Los Angeles MTA

[redspork02]

Originally Posted by saiholmes

Los Angeles Area Metro Developments and Discussion.

LA Metro, MTA now:



LA Metro, MTA in 3 years:



The Dream (By Damien Goodman)



Metrolink

LA Metro Stats:


anyone have a metrolink map, and LA MTA stats? current stations, milage, etc. i remember seeing it recently. also, stats on the two new lines.

Officials Deal With Falling Concrete at L.A. Train Station
LOS ANGELES, February 19, 2007 - A flaw in the construction of the Metro Gold Line's elevated station in Chinatown is causing small chunks of concrete to dislodge and fall onto the sidewalk below, it was reported Monday.


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No one has been hit by the debris in the 18 months since it was first noticed, but officials acknowledge there is a potential danger to pedestrians.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority recently agreed to make the repairs, although it's unclear when that might be done.

"Until we know what the cause is, we can't really come up with a fix," said Rick Thorpe, the MTA's chief capital management officer.

Nets have been hung under the elevated track from Union Station to Chinatown to catch the falling rubble pending repairs. Thorpe is sure however that the track is safe to ride.

The problem seems to lie in the joints between concrete slabs, where there is an allowance for movement in the case of an earthquake.

Transit officials estimate the repairs could cost as little as $50,000, a small fraction of the railway's $450 million price tag.

In August 2005, two years after the Gold Line opened, transit workers noticed fallen concrete, after spotting a child holding chunks of it in her hands, according to internal MTA documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

The concrete had fallen more than 16 feet from the bridge, shattering on the sidewalk below.

The MTA temporarily rerouted Gold Line trains onto a single track, causing minor service disruptions to as many as 18,000 passengers on an average workday.

The concrete right of way was built by Modern Continental Co., the Massachusetts company that was the contractor for Boston's Big Dig highway tunnel. A motorist was killed in that tunnel last year when her car was crushed by falling concrete ceiling panels.

Thorpe has hired an independent engineer to investigate. One question is whether the structure was built according to specification.

[klamedia]

The only real solution will have to be a county proposal and subsequent bond or however you pay for these things.......cannot count on the state.

[saiholmes]

Mayor wants 405 project in fast lane
In a drive to get state transportation officials to fund a long-delayed freeway-widening plan, Villaraigosa asks motorists to speak out.
By Andrew Blankstein and Charles Proctor, Times Staff Writers
February 20, 2007



Los Angeles political leaders on Monday vowed an all-out campaign over the next week to persuade state officials to fund a long-sought widening of the 405 Freeway over the Sepulveda Pass, saying the traffic-clogged Westside is in desperate need of relief.

The project, which would add a carpool lane on the northbound 405 between the 10 and 101 freeways, was left off the list of freeway improvements announced last week by the California Transportation Commission.

Although commission staff recommended a similar expansion project on Interstate 5 between the 605 Freeway and the Orange County line, Los Angeles officials were at a loss to explain why the funded projects didn't include creating the lane on the 405 — especially after years of planning and delays.

The lobbying campaign kicked off Monday afternoon at the Federal Building on Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa darting through traffic — on foot.

The mayor twice waded out into cars stopped at the Gayley Avenue intersection to hand out yellow and orange fliers with the phone number and e-mail address of the state Transportation Commission.

"Hey there, how are you?" Villaraigosa asked as he appeared at the driver's side window of a black SUV, surrounded by a gaggle of cameras. He handed the startled couple inside a flier. "Contact the CTC."

The mayor had less luck with the driver of a black Ford Mustang. In spite of the mayor's pleas, the woman refused to roll down her window. More than 300,000 cars cram through the Sepulveda Pass daily. And long before — and often long after — the traditional morning and evening commutes, an unending line of taillights snakes across the Santa Monica Mountains from the Westside to the San Fernando Valley.

"There is hardly a time, except in the overnight hours, when the 405 is not jampacked," Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said. "There is no question, on the merits, that this project is the most deserving in this county, and it's got to rank in the top two or three highway projects in the state."

John Barna, executive director of the commission, could not be reached for comment Monday.

But last week, he defended the commission staff's choices, saying the bond money should not be dispensed according to how many people live in an area but on the projects that will do the most to relieve congestion in an overall region. The staff, he said, chose projects based on "readiness for construction, demonstrable congestion relief and connectivity benefits" and "geographic balance."

