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

[dragonsky]

MTS Cheers Deal to Rebuild Desert Line Railway for Tijuana Link

The Metropolitan Transit System Board of Directors on Thursday approved a binational agreement that will clear the way for rebuilding a mostly unused 70-mile stretch of railway in the southeastern San Diego County desert.

When the project between Campo and Imperial County is completed, the Desert Line will connect about 1,500 factories in and near Tijuana — known as maquiladoras — to U.S. rail facilities. Right now, movement of products into this country is done by trucks.

Jerry Sanders of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce said there is $2.1 million in daily trade between San Diego and Tijuana, and infrastructure is critical to the supply chain.

“The rehabilitation of the cross-border railroad provides a much-needed alternative for moving goods through one of the most vibrant centers of commerce in the world,” he said. “The Desert Line will provide a vital route that takes trucks off our freeways and increases shipping capacity that gets goods to marketplaces far more efficiently.”

Sanders said the increased shipping capacity will help business officials attract more companies and investment to the region.

The rail line starts in Tijuana, runs east to Tecate, crosses the border near Campo and continues east to Plaster City in Imperial County. Baja California Railroad plans to spend $60-70 million to repair 57 bridges and 17 tunnels beginning this summer, according to the MTS.

A transportation hub will also be built in Imperial County.

San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts said 6,200 trucks cross into the U.S. daily through the border crossings at San Ysidro, Otay Mesa and Tecate, and the wait time can last up to two hours.

Reducing the number of trucks will ease wait times and reduce air pollution, Roberts said.

http://timesofsandiego.com/business/...-tijuana-link/

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Metro seeks permanent transit tax for LA County to raise billions to fix gridlock

The new transit plan, unveiled after months of community meetings, would replace a 1-cent transit sales tax proposal introduced last March that called for raising $120 billion over the next 40 years. But instead of asking voters to support a half-cent Measure R extension with another half-cent tax through 2057, the transit agency now recommends a “no sunset” measure that would raise billions of transit dollars in perpetuity.

“If we’re going to do something real about traffic, we need to act now — and we need to be bold,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, in a statement. “Our plan would create a true, regional transportation system, and make critical local improvements in every part of our county.

“This will not only help ease congestion, it will bring good paying jobs to our communities.”

http://www.sgvtribune.com/general-ne...o-fix-gridlock

[dragonsky]

Revised spending plan for potential ballot measure would fund and accelerate more projects

A revised spending plan [pdf] for a potential November sales tax ballot measure was released Friday by Metro and would accelerate more projects, allow more transit projects to become rail, include more overall projects and increase funding that goes to local cities and unincorporated areas for their own transportation improvements.

The potential ballot measure — now called the Los Angeles County Traffic Improvement Plan — would ask voters to consider a new half-cent sales tax in Los Angeles County and continuation of the existing Measure R half-cent sales tax in perpetuity or until voters decide to end the taxes. The idea is to create a sustained funding stream for mobility projects crucial to the region’s mobility, economy and quality of life. [Note: of the three sales tax increases approved by L.A. County voters for Metro, two continue until voters decide to end them whereas Measure R is currently set to expire in mid-2039].

•Accelerate nine projects, including improvements for the Orange Line, both phases of a potential light rail line between downtown Los Angeles and Artesia, the widening of the 5 freeway between the 605 and the 710, a northern extension of the Crenshaw/LAX Line, the Green Line extension to Torrance, the Green Line extension to the Norwalk Metrolink station, road improvements in the Malibu/Las Virgenes area and a potential bus rapid transit on Lincoln Boulevard.

•Increase funding to upgrade projects. Under the new plan, the Eastside Gold Line Extension could be built to both South El Monte and Whittier and in later years of the plan, the Vermont Corridor project could potentially be a subway, a Lincoln Boulevard transit project could be light rail and the North Hollywood-to-Pasadena transit project could also be light rail.

•Increase money directly returned to cities and unincorporated areas from 16 percent to 17 percent from 2018 until 2040 when the amount is raised to 20 percent. Also, the amount of funding that would go to Metrolink would increase by one percent in 2040 and thereafter.

http://thesource.metro.net/2016/06/1...more-projects/

[dragonsky]

Bikeable, Walkable Figueroa Actually Is Coming Soon
No stranger to delays, 'MyFigueroa' construction is now set to start this summer
http://la.curbed.com/2016/6/10/11903...destrians-2017

[dragonsky]

Perris Valley Line rolls out right on schedule

Transportation officials tout the Perris Valley Line as an answer to providing relief from congestion along I-215, which the train route parallels for several miles, and the 91 freeway.

http://www.pe.com/articles/train-804...rris-line.html

[dragonsky]

The plan to revive streetcar service in Downtown Los Angeles has taken another step forward, with the release of the project's draft environmental impact report (DEIR).
http://urbanize.la/post/imagining-el...dtla-streetcar

[dragonsky]

Last Friday, Los Angeles World Airports—the departments that runs Los Angeles International Airport—held a forum to present and discuss information on the transportation plan that will totally transform the way Angelenos get to and move through LAX. Known as the Landside Access Modernization Program, the plan includes a new automated people mover to carry passengers from the Metro system to the terminals, a consolidated rental car facility, new transportation hubs, and more public parking and pedestrian walkways. LAWA has provided Curbed with some of the new glimpses into LAX's more awesome transportation future

http://la.curbed.com/2016/2/8/109406...rtation-at-lax

[dragonsky]

• Video Link
Metrolink's Tier 4 Unit - EMD F125 Just Arrived!

