LOS ANGELES | Transportation News & Discussion

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by SoCalKid

I also don't see anything in the plans to specifically plan for the STC transfer

We're seeing a corollary here between the loosely parallel Wilshire/Expo pair and the loosely parallel Crenshaw/Sepulveda pair. In each case, the cheaper light rail option that made at least partial use of existing ROW's was built first.

If we were to rewind to the 1980s and the whole methane/sink hole Henry Waxman thing hadn't happened, and we had gotten the original heavy rail plan completed by 1995 or 2000, we'd be in a much different situation, since the heavy rail spines would have been built first.

It just seems like they're lobbing non-transformative light rail lines here and there (San Fernando Valley, K extension to Torrance) to make it look like they're trying when these projects have no hope of making a significant impact.

[sopas ej]

Metro has been holding community meetings for how to configure the C and K lines once the LAX connector is complete; there are three options:



- Provides direct connection to LAX/Metro Transit Center from all C and K Line Stations

- Riders from Norwalk segment of the existing C Line will get direct access to all K Line stations including Expo/Crenshaw connection to the the E Line

- Riders traveling to/from the Redondo Beach segment of the existing C Line will need to change trains at Aviation/Century Station to reach the Norwalk segment

- Riders from the Redondo Beach segment of the existing C Line will need to change trains at LAX/Metro Transit Center to reach K Line stations north of there, including Expo/Crenshaw connection to the E Line



- Provides direct connection to LAX/Metro Transit Center from all C and K Line Stations

- Riders from the Redondo Beach segment of the existing C Line will get direct access to all K Line stations including Expo/Crenshaw connection to the E Line

- Riders traveling from the Norwalk segment of the existing C Line to the Redondo Beach segment of the C Line will need to change trains at Aviation/Century Station

- Riders from the Norwalk segment of the existing C Line will need to change trains at LAX/Metro Transit Center to reach K Line stations north of there, including Expo/Crenshaw connection to the E Line



- Provides direct connection to LAX/Metro Transit Center from all K Line Stations and the Norwalk segment of the existing C Line

- No direct connection to LAX/Metro Transit Center from the Redondo Beach segment of the existing C Line

- Riders from Norwalk segment of the existing C Line will get direct access to all K Line stations, including Expo/Crenshaw connection to the E Line

- Riders traveling from existing C Line stations between Willowbrook/Rosa Parks and Aviation/LAX will have a direct connection to the Redondo Beach segment of the existing C Line

- Riders traveling from Norwalk, Lakewood Bl and Long Beach Bl stations will need to change trains at Aviation/LAX Station to reach the Redondo Beach segment of the existing C Line

When the Regional Connector was being built, Metro was debating about having one line go directly from Azusa to Santa Monica, and the other line going from East LA to Long Beach, vs. what they settled on now, which you would think would be a no-brainer. I'm glad they settled on Azusa to Long Beach and Santa Monica to East LA.

[homebucket]

Option 3 is a nonstarter to me since there is no direct connection to LAX from the Redondo Beach segment of the C Line. This line is supposed to have a future extension to Torrance (and ideally eventually Long Beach) as well, so making sure that LAX is accessible from as many locations as possible will be key.

That leaves Option 1 or Option 2. Option 2 makes the more sense to me geographically speaking, as it would keep the K Line a predominantly north-south line. It would also be great if the Inglewood Transit Connector could reach Hawthorne/Lennox somehow as well, so folks from from the Norwalk segment of the C Line can access the stadiums more readily.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Option 3 is a nonstarter to me since there is no direct connection to LAX from the Redondo Beach segment of the C Line. This line is supposed to have a future extension to Torrance (and ideally eventually Long Beach) as well, so making sure that LAX is accessible from as many locations as possible will be key.

That leaves Option 1 or Option 2. Option 2 makes the more sense to me geographically speaking, as it would keep the K Line a predominantly north-south line. It would also be great if the Inglewood Transit Connector could reach Hawthorne/Lennox somehow as well, so folks from from the Norwalk segment of the C Line can access the stadiums more readily.

Agreed, seems the most logical to me as well

[craigs]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Agreed, seems the most logical to me as well

Yeah, I'd go with Option 2 as well.

[FromSD]

I agree that Option 2 makes the most sense and Option 3 the least.

When the Green Line was originally planned, there were still a huge number of aerospace production jobs in El Segundo. The people who filled those jobs often lived in Hawthorne or further east in South LA. The Green Line was intended to provide workers in those areas with high quality public transit to their jobs in El Segundo. By the time the Green Line opened in the early '90s, however, the post cold war LA defense slump was in full swing and many of the aerospace production jobs had gone away or moved to states with cheaper labor costs. The workers left in El Segundo aerospace tended to be engineers who lived in the South Bay or further afield in the San Fernando Valley or Orange County. So the Green Line lost one of its most important reasons for being. Option 3 really captures the original purpose of the Green Line, a purpose that has been overcome by events.

Option 2 provides the best access to the north and east as well as the South Bay. It will prove even more useful after the K Line is extended south to Torrance.