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  #861  
Old Posted Jun 24, 2010, 6:18 AM
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^ Back in the article I posted, it was mentioned that we may have money left over to fund more transit projects like the West Hollywood spur and the Santa Monica extension.
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  #862  
Old Posted Jun 24, 2010, 6:27 PM
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I might as well trot out my usual comments:

First, by far the most reasonable thing to do is the “Pink Line”, connecting Hollywood/Highland to BH, via Santa Monica Blvd. and the Beverly Center. The Crenshaw Line is a waste of money and the extensions pictured are all nonsense. It is obviously a “me too” project.

The main problem with Crenshaw is that it doesn’t go anywhere and is not a high volume street. It winds for miles through low-rise, non-developing areas. Crenshaw connects low-density industrial (aerospace) to low-rise black to low-rise Korean/Hispanic (near the 10) to artsy/industrial to upscale design and gay. It’s hard to imagine who would ride this. These north-south routes can be handled by bus lines at a huge savings.

The natural flow in the Westside is east-west: along Wilshire, Sunset, SM, Olympic, Pico. They tend to connect areas that are related (SM, West LA, Westwood, BH, WeHo, Hollywood have income, commercial, professional, ethnic, family and arts connections that can’t be found on the north-south routes). It also connects areas that tourists and visitors are likely to want to get to.
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  #863  
Old Posted Jun 24, 2010, 7:27 PM
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^ I too will throw out my usual comments...

No Crenshaw Corridor, no Westside Subway Extension.
No Foothill Extension, no Westside Subway Extension.
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  #864  
Old Posted Jun 24, 2010, 11:58 PM
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So if the feds come back with funding for 30/10 only if it drops Foothill and Crenshaw, you would tell them to walk?

Or if they say, chose either Purple Line or Foothill and Crenshaw, you say Foothill and Crenshaw?
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  #865  
Old Posted Jun 25, 2010, 12:24 AM
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^ Hey, I too would rather see the funds earmarked for Crenshaw and Foothill used for construction of the Pink Line instead. But that's not how it works. So I'll say it again:

No Crenshaw Corridor, no Westside Subway Extension.
No Foothill Extension, no Westside Subway Extension.

Why is it so hard to understand that the only reason why we have funding for the Westside Subway Extension is because SGV and South Bay folks agreed to tax themselves an extra half-percent with the understanding that they would get their piece of the pie? You can't change the terms of the agreement.
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  #866  
Old Posted Jun 25, 2010, 4:04 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Westsidelife View Post
^ Hey, I too would rather see the funds earmarked for Crenshaw and Foothill used for construction of the Pink Line instead. But that's not how it works. So I'll say it again:

No Crenshaw Corridor, no Westside Subway Extension.
No Foothill Extension, no Westside Subway Extension.

Why is it so hard to understand that the only reason why we have funding for the Westside Subway Extension is because SGV and South Bay folks agreed to tax themselves an extra half-percent with the understanding that they would get their piece of the pie? You can't change the terms of the agreement.
That's the most important part of these sorts of debates to remember. A voter initiative was passed. For all practical purposes, Crenshaw and the foothill extension are a done deal. You may not consider them valuable projects, but it's really too late to do anything about them. You can bitch all you want, but cancelling those projects is impossible without another voter initiative, and nothing will change that.
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  #867  
Old Posted Jun 25, 2010, 4:24 AM
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^ Foothill is really a done deal because it's scheduled to break ground in less than 48 hours.
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  #868  
Old Posted Jun 25, 2010, 5:42 PM
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Well, we do seem to be moving toward consensus that these lines make little economic sense and are part of a political deal. Hopefully this won't make it easier for the feds to turn down the whole package and instead fund some other city that has submitted a rational package.

Unfortunately, it's never a done deal. If it gets built, the next step is that it doesn't meet ridership expectations and the SoCal public permanently turns against the actually needed lines. These marginal lines could be haunting LA for 30 years. I hope not, but you usually want to put your best examples to the forefront for display, not your worst.
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  #869  
Old Posted Jun 28, 2010, 2:38 AM
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So did Foothill break ground?