The recommendations were for the first $2.8 billion of the $19.9 billion in borrowing that voters approved for transportation. The 405 project — at a cost of nearly $1 billion — could make the cut in the future.

Commission staff recommended nearly four dozen projects across the state for the first round. Big local projects include adding a carpool lane to a section of the 10 Freeway in the San Gabriel Valley and installing a network of carpool lanes connecting the 22, 405 and 605 freeways in northern Orange County.

The 405 carpool lane project would fill the "missing link," by creating continuous carpool lanes from Orange County to the northern end of the Valley, local transportation officials and political leaders said.

Backers say that if funding appropriations for the project are delayed, the state could miss out on $130 million in federal transportation matching funds.

Villaraigosa, along with city, county, state and federal officials, said at a news conference in Westwood that under the commission's proposal, Los Angeles residents weren't receiving their fair share of the funds and hinted that voters would remember that when additional transportation bonds came up on the ballot.

"If they can't fulfill their promise, it's going to be a long, long time before voters in Los Angeles County will commit themselves to any more dollars," Supervisor Gloria Molina, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said as traffic buzzed in the background.

For commuters, the widened 405 can not come soon enough.

Michael Backes, 52, of Glassell Park knows the nightmarish commute over the Sepulveda Pass well. He did it for 10 years from his home in Sherman Oaks to his job in Brentwood before, fed up with sitting in traffic for up to an hour, he moved to a home near Dodger Stadium.

Backes recalled taking winding side streets to get around the 405 in the evening. He even tried driving up a dusty dirt road at the Franklin Canyon Reservoir. "It wasn't so bad," he remembered as he munched on his lunch at a Whole Foods on Gayley Avenue, "if you didn't mind looking like you got out of a rally car event at the end."

(INFOBOX BELOW)

Q & A

Why are officials pushing so hard for widening the 405 Freeway north between the 10 and the 101 freeways when there are so many transportation needs across the region?

This stretch of the 405 has long been one of the most congested in the region, and the widening to allow for carpool lanes was long planned. The 101-405 interchange is generally considered to be the busiest freeway crossing in the nation.

People keep saying traffic in the Westside is particularly bad. How bad is it?

It's difficult to compare one region to another when it comes to the worst traffic. But there are several indicators to suggest Westside traffic is more brutal than most. Population on the Westside has jumped 23% since 1990, compared with a 6% increase for Los Angeles as a whole. Job growth has exploded too, especially along the 405 corridor, in Century City as well as Santa Monica. Only about 30% of those workers live on the Westside, according to a Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority study. That leaves more than 300,000 people a day commuting to the area.

Has traffic been increasing?

Traffic on the 405 at Culver Boulevard increased to 268,126 vehicles a day in 2005, up from 246,273 a day in 2000, according to the Southern California Assn. of Governments. MTA research shows that during the evening rush on Wilshire Boulevard near the 405 Freeway, it can take as long as 19 minutes to drive just one mile.

Isn't there already work being done on the 405?

Yes. Besides improvements to the 101-405 interchange, carpool lanes are being built south of the 10 Freeway. Officials want continuous carpool lanes on the 405 from Irvine to the northern tip of the San Fernando Valley.

Source: Times reports

[godblessbotox]

how much would it cost to slap some elevated rail down the middle of that thing?

[Elsongs]

Originally Posted by redspork02

The concrete right of way was built by Modern Continental Co., the Massachusetts company that was the contractor for Boston's Big Dig highway tunnel. A motorist was killed in that tunnel last year when her car was crushed by falling concrete ceiling panels.

O...M...G...

[Elsongs]

Originally Posted by godblessbotox

how much would it cost to slap some elevated rail down the middle of that thing?

A lot. But as long as Modern Continental Co. of Boston doesn't get the contract, it'll be fine.

[phattonez]

That second map just showed me something interesting that I never took note of before. Shouldn't the Expo Line increase ridership on the Harbor Transitway drastically? There would no longer be a need for a street running section. Just one more step for converting that thing to heavy rail.

[klamedia]

I don't understand your question.

[Elsongs]

Originally Posted by phattonez

That second map just showed me something interesting that I never took note of before. Shouldn't the Expo Line increase ridership on the Harbor Transitway drastically? There would no longer be a need for a street running section. Just one more step for converting that thing to heavy rail.

