L.A. Metro Area Transit: What's Next?

[dragonsky]

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2014/0...could_fund.php

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by PE

Crews prepare for massive bridge move over I-215
BY JANET ZIMMERMAN STAFF WRITER March 26, 2014; 03:00 PM

Ironworkers are tightening the last of 98,000 bolts on a massive railroad bridge, and riggers are putting the final touches on a complex plan for moving the steel span into place over Interstate 215 next week.

Commuters have witnessed the rusty metal structure taking shape for the past several months as workers assembled it alongside the freeway at Barton Road in Grand Terrace, not far from the BNSF railroad bridge it will replace.

Finally, beginning April 2, the span will be moved and positioned above the freeway by the same company that transported the space shuttle Endeavour across Los Angeles in 2012. Three more bridge sections will be built and wrestled into place in the coming weeks.

Consider, though, that the shuttle weighed 150,000 pounds, whereas each bridge section weighs 1.1 million pounds. Luckily, the spans will travel less than a mile down a closed freeway, not 12 miles through a city like the Endeavour did, said Manny Yogarajah, the Caltrans engineer heading the move.

The four-day routine will be repeated through April 25, when the fourth span is installed. Two more spans will be set this summer.

By the time work is completed at the end of this year, three new railroad bridges will replace a double-track BNSF span that crosses the freeway now between Iowa Avenue and Barton Road. Two will replace the existing bridge and the third will be available for future expansion, Yogarajah said.

The work avoids a long stoppage of rail traffic through the area, which totals at least 80 trains a day, Caltrans spokeswoman Michelle Profant said.

A BNSF spokeswoman did not return a phone calls seeking comment.

The $17 million in bridge improvements is part of a larger, $170 million project to add a carpool lane in each direction along a 7.5-mile stretch of Interstate 215 from north of Orange Show Road in San Bernardino to just south of the Highway 60/91/215 interchange.

http://www.pe.com/local-news/local-n...over-i-215.ece

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by SGV Tribune

Metrolink, Metro propose more express trains for crowded San Bernardino line
By Steve Scauzillo, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
POSTED: 04/02/14, 7:29 PM PDT |

Metrolink passengers traveling from the Inland Empire to downtown Los Angeles may soon be riding faster and more direct express trains, according to top transportation officials.

A second, third and even a fourth express train serving passengers boarding in San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga and Covina are in the works, said Mitch Alderman, director of transit and rail for San Bernardino Associated Governments, or SanBAG.

SanBAG and its L.A. County partner, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or Metro, have just completed a feasibility study on adding capacity to the busy San Bernardino line. A report on the project will be released this month or next, he said.

The project will involve double-tracking portions of the line between San Bernardino and Rialto and between San Dimas and La Verne, effectively adding four miles of extra track and bringing the total of double tracking on the line to 12 miles, said Jay Fuhrman, transportation planning manager for Metro.

Though in the preliminary stages, the total cost for the project is approximately $126 million, split between SanBAG and Metro.

http://www.sgvtribune.com/business/2...ernardino-line

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by LA Times

Garcetti calls on residents to help build 'Los Angeles of tomorrow'
Mayor Eric Garcetti delivers his first State of the City address in the Wallis Annenberg Building of the California Science Center at Exposition Park in Los Angeles. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times / April 10, 2014)
By Emily Alpert Reyes
April 10, 2014, 6:10 p.m.

Striking a "back to basics" theme, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti concluded his first State of the City address by challenging residents to help build "the Los Angeles of tomorrow."

"I stand before you today to say that the state of our city is strong, but is in need of fundamental reform," he said.

In a 45-minute appearance at the California Science Center, Garcetti said he would keep the Department of Water and Power from raising rates this year, foster jobs by starting to phase out the city's business tax, reform the Fire Department and make "great streets" out of 15 city byways from the San Fernando Valley to San Pedro.

He also vowed to bring a rail transit connection to Los Angeles International Airport. "Let me be clear: We are going to bring rail to LAX and we will settle for nothing less."

