despite John McCain's best efforts, the U.S. Senate appropriated $13.5M in FY2010 funding for the Wilshire project, bringing the project's total federal funding to $23.3M.

The City Council's Transportation Committee recently approved a motion that clears the way for the city to move forward with a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the project. After Transportation approves it, the bus lane motion goes before the full city council.

At today's council meeting, nobody showed up to speak in opposition to the Wilshire project. At the very start of the meeting, the motion actually initially passed quickly via consent calendar. Just when a half-dozen Bus Riders Union advocates were getting ready to leave, Councilmember Rosendahl moved for the motion to be reconsidered, so that the Department of Transportation (LADOT) and project proponents could speak. A couple hours later, LADOT and bus riders spoke on behalf of the project. Councilmember Koretz again expressed skepticism; Councilmember LaBonge again expressed ideas for other alignments. The full council unanimously approved the motion.

LADOT will soon be hosting a series of public hearings to get input on the EIR. Hearings are expected to begin in October.

Metro Is Drilling On Wilshire Boulevard For The Westside Subway Extension (Source: Santa Monica Mirror)

Link: Santa Monica Mirror

Metro Is Drilling On Wilshire Boulevard For The Westside Subway Extension
Hannah Heineman, Mirror Staff Writer
Metro has begun the process of preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIS/EIR) and part of the process includes exploratory drilling in Santa Monica to assess the conditions below ground.

The exploratory drilling will help Metro determine what engineering strategies will need to be used to construct the subway’s underground tunnels and stations. This will be done by analyzing soil samples. Metro’s Manager of Community Relations, Jody Litvak, explained to the Mirror that Metro has been drilling at 70 locations throughout the Westside and Santa Monica is one of the last locations to be drilled in.

Wilshire Boulevard at 25th Street, 16th Street, and 5th Street were the three locations where drilling has been occurring this week. The locations were chosen based approximately on where Metro is expecting to place the stations for the subway. Right now, stations are projected to be placed at Wishire Boulevard and 26th Street, 16th Street, and 4th Street. Some parking lane and traffic disruption has been caused by the work. Litvak mentioned that so far Metro “hasn’t found anything unexpected” in the drilling that it has completed.

According to Metro documents, the Draft EIS/EIR purpose is to study the potential effects of the Westside Subway Extension “during construction and once it is operating, and also to evaluate measures to avoid, minimize and mitigate any adverse impacts.” This process will include the refinement of project alternatives, define Wilshire Boulevard segments, future segments, specify station details, “examine the cost effectiveness of various segments, and evaluate the timing and funding of a future project.” The study will also look at the entire Santa Monica alignment with and without a West Hollywood component.

Litvak stated that the Draft EIS/EIR should be released for public input in the summer of 2010. The Metro Board will then adopt the draft and the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA). The LPA will define the project that will be examined in the Final EIS/EIR process and the project that will be funded by federal matching funds. Another year will be needed after that to complete the EIS/EIR.

The next round of community meetings for the project will be scheduled in early to mid October. Theses meetings will be tailored to the location where they are held so that the community can give input on the planning and urban design around the stations. They will also include updates on the project.

Further information on the Westside Subway Extension can be found at metro.net/Westside or on Facebook at “Metro Westside Subway Extension.”

Will the Subway Get to the Sea? And Other Musings on Moving LA (Source: CityWatch)

Link: CityWatch - An insider look at City Hall - Will the Subway Get to the Sea? And Other Musings on Moving LA

Will the Subway Get to the Sea? And Other Musings on Moving LA
LA Transpo
By Ken Alpern

In the past two weeks, we’ve heard talk about the need to expedite planning, funding and construction for the Wilshire Subway and for the Crenshaw Corridor Project.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa held a press conference to expedite the Wilshire Subway to a faster timeline than 20 years…and I suspect most Angelenos would agree. Similarly, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas held his own press conference and pointed out the need to properly plan for the Crenshaw Corridor Project, which will either be a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) or a Light Rail Transit (LRT) that would connect the Green Line to the Expo Line (the current plan … and maybe the Wilshire/Purple Line and even Red Line as well … a proposed second phase).