Never mind, I guess it did. Interesting video:

http://www.foothillextension.org/index2.html
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  #870  
Old Posted Jun 28, 2010, 2:39 PM
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I believe what broke ground was that for the basket bridge over the 210 eastbound lanes, and I think the "real construction" won't begin till 2011.
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  #871  
Old Posted Jun 28, 2010, 3:01 PM
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First phase of Gold Line extension begins on Saturday (LA Times)

First phase of Gold Line extension begins on Saturday

Real estate developers, politicians and residents hope that the 11.3 mile extension, scheduled to be completed in four years, will bring new development to the San Gabriel Valley.

June 26, 2010
By Sam Allen
Los Angeles Times

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun...-line-20100626

L.A. County's ambitious light-rail network is about to push deeper into the San Gabriel Valley, and five cities along the route of the long-awaited Gold Line extension hope the trains will bring with them new development.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will break ground Saturday on a $690 million, 11.3 mile extension of the Gold Line from Pasadena through Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale and Azusa. The line is scheduled to be completed in 2014.


Los Angeles Times

Real estate developers and politicians are hoping the line will pave the way for some new residential and commercial developments in the cities.
AdvertisementMuch of their enthusiasm centers around so-called "Transit-Oriented Developments" — the idea that local economies thrive when they offer public transportation, housing, and retail in the same space. Some of these developments would be denser than what the suburban cities are typically used to...
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  #872  
Old Posted Jul 3, 2010, 5:46 PM
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^ Could they use another more depressing photo like the one above for the article?
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  #873  
Old Posted Jul 3, 2010, 6:34 PM
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^I don't know, it might be a vote of confidence: "Metro is so safe and reliable you can be a white woman and not homeless and sleep on the train like a baby while we take you where you want to go." There, I just gave away Metro's latest ad campaign for free;
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  #874  
Old Posted Jul 3, 2010, 7:27 PM
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^ To be fair, that does look like a priest back there.
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  #875  
Old Posted Jul 3, 2010, 8:33 PM
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I know, we wouldn't get the purple subway extension without the foothill extension, but when the red and purple line subways are standing room only and I see that picture of the gold line I can only . Couldn't they have at least started on the purple line first?
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  #876  
Old Posted Jul 7, 2010, 7:58 PM
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In Westside Los Angeles, a Rail Line Stirs a Revival (NY Times)

In Westside Los Angeles, a Rail Line Stirs a Revival


Derek Jones, chief operating officer of the Legado Company, said a mixed-use development would appeal to people who worked downtown.

By TERRY PRISTIN
July 6, 2010
NY Times

LOS ANGELES — Slowly, mass transit is taking hold in a city synonymous with the car. Now a light-rail line is finally coming to the affluent and traffic-choked Westside after years of local resistance, and at least some urban-style development is likely to follow.

When the $2.4 billion Exposition Line, currently under construction on an unused freight rail right-of-way, is completed, by 2015, its electric cars will travel all the way to Santa Monica, a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean.



The 8.6-mile first phase of the project, now about two-thirds finished, extends west from the University of Southern California, at the eastern end, to Culver City, the home of Sony Studios. Concrete columns that will support elevated train stops have sprouted near the busiest intersections along the route. (The two stops closest to the university will be underground and then will link to existing rail lines downtown.) ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/re...pagewanted=all
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  #877  
Old Posted Jul 7, 2010, 9:24 PM
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But scale is a big issue at the next station to the west, at Venice and Robertson Boulevards, which is also in an industrial neighborhood but is under the jurisdiction of Culver City, not Los Angeles. (Culver City’s newly rejuvenated pedestrian-friendly downtown is about half a mile away and not on the Expo Line.) Culver City has spent $23 million to assemble a 4.5-acre site at the station, which it intends to sell to private developers. But the city has decided to limit building heights on the site to five stories and require that the project include a park and a transit plaza. “The key would be to make this fitting for the neighborhood,” said Sol Blumenfeld, the community development director.

