Quote:
Originally Posted by bzcat
I realize my previous post was a little confusing to read because I didn't get to the point quickly.
It is bordering scandalous that all 3 potential solutions still involves leaving at least two directions of Expo or Blue line in mixed traffic. It boggles the mind that Metro did this study and didn't address the fundamental cause for the slowness (forcing trains to stop for cars)
WP1 leaves Expo and Blue line at grade for $330m with only a token grade separation at the Washington junction for north bound Expo - 1 (partial segment) out of 4 directions of travel not impacted by vehicle traffic
WP2 leaves Blue line at grade with no change but undergrounds Expo for the entire length for $680m - 2 out of 4 directions of travel not impacted by vehicle traffic
WP3 leaves Expo and Blue line north bound at grade between I-10 and Pico station and undergrounds the south bound for $840m - 2 out of 4 directions of travel not impacted by vehicle traffic
The junction part of the analysis seems to have hijacked the issue and the simple solution of grade separation became an after thought.
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That was because the original motion was poorly written and it was trying to cram 500 lbs of crap in a 5 lb bag (see below) that all that staff was directed to do was look at false narratives of, having Blue Line Express service, the Washington/Flower junction (it is not a wye because it only joins in two directions rather than with three) and it made the 4 crossings from Washington to the 11th Street Portal-
18th Street/10 Fwy Onramp, Venice, Pico and 12th Streets - as afterthoughts.
This is what happens.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Illithid Dude
I wonder if the weird complexity of these proposals are so that Metro can maintain continuous service during construction?
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That is a part of it, the other issue is simple the original motion never addressed this portion of it.
February Motion
Motion by:
MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI, SUPERVISOR JANICE HAHN, MAYOR ROBERT
GARCIA, AND DIRECTOR JACQUELYN DUPONT-WALKER
Item 37: Blue Line Improvements
With 80,000 average weekday boardings, the Blue Line is MTA’s highest ridership light rail
line and is the highest ridership modern light rail line in the United States. During 2016, the
Blue Line saw nearly 25 million total boardings and over 186 million total passenger miles.
Currently, the Blue Line is undergoing a $1.2 billion state-of-good repair overhaul, including
over $860 million in new and refurbished light rail vehicles. This project seeks to restore the
Blue Line to a like-new state of operation.
However, a more comprehensive evaluation of improving service and reliability on the Blue
Line is required. Customer satisfaction on the Blue Line has fallen nearly ten percent since
2013, while the Blue Line complaint rate has nearly doubled over the same time period.
There are many opportunities for improvement throughout the length of the Blue Line.
In Downtown Los Angeles, for example, a bottleneck exists at Washington Boulevard, where
the Blue Line and Expo Line join in a wye. Recently, MTA increased the frequency of Expo
Line trains to every six minutes during peak hours, matching the frequency of Blue Line
trains. As a result, a total of 40 trains per hour are passing through the wye, approaching the
limits of the wye’s capacity.
Both Blue Line and Expo Line depend on this single track segment, any collision or
mechanical failure within the segment could significantly delay both rail lines. Grade
separating this portion of the Blue and Expo Lines could dramatically improve service
reliability, increase capacity, provide better schedule adherence, and facilitate other
opportunities, such as undergrounding Pico Station.
Additionally, an opportunity exists to create Blue Line Express service between Long Beach
and Downtown Los Angeles. Roughly between the I-710 freeway and Washington Boulevard,
extra right-of-way exists which could be used to construct a third track required for express
operation.
APPROVE Motion by Garcetti, Hahn, Garcia and Dupont-Walker that the MTA Board
direct the CEO to:
A. evaluate and implement short-term Blue Line and Expo Line improvements, especially
service reliability and schedule adherence improvements on at-grade sections of
Washington Boulevard, Flower Street, and the downtown wye, including but not limited to
signal optimization, signal priority, signal preemption, and consideration of street closures;
B. study long-term Blue Line improvements, including but not limited to:
1. creating Blue Line Express service between Long Beach and Downtown Los Angeles
during peak hours, including:
a. provide information on current freight usage along the right-of-way,
b. provide a preliminary estimate on upgrading the right-of-way to light trail transit
standards,
c. provide an operations plan to accommodate express service,
d. quantify travel time savings for peak hour trains;]
2. optimizing the Washington Boulevard wye by grade separating the Blue Line on
Washington Boulevard and the Expo Line on Flower Street, including a full grade
separation of Pico Station;
3. explore the feasibility for a full grade separation and/or station relocation including
additional parking at Wardlow Station;
4. study of additional grade separations along the entire Blue Line alignment that would
improve service reliability and schedule adherence;
Prev
) on "solving" the junction and forgot the objective is to speed up the trains, which requires just simple grade separation.
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