Simply put, I think that the Crenshaw Corridor Project should be a LRT, and not a BRT, in order to avoid a repeat of the Orange Line mistake that had a cowardly political cadre in the San Fernando Valley let a few NIMBY's spoil the lot for the majority who always, always, always wanted rail. Ridley-Thomas said the same, and I commend him for his visionary stance.
Sample Image
The sudden success of the Orange Line Busway is a long and sordid one that I predict will leave SFV taxpaying commuters very unhappy in years to come as even more-successful higher-quality rail lines (which can carry about four times as much as a Busway) get built throughout the county.

This Crenshaw Corridor Project, should it avoid becoming another Busway and become a north-south rail line that is for the Mid-City and Westside, is the appropriate second chapter of rail that should follow the east-west Expo Line. The only reason it's fallen below the radar is because the political and media-grabbing power of the Mid-City region (through which most of this line runs) is unfortunately much less than other regions of the county.

Do I have concerns that this project isn't being done in the right order, considering the need for the Downtown Connector, the Foothill Gold Line and the Wilshire Subway? Yes.

Do I have concerns that this project is being done in a relatively non-coordinated fashion with the Green Line/LAX and Wilshire Subway? Yes.

However, this Crenshaw Line will, when it's done, not only help connect the Green Line to LAX but also the Expo Line to LAX...because they'll both have the access to Century/Aviation station, which will likely be a HUGE transit hub if the LAX People Mover ever connects there (I suspect it will).

The proposed second stage of the Crenshaw Line to the Wilshire Subway...and perhaps to the Red Line at Hollywood/Highland, would make this Crenshaw Line one of the hugest and most vital north-south rail projects since the Blue Line.

I have been a fan of this Crenshaw project for years, despite its opponents, and I look forward to making the Green and Expo Lines even more helpful and connecting once it becomes a reality. I do not believe for a second that its ridership after the first phase will be poor, and I envision a gigantic ridership if it ever proceeds north to Wilshire and beyond.

I also have been a fan of the Wilshire Subway, although it must be looked at as a project that—like the Crenshaw and Expo Lines will be built in phases and should be conceptualized as such. It’ll get to the Sea all right but in what sort of phasework and timeframe is yet to be determined.

The Wilshire Subway might not get the political and budgetary blessings to move further west than a Fairfax Blvd. Extension by 2015-18. However, it packs a much greater ridership, planning and economic punch if it can be built in a longer first-phase to Century City by that time.

This means that we must stop looking at the Crenshaw and Wilshire Projects as “competing”, because if they connect then they will be as “competing” as the 10, 405 and 110 Freeways, which serve as a vital network for hundreds of thousands of commuters every day.

The same can said for the Foothill Gold Line and the Downtown Light Rail Connector, which like the Crenshaw and Wilshire projects are decades overdue. Thankfully, we passed Proposition R which guaranteed us local monies for these projects…but how FAST we’ll see them done requires two things:

1) The political cooperation from Sacramento and Washington to get past their other competing priorities to get the legal, political and economic cooperation and expedite these projects

2) The local cooperation from politicians like Villaraigosa and Yaroslavsky (patron saints of the Wilshire Subway), Ridley-Thomas (patron saint of the Crenshaw Line), and Supervisor Mike Antonovich (patron saint of the Foothill Gold Line) to ensure that all of these worthy projects get moved forward together

Short-term visioning is vital to fast-track the first phase of the Crenshaw and Active ImageWilshire and Foothill Gold Lines, and the second phase of the Expo Line and the Downtown Connector (I prefer to call it Expo Phase III), and moving these five key projects simultaneously is no small achievement for L.A. County.

But it’s a first, decade-long adventure that will guarantee that the Subway to the Sea actually gets to the Sea, and will guarantee that Red, Purple, Expo and Green Lines all someday get connected with a first-rate Crenshaw LRT to make L.A. City and County a first-rate economic powerhouse to the nation and the world.