Roger Moliere, chief of Real Property Management and Development for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said Culver City’s plan was not dense enough to be practical, given the cost of the land. “They are going to find out they are not talking about something that works as a private development,” he said.
Whatever the scale ultimately ends up being, hopefully they're very concious in creating a great pedestrian environment that entices people to walk the half mile distance between "downtown" Culver City and the Venice/Robertson station. Consider Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade. It's just under a half mile long and people regularly have no issues walking its full length & back. Hopefully Culver City gets it right.
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  #878  
Old Posted Jul 8, 2010, 12:40 AM
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It kind of defeats the purpose that these new buildings on these lines have to have parking.
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  #879  
Old Posted Jul 8, 2010, 10:02 AM
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Yup, the added benefit of the Expo Line other than the Downtown/South LA/Culver City/West LA/Santa Monica route is its transformative potential in terms of revitalizing economically depressed neighborhoods and creating new walkable, pedestrian-friendly urban environments. Palms immediately strikes me as having the most potential to evolve into a true urban neighborhood. The location is hard to beat, as it's adjacent to Culver City and a short train ride away from Santa Monica, USC/Exposition Park, and Downtown. Desirability will increase with added connections created through transit projects like the Regional Connector and Crenshaw Corridor. The neighborhood itself is quite pleasant and is already upzoned for multi-family housing; we'll see all those crappy 2-story dingbats replaced with 4-story complexes (the latest trend in LA's urbanization efforts). Basic services and amenities can be brought to streets like Palms and Motor.

Overall, the Expo Line will prove to be beneficial in more ways than one. Those benefits will not come immediately, however. And since we're on the subject of the Expo Line, here's a long overdue photo update from The Transit Coalition:

Quote:
Originally Posted by darrell
New photos from yesterday afternoon ...



Here's the new fencing east of Crenshaw Blvd., also showing the two messenger wires on the third span from Arlington to Buckingham. This fencing is also up west of Crenshaw.



The Expo Line's wires and station canopy preview the line's meeting West Angeles Cathedral.



Posts for whatever will be the sides along the La Brea bridge are joining the station canopy poles; compare with this original simulation image:





Under the east end of the bridge you see a cinder block structure (left) and emergency exit stairs (right).



All of the Ballona Creek bridge falsework is down except the support across the east side of the old bridge. You see the MSE wall toward La Cienega right of the bridge.



This hold-the-camera-over-the-fence shot shows finished ballast and the beginning of special trackwork for a crossover at Hayden.



In the adjacent Hayden Tract, here's the base of the tower at Hayden.



The black starship building on Hayden seems to merge with the hill above Culver City.



And another photo of the Culver City station falsework. There was an Expo construction notice that falsework will be extended across National Blvd. soon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by darrell
Thanks for the heads-up! Here are three views today of the La Brea canopies almost done being installed (none at La Cienega yet).







Then I happened to drive by Buckingham when the westbound contact wire was completed and the trucks were turned around to install the westbound contact wire.



High-tech: a rope on the end of the cable from the reel is thrown up to the guy in the lift (who missed this one).



After the red strap is tied around the pole the new cable is clamped to it.



The trucks head down the track, with workers adding temporary hangers as they go. Two other notes:



This tractor at Harcourt (between Farmdale and La Brea, the west end of where the rails were welded together) is set up to pull a rail ribbon over rollers like on the left.



This steel crossing the old plate girder bridge on the east side of Ballona Creek is all that's left of the falsework for the new bridge.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gokhan
After you see the wavy canopies on the La Brea aerial station, you realize how good they look and how awful it would have looked if it was a traditional-style roof canopy. Roland Genick and Co. deserve the credit for doing such a professional job.









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  #880  
Old Posted Jul 8, 2010, 10:28 AM
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Although definitely I agree with what your saying, West, one can argue that Palms is already a "true urban neighborhood," as its density of 21,870 people per square mile - higher than Mid-Wilshire, Mid-City, or anywhere in Los Feliz/Silverlake/Echo Park - will attest. Sadly, though, much of the density is in the form of undesirable '70s multifamily units, of which are far from "pleasant." (and I say that as somebody who's there on a near-daily basis).

Give it time, though..before you know it, preservationists will be all over the dingbats, clamoring their cantilevered facades and sun dial fixtures! And yes, how could we forget the 4-story salmon-colored, faux-Mediterranean/Tuscany hackjob apartment complex, with their myriad subterranean parking and seemingly ubiquitous Orthodox Jew developers!
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