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July 22, 2007
Wilshire Subway Watch: Screw You Cars! You Can't Use Wilshire Anymore!*
Citing high costs, length of time to build and other basic realities of building the "subway to the sea," Michael Balter calls for Wilshire Blvd. to be car free today in the LA Times opinion section:
First, ban all automobiles from the entire 15-mile length of the boulevard. Second, beginning at its Western Avenue station, bring the Metro Rail to street level and run it to and from the sea on two sets of rails in the center of Wilshire, which has four or more lanes down its entire length and is thus wide enough to accommodate the route. Third, create bus lanes running east and west for riders who want to make more frequent stops, leaving express service to the Metro Rail. Fourth, install protected bicycle lanes in each direction at the edges of the boulevard and provide inexpensive, self-service rent-a-bike stations every 300 yards (as in Paris) so riders can pick up a bike anywhere on Wilshire and drop it off where they like.
He might be dreaming like a Parisian (hey, he is a Paris-based journalist after all), but we like radical ideas. He should hook up with the 4th Street Bicycle Boulevard folks, who want 4th Street from Park La Brea to Hoover to be a dedicated bicycle boulevard.
*Update: Further bicycling thoughts from Paris in today's LA Times: Paris, the city of bikes?
Photo by Marshall Astor via Flickr
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As much as the Militant is pro rail, I doubt having exposed 3rd rail carrying 750 volts of juice would be a good thing to have exposed to the public.
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This is just silly.
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Not silly at all! Los Angeles, where dreams come true, should step up and do something radical! The city should stop catering to the old school thinkers and make this into a city of the truely creative, the forward thinkers and the eco-conscious.
Catering to more cars won't do. But catering to the people, all the people, to make our neighborhoods livable, walkable, bike-able, and ride-able will make this city a truely wonderful city that we all can be proud of one day.
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This is so smart. It sounds like a light-rail. It is not silly. San Francisco, Chicago, Long Island, and parts of New York City all have above-ground rail.
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This is so smart. It sounds like a light-rail. It is not silly. San Francisco, Chicago, Long Island, and parts of New York City all have above-ground rail.
So does Los Angeles Mialka. Light rail isn't silly.
Saying,
"...extending the Wilshire Boulevard Purple Line from its current terminus at Western Avenue to Santa Monica probably won't happen."
And then following with a proposal to ban all cars from Wilshire Blvd. is silly. Let's not forget that we were supposed to have a subway to the sea 20 years ago but NIMBY's...er, I mean... methane... stopped such a radical idea (aka. something that every major city has, and that is a clearly proven mode of transportation). Now, only 20 years later, these NIMBY's...er... methane's have decided that a subways is cool... let's run with that mmkay?
Furthermore, let's not even worry about researching the magic involved in transforming a 3rd rail powered heavy rail subway train coming from Union Station into a overhead wire powered light rail train once it leaves Wilshire/Western.
We've got part of a tunnel, we've got the public interest, let's lobby for the money and get a subway under Wilshire.
-Fred Camino, MetroRiderLA
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i love it.
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Just fund the damn subway. Even Zev himself said to a bunch of community leaders this weekend, "The only transit solution for Wilshire is a subway." Wilshire is to Los Angeles what Market St. is to Frisco.
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thanks for the 4th Street Bicycle Blvd. shout out...
4SBB! Live the Dream!
Wilshire as a car free road with a combination of bike, rail, bus etc. options is a great idea for Los Angeles. Probably one of the best places to start.
Now, for the bad news....transit advocates in this town can't even pull their heads out of their asses, let alone the actual city planners responsible for the infrastructure. We are nearly a half a century into some of the stupidest transportation choices ever (ex. ripping up red car lines...thinking bicycles are some silly lark etc.)....the stupidity is so deeply engrained at the point.....yipers....
Clearly, it is not "silly" to create car free public space. The fact that people view it this way is our number one problem....
Best thing is to just pretend we live in bike friendly world and just ride and ride and ride, until you convince yourself it is true....
or get hit by an agro and impatient motorist!!!
-ingrid-
http://www.4sbb.com
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Yes, why not just propose to turn all of Los Angeles into a car-free city? Surely it would be better than the cluttered car mess we have now, but it remains "silly" because it is ludicrous and will not happen for 100 million reasons, transit advocates not being one of them. The subway, on the other hand, contrary to what Balter says, does at last have a sliver of a chance, so let's not down on it now!
I would love a car-free Wilshire, but c'mon.