(Ken Alpern is Chair of the non-profit The Transit Coalition, co-chair of the grassroots Friends of the Green Line, and co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee, but the views expressed here are his own. He can be reached at Alpern@MarVista.orgThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ,)

Will Wilshire Ever Be Traversable? (Source: Curbed LA)

Link: Curbed LA: Will Wilshire Ever Be Traversable?

Will Wilshire Ever Be Traversable?

Friday, September 4, 2009, by Neal Broverman

While it's great news that the Purple Line extension is swiftly advancing, its first extension to Fairfax most likely won't open for at least five years. So there was hope that a planned bus-only lane on the boulevard would ease traffic for crosstown transit riders (and possibly drivers). Well, hold on a sec, reports Streetsblog. Now, a full environmental impact report is being required, one that won't be ready until the summer. On top of that, it seems many Westside homeowners don't like the idea of a bus-only lane on Wilshire—public outreach done in 2008 found both strong support and strong opposition to the project. "At the very least [the lane] now faces more obstacles to overcome than it did in 2008. In addition to needing a green light from an environmental standpoint, the project will need to survive another alternatives analysis and another round of public outreach in some areas where a bus only lane instead of street parking is a scary proposition to local residents." [Streetsblog

Subway To Sea (Through WeHo) Making Progress (Source: Wehonews.com)

Link: WeHoNews.com:

Subway To Sea (Through WeHo) Making Progress

Monday, August 31, 2009 – By WeHo News Staff, West Hollywood

West Hollywood, California (Monday, August 31, 2009) - As more exploratory drilling takes place here in West Hollywood last night and again tonight, plans move apace to build the Subway to the Sea with a West Hollywood spur that would join the Red Line and Purple Line in what most are calling a “Pink Line.”

Last month five scoping meetings took place, one of them in WeHo, where people affected by the plans gathered to express concerns and to offer ideas on how to complete the $7 - $11 billion extension of the current Purple Line.

Regional representative for the Westside Subway Extension, Jody Litvak and chief planner David Mieger outlined the process so far and explained some major changes that came up since the last round of public meetings.

Chief on that list of changes would be not placing a subway stop on La Brea at Santa Monica Boulevard.

Because of the turn-radius need for a stop there, the platform would have to be place four to five blocks to the east, in Los Angeles.

Ms. Litvak said, “There’s more support for a station between La Cienega and San Vicente Boulevard, say for example at City Hall in the center of town,” she said.

That said, there remains avid support for a Beverly Center/Cedars-Sinai stop, but the Pink Line complicates a Beverly Hills preference for a La Cienega station, she explained, but there is also strong support from the public wants a junction station at La Cienega, not Beverly Drive.

However, this would require the new platform to be pushed between La Cienega and Robertson. Neither Metro nor Beverly Hills care for a Robertson station, Ms. Litvak said.

She said that they continue to study options, but that a La Cienega/SMB station would likely be between La Cienega and Robertson.

Ms. Litvak went into detail about the construction methods that will be used for building the subway.

Tunneling will be deep-bore, and she says Metro will use a new generation of tunnel-boring machines that helps maintain earth pressure and reduce subsidence.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) will perform exploratory drilling as part of the planning and Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report for the proposed Westside Subway Extension in West Hollywood on Sunday, August 30, 2009 from 9 p.m. through Monday, August 31, 2009 at 6 a.m. at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Sweetzer Avenue.

During this process, soil samples will be removed and sent to the lab for analysis in order to assess the conditions below the ground surface and prepare the necessary plans for the Proposed Westside Subway Extension.

The next updates will further refine public comment and start finding concepts for station portals.