The annual address came one day after a prominent commission delivered its own batch of recommendations for fixing the city, warning that without action Los Angeles could become "a city left behind in the 21st century."

The speech is being closely watched as a bellwether of what is ahead for the mayor, a soapbox for a man who promised to “listen, then lead.”

Garcetti said his budget will eliminate a $242-million shortfall. That gap threatens to undercut efforts to improve municipal services, fix broken streets and possibly slow his push to improve L.A.’s business climate -- a major focus of his inaugural address last year.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...,6862978.story

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by MTA

Metro to publicly finance HOV toll lane project for Santa Clarita Valley
Posted April 16, 2014 by Steve Hymon

Today we have this update: Metro and Caltrans have decided to publicly finance the project instead of seeking a public-private partnership (known as a PPP). Why? It’s less expensive to publicly finance the project by using $352 million in now-available Measure R and other funds and a federal low-interest loan for $175 million.

Under a PPP, a private firm or firms would have paid for the construction of the project and then been repaid, in part, by collecting and managing tolls from the lanes for 35 years. In this case, public financing will allow Metro to borrow less money and secure a lower interest rate on the needed loan.

This project as originally proposed was also unusual because it included new sound walls for the 210 freeway in Pasadena and Arcadia and the 170 and 405 freeways in Los Angeles, and adding extra lanes for a short stretch of the 71 freeway in Pomona. Under the public financing deal, those projects will be built separately. The toll revenues would be reinvested and used for transit services and traffic operations in the 5 freeway corridor in the Santa Clarita Valley.

The current forecast calls for the HOV lanes on the 5 to open in 2021, the soundwalls to be completed in 2019 and for the additional lane on the southbound side of the SR-71 to be done in 2021 and the lane on the northbound 71 to be finished in 2028.

http://thesource.metro.net/2014/04/1...larita-valley/

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by Curbed LA

Los Angeles World Airports is finally getting its act together in getting rail service to LAX, and it'll most likely take the form of a people mover taking off from the Crenshaw Line's Aviation/Century station. LAWA is nailing down the logistics now, according to the LA Times's Laura Nelson, who's tweeting from today's Board of Airport Commissioner's meeting. The PM will likely "cut between 96th and Arbor Vitae streets" and will include either a "Spine" option (two stops at LAX and a cost between $1.5 and 2 billion) or a "Scissor" option (four stops, cost between $2 and 2.5 million), LAWA officials are saying. The former would require people walk 700 feet from the the PM station to their terminal doors, likely aided by pedestrian bridges. The "Scissor" would obviously have shorter walks. Both options would require trains to back in and out of the airport, since LAX's layout is too constrictive to allow a loop (though Metro, which is also studying a PM, doesn't seem to think so). The PM will have a stop at a transit hub between the Crenshaw Line and LAX; Nelson tweets that it will allow people to park, walk in, and greet arriving visitors.

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2014/0...ople_mover.php

[dragonsky]

Temple City to host Rosemead Boulevard Grand Opening Festival on May 10
http://thesource.metro.net/2014/05/0...val-on-may-10/

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by OC Register

It's done! 3-year project to widen 57 freeway ends
Celebration welcomes new northbound lane between Placentia and Brea, other upgrades.
MORGAN COOK / STAFF WRITER
Published: May 15, 2014 Updated: 4:27 p.m.

Nearly 100 transportation officials, lawmakers and others gathered Wednesday morning in Brea to celebrate the successful widening of northbound State Route 57 between Placentia and Brea.

The $104-million project added a new northbound lane to a 5-mile stretch of the SR-57 freeway between Orangethorpe Avenue in Placentia and Lambert Road in Brea. The three-year-long construction project also included work on 12 ramps, 13 bridges and three miles of new sound walls.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/b...n-project.html

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by LA Times

Purple Line's Westside extension gets $2.1 billion in federal funding
VERONICA ROCHA
5/20/14

The Los Angeles Metro Purple Line extension project, which will expand the heavy rail line, will receive $2.1 billion in federal funding, officials said Tuesday.