The Exposition line does not directly transfer with the Harbor Transitway. While it looks like it does on the map, they run closely parallel but do not share any stations. Assuming they build the USC station (it's currently an "Optional Station" in the plans), then the 37th St. Harbor Transitway station would be located about two blocks east of the USC stop.

The Exposition line is not designed to run as heavy rail as the non-Exposition portions run on Flower Street.

[phattonez]

One of the reasons for low ridership on the Harbor Transitway is that it does not go all the way into downtown. If the buses were to go to an Expo Line station, then passengers could take the transitway and then use light rail to get to downtown.

I know that Expo is not heavy rail, but if the section to the east became heavily used enough, it would warrant the conversion.

[saiholmes]

Hit-and-run on L.A. highway projects jeopardizes voter confidence
February 22, 2007

Sacramento — Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa kept chanting three numbers like a mantra Tuesday as he lobbied the Capitol for more highway bond money.

Every few seconds, it seemed, the mayor would remind anyone listening that L.A. County houses 28% of the state's population, endures 33% of its traffic congestion, but is being earmarked a measly 12% of the initial $2.8 billion being distributed from the $19.9-billion transportation bond approved in November by California voters.

Actually, it's worse than that for L.A. Only $4.5 billion total is available from this particular bond account, designed for "corridor mobility improvement" — like adding a carpool lane on the northbound 405 between the 10 and 101 freeways.

The 405, with 300,000 daily commuters, is the nation's most congested freeway, Villaraigosa says. But that carpool project didn't make the Sacramento bureaucrats' initial cut.

The mayor's numbers are significant, but I also have some others that should be persuasive for anyone with an ounce of political sense:

• L.A. County cast 24% of the total statewide yes votes for the transportation bond, Proposition 1B.

• L.A. was particularly supportive, with 65.5% voting for the measure. It passed statewide with 61.4% of the vote.

• Lawmakers representing L.A. County occupy 33% of the Assembly seats and sit at 35% of the Senate desks.

• Two of the three most powerful politicians in state government live in L.A.: Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez and Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The third man — Democratic Senate leader Don Perata of Oakland — also is upset with the proposed initial bond disbursements because they shortchange the Bay Area.

So all this points to a political reality instinctively understood by everyone except, apparently, some officials at the California Transportation Commission. The reality is that L.A. and big urban areas have clout because it's the way the system is set up. One person, one vote, and all that.

When something doesn't go L.A.'s way, it flexes its muscle. That doesn't win friends and may even stir up old hatreds. But occasionally it's OK to be a bully, especially when someone's holding back your rightful share of bond money.

The transportation commission staff Friday recommended against initially funding the 405 carpool lane and other L.A. freeway projects, including widening Interstate 5 from the 605 to the Orange County line.

You couldn't blame voters if they felt victimized by a bait and switch scam.

They were all but promised 405 congestion relief in TV and radio ads last fall. Schwarzenegger, Villaraigosa and Nuñez cited the Sepulveda Pass as a prime example of a bottleneck that could be loosened by the bond. In L.A., the 405 was a poster freeway for the bond campaign.

The MTA was pushing hard for the carpool lane, a necessity to get transportation commission project approval.

When it didn't show on the commission staff's list of recommended projects, officials offered lame reasoning. Mainly, they expressed "confusion" over when the project would be ready to build. They wanted only projects ready by 2009 and thought the 405 couldn't start until 2011.

They didn't do their homework. This project had been fast-tracked by the governor and Legislature. Construction could start in 2009. Indeed, if it isn't begun by then, the project could lose $130 million in federal funding. L.A.'s bond money request is for $730 million.

" 'Confusion.' That's what bugs me," says new Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the budget subcommittee on transportation. "Pick up the phone. 'Hello, MTA, when is the project scheduled to start?' How long does that take?"

But the commission comment that got my attention was from Executive Director John Barna, who told reporters last week that "we've avoided falling into the trap of fair share based on population." The goals were "geographic balance," he said, along with construction readiness, "demonstrable congestion relief and connectivity benefits."

I don't profess to know what most of that means. But I do know he fell right into a political pressure cooker juiced by population.

Bay Area politicians also are perturbed. The commission staff recommended less than half the bond money that Caltrans had urged.

Their cause celebre is a recommended $175 million outlay to build a Highway 101 bypass around tiny Willits in Mendocino County. Willits (population 5,100 at last count) is roughly 140 miles north of San Francisco.