Stimulus… More Like Stymied (Source: I Will Ride Blog)

I Will Ride Blog

Stimulus… More Like Stymied
Posted by Albert

Three articles in Friday’s editions of the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Daily News focused on the the Subway to the Sea and its federal funding status (status: unknown). Now we support the Subway to the Sea as much as your average West LA folk, so there’s no issue with the project itself. Mass transit options, whatever and wherever they are, are good. The whole county is in dire need of a legitimate public transit alternative to the congested freeways as well as freedom from the polluted air that comes with traffic snarls.

In one Los Angeles Times report, it was revealed that much of the federal stimulus money that California had received for transportation was going to “routine” projects – not toward projects that President Obama had hoped “would both be built quickly and achieve long-term goals such as reducing pollution and congestion.” Now if you’re a Foothill Extension supporter, you can’t help but read this and scream: Oh come on! The explanation for perhaps why the ready-to-go Foothill Extension was stymied and not put up for federal stimulus money can be found in this excerpt:

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority thought about applying for stimulus funds to stretch the Red Line light rail to the sea but scrapped the idea when officials realized the project couldn’t be completed in the timeline the president outlined, said David Yale, MTA’s deputy executive officer of regional programming.
“The president’s charge was to get the economy jolted, so we needed to identify projects that could move quickly and get out to bid quickly,” Yale said.

Source: Stimulus funds in California mostly go to routine projects, study says, Los Angeles Times

The Foothill Extension seems to fit that “charge,” seeing as how with the help of federal funding, the entire line to Montclair can be finished and operating by 2017. Not to mention the thousands of construction jobs that would come with it, the billions of dollars that would jolt the San Gabriel Valley economies, the reduction in congestion on the 210, and the improvements in air quality for millions of residents.

However, all is not lost, as a group of the Subway’s biggest supporters –including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky – are urging “local governments to put aside their differences over planned transportation projects and launch a coordinated effort to secure enough federal stimulus dollars and matching funds to expedite the subway extension as well as other much-anticipated projects to be financed by Measure R, the county’s new transportation sales tax.” The list of projects they want to come along with the ride to the federal government?

Those include the Expo Line light-rail route from downtown to Santa Monica with a completion date in 2015, the Gold Line’s Foothill extension to perhaps Azusa by 2017 and a downtown light-rail line to connect the Blue, Gold and Expo lines by 2025.

Source: L.A. mayor wants to speed up work on Subway to the Sea, Los Angeles Times

Though we’re currently emphasizing the use of federal funds to build out these projects, remember that the revenue from Measure R’s half-cent sales tax increase is still slated to pay for the majority, but not all, of the cost of these lines. And with the Subway to the Sea doing its best roommate-who-raids-your-part-of-the-fridge-without-paying-their-fair-share impression, Supervisor Michael Antonovich’s office seems to be having none of it:

Tony Bell, spokesman for county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, said the subway extension will only serve three of the county’s 88 cities, all of which will be required to “foot the bill.”

“The residents of the San Fernando, San Gabriel, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys will all be paying for a gold-plated, multi-billion dollar underground subway that will have no impact on our regional transportation crisis,” Bell said. “In fact, it will funnel money away from projects that will improve mobility on a regional basis.”

Source: Subway to sea gains footing, Los Angeles Daily News

We’re encouraging our readers to send their thoughts to the newspapers in 150 words or less by emailing letters@latimes.com and dnforum@dailynews.com. Do it! And please send us a copy at info@iwillride.org when you do.

L.A. authority collects soil samples for proposed subway extension (Source: www.progressiverailroading.com)

Link: L.A. authority collects soil samples for proposed subway extension

L.A. authority collects soil samples for proposed subway extension

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) recently completed exploratory drilling in West L.A. as part of the planning and environmental process for the Westside subway extension.

LACMTA collected soil samples at 70 Westside locations over the past two-and-one-half months. The samples will be tested in labs to assess underground soil conditions and help determine an optimal subway route based on drilling and construction techniques. LACMTA needs to complete testing before it can prepare the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report.

After the agency completes the environmental review process next year, LACMTA officials will recommend a route, or the locally preferred alternative, that will include the mode, alignment and station locations. The board will need to approve the route before any final environmental analysis, design/engineering or construction can begin.

