Quote:
Originally Posted by caligrad
Its infuriating that Metro takes the cheap way out of things but not always the easiest.
We all see that Metro is infatuated with light rail. FINE. Go the cheap and easy way of doing what was done with the blue line in Long Beach. We have plenty of extra wide avenues and boulevards, why not throw light rail down the center of those on the cheap and give signal prioritzation ?
Hawthorne blvd is soooo wide, its literally, at most points, 4 lanes wide on both sides WITH PARKING IN THE CENTER OF IT ????? rip up the parking, plop down some light rail and call it a day. There are other streets just as wide and just as busy that can be done the same way. With Signal priortization ofcourse.
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Wait, aren’t they building it
within the freight ROW? I think that’s cheaper/easier/faster than trying to put it in a road - at least, in LA - no?
I’d be interested in knowing just how much ridership would change in either scenario; it sounds like that’s what you’re getting at.
In any case, doesn’t the Harbor Subdivision extend nearly all the way down to Long Beach? It seems like they should just extend the Green Line there in one fell swoop, instead of continuing these incremental extensions, which require yards/facitilities to be built at each terminus when they should simply be located once, in the most logical endpoint.
Theoretically, in the long-term, a new service pattern could be implemented with some Blue Line trains at Long Beach & at Willowbrooks/Rosa Park continuing on as Green Line trains and vice versa, effectively creating a “Circle Line.”
Given existing development pressures in Long Beach (citizens think higher desntities without better transit are unwarranted) and the Olympics, just extending the line fully at once seems to make the most sense ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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