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L.A. architect Michael Maltzan's plan is to wrap the 134 Freeway as it crosses the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena with a tunnel-like form.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...htmlstory.html

[dragonsky]

Second annual '710 Day' in Alhambra aims to 'Close the gap!'

Alhambra’s second annual “710 Day” — a city-sponsored “urban street jam” to promote extending the 710 Freeway — drew hundreds Thursday to Fremont Avenue between Mission Road and Valley Boulevard. Traffic was backed up along Valley and Fremont due to the street closures for the event, which featured carnival games, food trucks, a live band, and pro-710 speeches from representatives from Alhambra, Monterey Park, and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.

City leadership backs a proposed 4.5-mile tunnel extending the 710 Freeway in Alhambra to the 210 Freeway in Pasadena. Alhambra officials argue the tunnel would ease traffic by taking thousands of cars off of Fremont.

"This is a neighborhood street, it shouldn't be treated like a freeway," said Alhambra Councilman Steven Placido, addressing the number of cars that exit the 710 and take Fremont to the 210.

http://www.alhambrasource.org/news/s...aims-close-gap

[dragonsky]

Here's the Future Rail Station That Will Connect Riders to LAX
http://la.curbed.com/2016/6/24/12026...il-station-lax

[dragonsky]

East San Fernando Valley Transit Plans for Transit-Oriented Future

One of those projects, the $1.3-billion East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor, is expected to open in 2027.

In preparation for a light rail or bus rapid transit line down Van Nuys Boulevard, the City of Los Angeles is now planning for future development along the approximately nine-mile corridor.

http://urbanize.la/post/east-valley-...riented-future

[dragonsky]

Los Angeles' 'Subway to the Sea' is less about play and more about work

When the so-called subway to the sea began running between downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica this year, it was greeted with a kind of revelry and attention usually reserved for only the hottest celebrity-studded film screenings.

Now, nearly two months later, the sheen has mostly worn off, replaced by workaday concerns of daily commuters, who most often have their heads deeply bowed to their phones as the train lurches along Exposition Boulevard.

It is neither a subway – the train is in fact elevated more often than it is underground – nor does it go all the way to sea. But as a passenger travels west from downtown to Santa Monica, a ride along the Expo Line offers a small portrait of this sprawling city.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/t...town-city.html

[dragonsky]

Hear that train a comin’? Metrolink debuts first of cleaner, quieter trains
http://www.sgvtribune.com/general-ne...quieter-trains

[dragonsky]

Redlands, Santa Fe Springs get millions for transportation projects

Two train-related projects in Southern California received a portion of the $500 million in competitive grants awarded Friday by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

In the Inland Empire, the Redlands Passenger Rail Project received $8.6 million in grant money. The project, which would cost about $262 million, proposes to extend rail service nine miles from downtown San Bernardino to the University of Redlands.

In Santa Fe Springs, in southeast Los Angeles County, the Department of Transportation awarded $15 million to build the Rosecrans/Marquardt Grade Separation Project. The total cost of the project is $137 million.

http://www.sgvtribune.com/general-ne...ation-projects

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Decking for Wilshire/La Brea subway station begins third phase this weekend
http://thesource.metro.net/2016/07/2...-this-weekend/

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Expo Line doesn't have enough rail cars for its surging ridership
http://www.latimes.com/local/califor...nap-story.html

[dragonsky]

Envisioning a Multi-Modal Future for Crenshaw Boulevard

In conjuction with the impending arrival of a $2-billion light rail line, the City of Los Angeles is pushing forward with streetscape improvements along Crenshaw Boulevard.

The Crenshaw Boulevard Streetscape Plan, which is part of a larger effort to reorient neighborhoods around new transit stations, is intended to serve as a blueprint for new landscaping and public amenities along a five-mile stretch between 79th Street and the I-10 freeway. Per a presentation from the Department of City Planning, the goals of project include 1) the creation of a multi-modal corridor hospitable to automobiles, pedestrians cyclists and transit passengers and 2) the implementation of coordinated streetscape elements along the boulevard, making for a lively environment that is attractive to shoppers.

http://urbanize.la/post/envisioning-...shaw-boulevard

[dragonsky]

TAKING HIGH-SPEED RAIL UNDERGROUND

The California High-Speed Rail is starting its first underground project to accommodate trains passing through Downtown Fresno. Construction will eventually impact traffic on Highway 180 in the coming months.

Heavy machinery is in place for a project that will give the downtown area a major facelift. A two-mile long Fresno trench must be dug to fit through a Highway 180 passageway. The High-Speed Rail route will begin to dip near Roeding Park along the union pacific tracks.

"Between Olive and Belmont that's where we start getting depressed. We go underneath this whole area and we come back a little bit north of Stanislaus," said Hugo Mejia, Design and Construction manager.

Mejia said it will take between 18 to 24 months to dig the trench under 180, the Dry Creek Canal, as well as a Union Pacific Spur track.

"The trench is 45 feet deep or so going underneath these facilities you see here."

Caltrans crews are also in the midst of moving a two and a half mile stretch of Highway 99 near Clinton about 100 feet to the west. But the LA Times reports the project is behind schedule and over budget-- needing an additional $35 million more from the state.

http://abc30.com/news/taking-high-sp...8/#videoplayer

[dragonsky]

Crenshaw/LAX Line construction summary for August

There is lots happening up and down the alignment of the 8.5-mile light rail project between Exposition and Crenshaw boulevards and the Green Line. Completion is targeted for 2019.

http://thesource.metro.net/2016/08/1...ry-for-august/