The agency currently is considering two options: a Wilshire subway that would extend the Metro Purple Line via Wilshire Boulevard and a Wilshire/West Hollywood subway that would incorporate all of the Wilshire subway as well as a spur from the Metro Red Line in Hollywood via Santa Monica Boulevard.

LACMTA estimates project costs at $4.1 billion for a partial Wilshire subway to Westwood/405, $6.1 billion for the full Wilshire subway alternative to Santa Monica and $9 billion for the Wilshire/West Hollywood subway combination. The Measure R county sales tax would partially fund the project.

L.A. mayor wants to speed up work on Subway to the Sea Villaraigosa and other elected officials urge local governments to put aside differences and work to get stimulus funds to expedite the project. Completion is scheduled for 2036. (Source: LA Times)

L.A. mayor wants to speed up work on Subway to the Sea -- latimes.com

L.A. mayor wants to speed up work on Subway to the Sea
Villaraigosa and other elected officials urge local governments to put aside differences and work to get stimulus funds to expedite the project. Completion is scheduled for 2036.

By Dan Weikel

August 21, 2009


As workers finished exploratory drilling Thursday for the planned Westside subway extension, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other elected officials said they want to speed up construction of the $4.1-billion transit project, which has been scheduled for completion in 2036.

An outspoken advocate for the so-called Subway to the Sea, the mayor has long been frustrated by the project's timetable, and that was evident again when he and other officials gathered for a news conference in a UCLA parking lot. There, final soil samples had been drawn for a route that would follow Wilshire Boulevard from downtown Los Angeles to Westwood.

"I'm 56 now," said the mayor, who would be 83 if the extension were completed under the current schedule. "We are here today to make sure that it gets built before I'm 66."

Villaraigosa was joined by Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles Councilmen Bill Rosendahl and Paul Koretz, Santa Monica Councilwoman Pam O'Connor and Glendale Councilman Ara Najarian, the chairman of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors.

They urged local governments to put aside their differences over planned transportation projects and launch a coordinated effort to secure enough federal stimulus dollars and matching funds to expedite the subway extension as well as other much-anticipated projects to be financed by Measure R, the county's new transportation sales tax.

Those include the Expo Line light-rail route from downtown to Santa Monica with a completion date in 2015, the Gold Line's Foothill extension to perhaps Azusa by 2017 and a downtown light-rail line to connect the Blue, Gold and Expo lines by 2025.

"We need a unified approach to get federal money. We need to bring the MTA board together," Najarian said. "If it all comes together, we will be a force to be reckoned with. We will be able to advance all our projects."

Officials said the subway extension deserves to be given a priority because it would serve one of the most heavily populated areas of Los Angeles and help relieve traffic on some of the region's busiest streets and highways, such as Wilshire Boulevard and the 10 and 405 freeways. MTA officials predict that the subway will generate 75,000 to 116,000 boardings a day shortly after it opens.

Should the project receive adequate federal assistance, Villaraigosa predicted that the subway to the Westside could be finished in 10 years, or about 17 years ahead of the current timetable.

The MTA is considering several alignments that would extend the subway from the Wilshire-Western station to Westwood with additional routes into Santa Monica and West Hollywood.

The estimated cost of the line is $4.1 billion if built to Westwood, $6.1 billion if built to Santa Monica and $9 billion if the project includes routes to West Hollywood and Santa Monica. Selecting a preferred alignment is set for next year.

Part of the money for the subway will come from Measure R, which is expected to generate up to $40 billion during the next 30 years.

dan.weikel@latimes.com

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times

Villaraigosa Campaigns for Westside Subway’s Completion in Ten Years (Source: The transport politic)

the transport politic » Villaraigosa Campaigns for Westside Subway’s Completion in Ten Years

Villaraigosa Campaigns for Westside Subway’s Completion in Ten Years

August 21, 2009

Los Angels West Side Subway Alignment AlternativesProposed 2036 completion date — without extension to Santa Monica — worries the Los Angeles mayor.