Schwarzenegger, Perata and Nuñez have sent letters to the commission — filled with gubernatorial appointees — asking that its staff be ordered back to the drawing board. It doesn't have much time. Proposition 1B requires the commission to authorize the initial projects by March 1.

One can sympathize somewhat with the staffers. They've received $11.3 billion worth of funding requests for a $4.5-billion pot. But the Willits bypass?

The urban political powers will probably win this fight. They hold the best cards. The bond money ultimately must be appropriated by the Legislature and Nuñez is threatening to block it.

The speaker also is talking about proposing a $5-billion supplemental bond. But good luck talking L.A. or Bay Area voters into borrowing more until they see whether 1B was a rip-off.

"The will of the voters has to be respected," says David Ackerman, a veteran highway construction lobbyist. "If you break faith with the voters, it will be like JetBlue. Here, the voters are the customers."

In fact, this is a lesson that applies to all those $37 billion in Legislature-generated public works bonds passed by voters in November.

There cannot be a complete disconnect between campaign promises and a politically tone-deaf bureaucracy. Or the next significant number will be zero: the number of statewide bonds approved in the future.

[saiholmes]

Funds demanded for 10/605 interchange
By Fred Ortega Staff Writer

BALDWIN PARK - The morning traffic along the San Bernardino (10) Freeway on Friday was not quite as heavy as on most days. But the frustration expressed by the state and local officials gathered on a bridge overlooking the freeway was directed at a different type of gridlock: the legislative kind.

The politicians were protesting last week's decision by state officials against funding a $70.5 million upgrade to the 10 and San Gabriel River (605) freeway interchange. The proposed upgrade would create a flyover transition from the southbound 605 to the eastbound 10.

The project was among several in Los Angeles County turned down by staffers with the California Transportation Commission, the state agency tasked with disbursing $2.8 billion in freeway improvement projects from the $20 billion approved by voters last November.

State Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, accused the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of not doing enough to promote the interchange project. She pointed to a legislative alert issued by the MTA over the weekend that argued for funding of a $730 million car-pool lane project on the San Diego (405) Freeway, but did not mention the 10/605 interchange.

"We are outraged our own transportation authority removed this interchange from their priority list," said Romero, the Senate majority leader. She added that the omission of the 10/605 interchange from the MTA memo was a sign of what she called a "great divide" between the politically powerful Westside of Los Angeles and eastern county areas including the San Gabriel Valley.

"We are asking for an end to this great divide," Romero said. "We are not B-list players with B-list needs."

L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina, who chairs the MTA Board, said the agency is fighting equally hard for both the 10/605 interchange and the 405 carpool lane.

"We need both," said Molina. "While \ is no more important than any other region of the state, we are as important."

Assemblyman Ed Hernandez, chairman of the San Gabriel Valley Legislative Caucus, said an upgrade to the 10/605 interchange is imperative.

"The amount of traffic coming through here is expected to increase by 30 percent in coming years and this interchange already has accident rates

27 percent higher than the state average," Hernandez said.

Duarte Councilman John Fasana, who sits on the MTA board, said the authority had reduced the amount of money it was seeking for other projects rejected by the CTC staff in order to increase the chances of funding for all of the county's projects.

He added that the board is also lobbying members of the CTC directly.

"\ Esteban Torres is working really hard for all of these projects," said Fasana.

Torres, who is from West Covina, is the only representative from the San Gabriel Valley on the CTC. His last day on the commission will be Feb. 28, the day final recommendations are due. With his departure there will only be one other L.A. County representative on the commission, former Glendale Mayor Larry Zarian.

The steadily increasing traffic, he added, is expected to lead Caltrans to give the junction an "F" rating, meaning a complete breakdown in mobility, within the next few years.

Assemblyman Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, said that as a region, L.A. County voted to support the transportation bonds at a rate 3 percent higher than the rest of the state.

"It is only fair that the voters in this region see relief in their own neighborhoods," said Huff.

With 28 percent of the state's population, L.A. County is only slated to receive 12 percent of the statewide freeway funding, said West Covina Mayor Mike Touhey.

"It is taxation without representation, and it is about time for us here in the San Gabriel Valley to have ourselves an good old-fashioned tea party," he said.

[godblessbotox]

is it just me or was that percentage quoted differently in another article?