Mayor Eric Garcetti and Sens. Dianne Feintsein and Barbara Boxer on Wednesday plan to announce a $1.25-million federal grant package for the first phase of the nine-mile subway extension.

Funding will also come from a $856-million loan from the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program.

The transit project plans to add seven stops between the Wilshire/Western and Westwood/Veterans Administration Hospital stations.

The Purple Line will allow passengers traveling from downtown Los Angeles to visit the Miracle Mile, Beverly Hills, Century City and Westwood.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...520-story.html

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by LA Times

New carpool lane on northbound 405 finally set to open
MARTHA GROVES, MATT STEVENS

After countless delays, cost overruns, gridlock gripes from Tesla's Elon Musk and a phenomenon known as "Carmageddon," officials Friday will finally unveil on the 405 Freeway the nation's longest continuous carpool lane.

The opening marks a milestone for L.A. commuter culture and the notorious 405, the nation's busiest urban interstate highway. The full carpool route runs for 70 miles from southern Orange County to near the northern tip of the San Fernando Valley, matching the existing carpool run on the southbound side.

Transit officials expect commuters to save at least 10 minutes per trip during peak hours on the new 10-mile stretch of carpool lane. In theory, the shift of high-occupancy vehicles to that lane should also help solo travelers roll more smoothly.

The 405 carries about 300,000 vehicles a day, a number that the Federal Highway Administration expects to grow by nearly 50%, to 447,000, by 2025.

The $1.1-billion 405 construction project has been the most challenging of a series of carpool lane projects that Caltrans and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority have undertaken. Workers also are in the process of adding a lane along the 5 Freeway in Southeast L.A. and through the San Fernando Valley. The hope is for the 5 to one day have a continuous lane from San Clemente into Santa Clarita, except for a 4.5-mile stretch around downtown L.A.

Combined, Southern California has 950 miles of carpool lanes, with 70 more miles under construction. An additional 58 miles are in the design stages.

Each HOV lane in L.A. County carries 3,100 people in 1,300 vehicles per hour, said Carrie Bowen, director of the California Department of Transportation's District 7.

That means a single carpool lane carries about double the number of people as a regular lane. And officials expect those carpool lane numbers to grow as the network expands and ever-worsening traffic induces more commuters to share rides.

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-0...524-story.html

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by LA Times

Union Station to get $350 million in track upgrades

Reviving a decades-old idea, Los Angeles transportation officials are planning $350 million in track improvements at Union Station that could dramatically reduce travel times for many trains and accommodate future growth of the famous terminal.

The Southern California Regional Interconnector Project is designed to benefit travelers by installing four sections of track that will enable Amtrak and Metrolink trains to run straight through the terminal, eliminating the 15 to 20 minutes it now takes to enter and exit the station at its lone north entrance. All tracks now dead-end in the terminal area.

The interconnector will significantly reduce turnaround times by extending several tracks out the south end of the station. They will cross over the 101 Freeway, turn to the left and connect with existing tracks heading north, south and east.

With the new layout, many trains would stop for just a few minutes or not at all if they were expresses. Planners say that would increase Union Station's capacity 40% to 50%.

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-u...528-story.html

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by MTA

I-5 Empire Project groundbreaking
Posted May 28, 2014 by Paul Gonzales

This morning, Metro Board Director Ara Najarian and Deputy CEO Lindy Lee participated in groundbreaking ceremonies for the Empire Project which will enhance travel along Interstate 5 in Burbank. Metro is supplying $180 million of the total $355 million budget and improvements include a new carpool lane, building a new interchange at I-5 and Empire Avenue, reconstructing the Burbank Boulevard overcrossing and realigning ramps, elevating the railroad at Buena Vista Street and San Fernando Boulevard. The project will relieve congestion, improve traffic flow and provide easier access to Bob Hope Airport and shopping centers.

http://thesource.metro.net/2014/05/2...roundbreaking/

[dragonsky]

http://thesource.metro.net/2014/06/0...n-master-plan/

Originally Posted by LA Times

Metro unveils bold proposal to modernize downtown's Union Station

A completed master plan for the station's 47 acres is scheduled to be sent to the Metro board for approval in September.