Last November, Los Angeles County voters agreed to increase sales taxes by a 1/2¢ with the passage of Measure R, which will fund new transit projects throughout the region. One of the primary benefits of the new revenue is the ability to fund the construction of a “subway to the sea,” which will extend the existing Red and Purple heavy rail lines to Santa Monica. But the large number of projects on the drawing board have slowed down this west side corridor significantly; partial completion, along Wilshire from Western Ave to UCLA, won’t be done until 2036. But Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is now on a campaign to attract federal funds to push its completion date forward — perhaps to 2020.

For the first time in more than a decade, the west side extension, which has often been included in the city’s transit plans, looks like it might happen. After years of controversy, a loss of federal funds, and gas explosions, the stars have aligned, with local and federal money available and an ambitious transit agency board again willing to risk its political clout for a project that will serve Los Angeles’ densest and most traffic-choked community.

Yet, even with Measure R, Los Angeles will need decades to build this very expensive line. Estimates put total cost in a $4-9 billion range, depending on whether the route extends all the way to Santa Monica, rather than simply to Westwood, and whether a spur north through West Hollywood is included. The full project, with 14 stations, will greatly improve connectivity across the west side of Los Angeles as well as among the cities of Beverly Hills and Santa Monica; this is currently the preferred choice of most residents of the area and Metro itself. The project, though, is too expensive to build without a massive federal appropriation.

Metro, the local transit agency, initiated the completion of a draft Environmental Impact Statement on the line in January, beginning the first step towards what will be a major construction project. Metro will select a locally preferred alternative next fall and then begin engineering and eventually construction work. In the meantime, the city has been drilling holes across the west side — 70 of them in total, up to 80 feet into the ground — to begin assessing the quality of soil for subway construction. The results were positive, with no danger in sight.

Mr. Villaraigosa, in the meantime, has become a strong advocate of regional cooperation for the benefit of the project. The mayor encouraged politicians from across the County to push for federal funds to complete the line on an accelerated timetable. The U.S. government needs to expedite up to $5 billion to ensure that the full project can be completed. This kind of commitment, however, has been rare in recent American transit policy, which has rarely appropriated more than $1 billion to just one line.

The mayor’s vision is necessary, because a wait until 2036 for just the line to UCLA would be a disappointment and a disaster for the city as a whole. The traffic mess on the west side, even with the completion of the Expo Line, will not improve dramatically; the area continues to be the region’s biggest draw but it is harder and harder to reach. With direct benefits only being accrued in four of the region’s dozens of municipalities, it remains to be seen whether mayors and congressmen from the sprawling region will come together in support of the project.

Image above: Westside subway alignment alternatives, from Metro

Separate but Equal Treatment via Rail Lines in L.A. (Source: LA Eastside)

LA Eastside » Separate but Equal Treatment via Rail Lines in L.A.

Separate but Equal Treatment via Rail Lines in L.A.

by Browne Molyneux

The Rail around Indiana

If you look at this photo you wonder what is this? And how did anyone think this was safe?

Why is the safety method on the Eastside going to be of the “pull yourselves up by the bootstraps” variety via cameras to blame personal drivers and old men in yellow vests reminding people to “be safe,” while the City of Los Angeles west of LaCienega get the “silver spoon” variety of safety with expensive barriers and elevated stations?

Why will there will be no testing out Darwinism theory of survival of the fittest on the Westside?

Only the neighborhoods with higher concentrations of poor people and brown and black people are tested with sink and swim theories.

The rail dips just one mile into the magic dividing line of LaCienega and the people on that side of LA who don’t walk or even use public transit as extensively as people on the Eastside get all of our tax dollars spent protecting them from being hit by a train that most of them won’t even take or even be near outside of driving by its protected barrier.

(This is an excerpt of a very long post entitled “Cameras Aren’t Going to Make Fewer People Die.”)

by Browne Molyneux