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Metro began with these options, but will likely recommend only one or two of these routes | Image provided by Metro
The time is nearing for Metro to announce what they recommend should be the mode of transit for the Westside Extension. Will it be a subway down Wilshire Blvd.? Down Santa Monica Blvd. to Wilshire? Both? Just buses?
Metro is keeping a tight lid on what these recommendations are until further notice. Until then, you can join their Facebook group to get updates and attend the meetings in September (listed below) to learn more and voice your opinion (for background on this project, check here).
The final round of public meetings for the Alternatives Analysis Study will provide the public with an opportunity to review the Study recommendations prior to presentation to the Metro Board of Directors. The meetings are scheduled as follows:
City of Santa Monica:
Wednesday, September 3, 6 – 8pm
Santa Monica Public Library, Auditorium, 1st Floor
601 Santa Monica Bl, Santa Monica
Served by Metro Lines 4, 20, 33, 333, 720 and Santa Monica Big Blue Bus Lines 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10. Validated vehicle and bike parking is available.
City of West Hollywood:
Thursday, September 4, 6 – 8pm
Plummer Park
7377 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood
Served by Metro Line 4. Free vehicle and bike parking is available at the location.
City of Beverly Hills:
Saturday, September 6, 2 – 4 pm
Beverly Hills Public Library – Auditorium, 2nd Floor
444 N Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills
Served by Metro Lines 4, 14, 16, 704. Free 2-hour parking available in the adjacent structure.
Wilshire/Fairfax area:
Monday, September 8, 6 – 8pm
Los Angeles County Museum of Art West - Terrace Room, 5th Floor
5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles
Served by Metro lines 20, 720, 920, 217, 780. Validated vehicle parking is available in the Museum’s 6th Street underground garage. Enter from 6th and Ogden
Westwood area:
Wednesday, September 10, 6 – 8 pm
Westwood Presbyterian Church
10822 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles
Served by Metro Lines 20, 720, 920. Free parking available at the location.
Metro has completed three rounds of community meetings — in October 2007, January/February 2008 and May 2008. Based on the analysis and public input received at these meetings, Metro has identified the alternatives to be recommended for further study through an Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement.
Please join us to review the recommendations and receive a status report on the Study and potential schedule for future steps. Content presented at these meetings will be identical, so make sure to attend at the time and location most convenient for you.
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Wow, a useful subway, in LA, that would be amazing.
I heard a rumor that they tried this before but Santa Monica and Beverly Hills blocked it because they didn't want "common people" (read:poor) coming to their part of town. Is there any truth to this?
The next step is having the subway open late enough that you can ride them home from the bar when you're wasted.
Now that most people in SaMo and Bev(Mo)Hills are stuck in traffic like the rest of us they are beginning to see the light.
Thank you,
James
If it's regular bus service, on regular surface streets, it will fail flat out. And calling it Rapid or Dash won't make it any faster when traffic is heavy.
Any above ground solution, such as a bus expressway or light rail, will run into serious right-of-way and (probably) eminent domain issues. Never mind the increased chance of death for pedestrians and drivers who ignore the crossing gate. I guess an elevated train would limit the latter, but create it's own issues and raise costs considerably.
So in the end it seems a subway is the best way to go, not that it doesn't have it's own HUGE issues (expense, time to build, business disruption during construction, etc). But when it's all done, it will give the region a solution for the future, rather than shoe-horning in something from the past.
"Never mind the increased chance of death for pedestrians and drivers who ignore the crossing gate."
It is for these people we have the Darwin Awards - http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/
Cheers,
James
I heard somewhere that the ground near the beach is not strong enough to support a subway underground. Is there any truth to this ?
BTW: Stupid people will figure out how to get killed by mass transit weather it's above ground or below ground.
Man dies after being hit by subway train in Los Angeles
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-subway7-2008aug07,0,388565.story
I think its pretty simple. You might die if you run a red light or go around crossing gates. If you can't understand this, you should die before you take somebody else with you.
Everyone would love a subway. that would be grand. But ill take any improvement to what we have.
Actually Obama's V.P. choice knows what it is.
I'm all for the subway alternatives too, db, but you can't let ignorance and law-defiance determine the course of actions. That's like saying that they shouldn't build toasters, because somebody could drop one in the bath and die.
Could it happen, yeah. Will it happen, probably. Am I giving up my toaster, no. But there's nothing like bolding up text to work a good scaremonger into a conversation. And, at least somebody's thinking of the children.
And QuietTristan, that's not true. There isn't going to be a stop at the beach itself. The maps above show the last station at 4th street. Next time you're down at the pier, look at the bluff. That's solid rock they'll be digging in.
The bluff is mostly sandstone as is most of Santa Monica. There was a good amount of shift down there during the Northridge Quake. You can build there but you cannot cut corners.
James
Actually, I'm not as concerned about the dipshits who ignore the crossing gate as much as I'm concerned about anyone else involved in the accident, including passengers. Saying "He deserved it" doesn't get the system back and running any quicker after an accident.
And I'm not saying light rail is necessarily a bad idea or that deaths (that one's for you Jeremy) will be prevented by any final choice, only that any increased danger to pedestrian or surface-level traffic needs to be seriously considered when making choices.
I'm certainly no expert on the pros and cons of light rail. My entire experience with them here in L.A. is watching the Gold Line travel down the middle of the 210 or on the elevated tracks near Chinatown. Folks who live along the Blue Line are probably better able to answer questions about how it affects their neighborhoods when trains run at surface level.
And yea, I am concerned about the kids. And little old ladies. And even stupid idiots, a little.
Actually the little kids have better common sense around railroad tracks than adults do. About 89% or so percent of people involved in Blue Line accidents were adults.
I'm 100% pro-subway [b]BUT[/b] (I too just wanted to try out the bold HTML)imo while subway to the sea is a cute moniker it's really a poor use of dollars. Going as far as Westwood/UCLA is enough. WEHO, Beverly Center and Century City all attract huge numbers of drivers but unfortunately it's tough to kill so many birds with one stone. An off the wall NIMBY route would be up 3rd to Santa Monica Bl. That route could hit the Grove, Park La Brea, the Bev center and CC. I suppose though UCLA is the neediest destination so maybe scrap the CC part. I don't know if I see the utility of a straight down Wilshire route.
to do bold in the comments, you must use carrots, not brackets. Like this:
<b>bold me!!!!</b>
Thank's Zach!!
I disagree, Pabst. Santa Monica is a nightmare to drive around on a weekend and honestly I will avoid going there (and spending my money) because of the traffic on the way there. Having a subway would be very helpful.
Though for me, what would be more helpful is some kind of elevated route over the 405, but I can dream. But I suppose we should be taking our thoughts to the community meetings.
People need some fucking SENSE. Think about the Pablos, Joses, and Marias that travel all the way Eatside to Westside, and back, every single day to raise your kids, clean your plates, park your cars, build your structures, etc. Listen to what they have to go through on a regular basis, and trust me, if you won't fix/build any Mass transit after hearing that, then your a racist who prefers to keep their areas gentrified than to help the entirety of Los Angeles.
I think you should have bolded racist Alex.
Purp -- if you want to blame somebody for killing the subway system in WLA for the last 20 years, you can thank Congressman Henry Waxman. He blocked federal funding to continue the subway line down Wilshire. He only recently ended his opposition.
I don't understand why metro doesn't ever seem to consider overhead trains or monorails for these projects. IMHO it seems that it would be cheaper than tunneling everywhere. I know in some cities they are considered an eyesore, but you only have look at the relatively new one in Bangkok or the incredibly beautiful one they want to build in Paris to see that that doesn't have to be the case.