[phattonez]

I'm glad that Gloria Molina is sticking up for us. At any time of the day, the 10 around that interchange is heavily congested. We need that interchange improved and we need those carpool lanes. We can't just forget about the other important side of LA.

[solongfullerton]

^ At any given time, EVERY freeway is congested at EVERY interchange. These self righteous attitudes are hurting everyone and it makes us all look selfish. I read an article in the Times recently about how the county is just SOOOOO big that it makes it nearly impossible govern well. There are 5 county supervisors that average 2 million constituants. Not only that, a supervisor hasn't been voted out of in something like 20 years. The supervisors keep running campaigns based on the status quo and its working. It doesn't make sense. It seems that the consensus is that things are getting worse, but nothing is changing when you have the same douche bags doing the same shit they always do. I know this has mentioned here many times, mostly regarding transit, but it really can be applied towards everything in the county, WE NEED A FUCKING MASTERPLAN. We need a masterplan for transit, we need a master plan for money coming from the state and feds, we need a masterplan for affordable housing, we need a masterplan for environmental studies and related items, we need a masterplan for everything!!!!! I know there is no way to make everyone happy, but we need a mayor, supervisors, Counth chief, and city council members with enough cajones to put their greedy, pork following personal agendas aside for the sake of the city, county, and region as a whole.

[godblessbotox]

there are already master plans for transit and freeways, take a few moments and reconnect with the mta website

[solongfullerton]

Some masterplan, huh? I don't think a good masterplan would allow for all this bitching. I understand the complaining for LA's fair share of the state infrastructure bond money, but this regional bickering just makes us look bad. If a solid masterplan was in place, everyone would already know where the money was going before it is even allocated and when their turn was coming to get a piece of the pie. Trying to cut in line is selfish and accomplishes nothing.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by solongfullerton

^ At any given time, EVERY freeway is congested at EVERY interchange. These self righteous attitudes are hurting everyone and it makes us all look selfish. I read an article in the Times recently about how the county is just SOOOOO big that it makes it nearly impossible govern well. There are 5 county supervisors that average 2 million constituants. Not only that, a supervisor hasn't been voted out of in something like 20 years. The supervisors keep running campaigns based on the status quo and its working. It doesn't make sense. It seems that the consensus is that things are getting worse, but nothing is changing when you have the same douche bags doing the same shit they always do. I know this has mentioned here many times, mostly regarding transit, but it really can be applied towards everything in the county, WE NEED A FUCKING MASTERPLAN. We need a masterplan for transit, we need a master plan for money coming from the state and feds, we need a masterplan for affordable housing, we need a masterplan for environmental studies and related items, we need a masterplan for everything!!!!! I know there is no way to make everyone happy, but we need a mayor, supervisors, Counth chief, and city council members with enough cajones to put their greedy, pork following personal agendas aside for the sake of the city, county, and region as a whole.

that motherfucker is the root of all evil in LA, MIKE ANTONOVICH!

[timquinn]

Los Angeles County would be the ninth largest STATE in the country in population. In size it would rank 48th.

[phattonez]

Originally Posted by solongfullerton

^ At any given time, EVERY freeway is congested at EVERY interchange. These self righteous attitudes are hurting everyone and it makes us all look selfish. I read an article in the Times recently about how the county is just SOOOOO big that it makes it nearly impossible govern well. There are 5 county supervisors that average 2 million constituants. Not only that, a supervisor hasn't been voted out of in something like 20 years. The supervisors keep running campaigns based on the status quo and its working. It doesn't make sense. It seems that the consensus is that things are getting worse, but nothing is changing when you have the same douche bags doing the same shit they always do. I know this has mentioned here many times, mostly regarding transit, but it really can be applied towards everything in the county, WE NEED A FUCKING MASTERPLAN. We need a masterplan for transit, we need a master plan for money coming from the state and feds, we need a masterplan for affordable housing, we need a masterplan for environmental studies and related items, we need a masterplan for everything!!!!! I know there is no way to make everyone happy, but we need a mayor, supervisors, Counth chief, and city council members with enough cajones to put their greedy, pork following personal agendas aside for the sake of the city, county, and region as a whole.

How about an interchange that it always congested at every given time? That's what we're dealing with here. And it's not a self-righteous attitude. Molina sees the need for carpool lanes on the 405, but she also sees the problem out on the 10 and she says that both need to be worked on, not just one.