Anchored by the original Spanish-style terminal, the plan calls for a hotel, office towers, a residential complex and a high-speed rail station on the east side of Vignes Street.

The centerpiece of the modernization is a palatial concourse beneath the tracks of the platform area, which will have to be elevated to make room. The concourse will feature retail shops, cafes and snack bars.

Outside, the Patsouras Transit Plaza will be moved from its location in front of Metro's headquarters to the east side of Union Station, where passengers will be able to make their bus and train connections more conveniently.

Union Station will be preserved, but substantial landscaping and changes are proposed for the area in front of the terminal and Alameda Street.

A small parking lot will be replaced with a civic plaza, and Alameda will be reduced from six to four lanes and lined with trees. In addition, the end of Los Angeles Street across from the station will be turned into a cul de sac.

For those who prefer alternative forms of transportation, the plans include pedestrian walkways to and from the station as well as facilities for bicyclists such as bikeways, racks and storage areas.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...602-story.html

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by Metro

Groundbreaking ceremony held for I-10 HOV Lane Project this morning

Metro Deputy CEO Lindy Lee joined Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty and officials from the Federal Highway Administration and California Highway Patrol today for the groundbreaking of the I-10 High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lane Project. The project area is located between Puente Avenue and Citrus Street in Baldwin Park and West Covina.

This is the second of three projects that, once complete, will offer one continuous HOV lane from downtown Los Angeles to I-15 in San Bernardino County. Metro programmed $151.6 million towards the construction of the HOV project, which accounts for 77.5% of the total project cost.

http://thesource.metro.net/2014/06/1...-lane-project/

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by LA Times

Metro approves new train station to connect rail to LAX

In a unanimous vote, the county's Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors agreed to proceed with further study of a proposed $200-million light-rail station a mile and a half east of LAX's central terminal area. The station would connect Metro's Crenshaw Line, now being built, to a proposed aerial, monorail-like system that will carry passengers to their terminals.

The added station, at 96th Street and Aviation Boulevard, would be less than a half-mile north of another planned Crenshaw Line stop at Century and Aviation boulevards. Officials say the new station will serve as a link to a people-mover system expected to connect a consolidated car-rental facility, a planned ground transportation hub and the LAX terminal area.

The board, on a motion proposed by Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles Council member Mike Bonin and Los Angeles County Supervisors Don Knabe and Mark Ridley-Thomas, directed Metro staff to develop plans for the station.

Officials said the station will speed up airport access for travelers and should include check-in counters, flight information boards, vendors and currency exchange locations. The board also asked transit officials to review baggage check facilities at similar airport transportation centers in other cities and determine whether that service could be added.

"This is a historic day for our city, because we're finally on the way to bringing rail to LAX," said Garcetti, who is the vice-chair of the Metro board. "We'll be able to fix a historic mistake of our past."

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...626-story.html

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by MTA

Bob Hope Airport officially opens Regional Intermodal Transportation Center
Posted June 27, 2014 by Anna Chen

Bob Hope Airport held a grand opening ceremony this morning for the $112 million Regional Intermodal Transportation Center (RITC). The RITC took two years to complete and is the largest capital project in the airport’s history. It also establishes the first direct rail-to-terminal connection at any Southern California airport.

The RITC is located immediately across the street from the Bob Hope Airport Station served by Metrolink and Amtrak. It will house a new bus transit station and rental car facilities and is connected to the passenger terminal via an elevated walkway.

Transit officials also announced the plans for a pedestrian bridge between the RITC and the existing Metrolink station along Empire Avenue. You can read the Metro staff report on the project here.

http://thesource.metro.net/2014/06/2...tation-center/

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by MTA

Metro staff recommend contractors to build Purple Line Extension’s first phase

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) staff today recommended awarding a $1.636 billion contract to design and build a 3.9-mile extension of the Metro Purple Line subway from Wilshire and Western to Wilshire and La Cienega to a joint venture composed of three of the world’s top construction companies.

At its July 24 meeting the Metro Board will consider the recommendation to award a contract to the firms of Skanska, Traylor Bros. and J.F. Shea, a Joint Venture (STS). The Metro Board’s Construction Committee will first review staff’s recommendation on July 17.

The procurement process has been extensive and altogether has taken nearly two years to reach the point where the Metro Board this month will consider a contract award for the first phase of the subway extension.

The contract calls for building twin subway tunnels on a 3.92-mile alignment that includes three new underground stations at Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega. It also includes train control and signals, communications, traction power supply and distribution, and fare collection systems that will be integrated with the existing Metro Rail system. Construction activities could begin later this year depending on when the contract is awarded. The contract requires completion in October 2024. The contractors have proposed an early completion schedule saving 300 calendar days.

http://thesource.metro.net/2014/07/0...s-first-phase/

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by MTA

“Notice to Proceed” granted for construction of Regional Connector project!
Posted July 9, 2014 by Steve Hymon

It’s official: there are now four Metro Rail projects currently under construction after the Metro earlier this week gave its contractors — the Regional Connector Constructors, Joint Venture — the official “notice to proceed” on building the line. Until recently, Metro never had more than two rail projects underway at the same time.

The Regional Connector will be a 1.9-mile underground light rail line that will connect the Gold Line to the Blue Line and Expo Line in downtown Los Angeles. With a scheduled opening of 2020, the Regional Connector will allow trains to run directly between Santa Monica and East Los Angeles on an east-west line and between Azusa and Long Beach on a north-south line.

http://thesource.metro.net/2014/07/0...ector-project/

[dragonsky]

Originally Posted by LA Times

Caltrans to put toll lanes on 405 Freeway in Orange County

The battle over toll lanes on California freeways moved to Orange County on Friday when Caltrans announced it would defy local officials and place what critics call "Lexus lanes" on a 14-mile stretch of the 405 Freeway.

The lanes would be on a notoriously congested section of the freeway between Seal Beach and Costa Mesa. The cost of the tolls has not been finalized, but some existing toll lanes can charge about $10 one way during rush hour.

The move comes as communities throughout Southern California are increasingly considering toll lanes in order to relieve traffic and generate funding.

After years of resistance, Los Angeles officials added toll lanes along parts of the 10 and 110 freeways.

Riverside County is now in the process of creating express lanes on the 91 Freeway in Corona, while San Bernardino County officials are exploring the possibility of toll lanes on the 10 and 15 freeways as well.

Caltrans officials said Friday that adding high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on the 405 would speed traffic.

"We've got over 400,000 people using the 405 corridor every day," said Ryan Chamberlain, Orange County district director for Caltrans. "I'd say there's going to be a lot of people celebrating this decision."

Although local opposition has been heated, some see high-occupancy toll lanes as the future in a region growing in population but strapped for funds.

The Southern California Assn. of Governments, the metropolitan planning organization for six Southern California counties, is in the process of completing a study on HOT lanes; and preliminary results suggest they are a good option for dealing with traffic, said Executive Director Hasan Ikhrata.

"We should be open to options that relieve congestion and that are going to get us out of the mess we are in," he said. "This is one option that seems to be working."

Martin Wachs, professor emeritus of urban planning at UCLA, said HOT lanes are being gradually incorporated into regional transportation plans throughout the state and especially in Southern California. He favors the option and said the perception that the lanes are only for the rich isn't necessarily true.

"Lower-and middle-income people use them occasionally, perhaps less often than rich people. But if a person has limited income and their child has to be picked up at child care, then they do a calculation," he said.

Chamberlain said he does not anticipate departing from the toll lanes recommendation. He said that HOT lanes benefit commuters because they allow transportation officials to better manage traffic and that they provide a consistent option for faster travel.

Caltrans is also exploring the possibility of allowing vehicles with two or more occupants to ride free in the toll lanes, but a final decision has not been made, he said.

http://www.latimes.com/local/orangec...726-story.html

[MartinTurnbull]

I can't imagine this is the first time this photo of Simon's Drive-in restaurant, El Monte has been posted here. I did a quick search and couldn't find it, so I'm thought I'd post it anyway.