Results tagged “westsideextension”

Metro has intimated that they'll be voting on a preliminary line for their proposed Wilshire extension later next year, and hopes to connect their "current terminus in Koreatown to the Westside," explains MetroRider LA. But where the stops will be are still very much in flux; "one of the stations along the line is still kept as optional: Wilshire Boulevard and Crenshaw Boulevard."

THEATRE: The Company of Angels and The Management in NYC present the West Coast premiere of The Chalk Boy tonight at the Alexandria Hotel in downtown LA. Set in a small town, the story focuses on the relationship between four girls. “They struggle with faith, friendship, sex, the occult, algebra, and the disappearance of . . . The Chalk Boy. This is a deathly black comedy that punches as hard as your high school bully.”

       

For about a year Metro has been meeting with the public over the Westside Extension Project (they have a Facebook group too), usually dubbed as the "Subway to the Sea." In the Fall of 2007 Metro met with the public to talk about initial conceptual designs. Metro planners came back to the public in the Winter with 17 options (or alternatives as they call them) which included light rail, aerial rail, bus rapid transit and subway among them. Then in the late Spring, they focused the routes down into a set of seven options including two options that legally must stay through the process to the end: no build and transit system maintenance (improvements at the street level).

Here's one of the maps that will be seen at the upcoming Westside Extension meetings that Metro will be holding in September. Metro won't say what routes/alternatives have made the cut, but we do know this: the above map shows all four remaining subway possibilities from last May and all four might remain as possibilities.

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?

Funding is the hurdle for good public transportation projects in Los Angeles. A bill that is currently making its way through the state legislature would allow Metro to then vote on a proposal to increase LA County's sale tax. And all signs for Metro approving it seem to be a "go." Then, a third voting party would have to approve it: voters, who would see it on the November ballot.

The Westside Extension effort, commonly dubbed as the "Subway to the Sea," went social networking/Web 2.0 style a few weeks ago with a group on Facebook. This is the first time a specific project has done outreach like this and word on the transit street is that more project managers may be doing more of this in the future.

Metro’s Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), which was just released this morning, takes a look ahead about 20-25 years down the road to determine what the county’s residents will need in terms of transportation options to get around the county. It covers public transportation, some biking, highways and goods movement.

Speaking of that 14-car pile-up this morning on the 101 freeway, how about this fact via the Daily Breeze? There's a near $11-billion price "cost to society" due to car crashes according to a study called "Crashes: What's the Cost to Society?"

An Urban & Environmental Planner friend of mine in New York City believes that when you build bigger and beefier streets, all you do is build increased traffic congestion. "Build it and they will come," he would say. Today, Steve Hymon in his weekly Road Sage column explores the subject by extension of the Pico/Olympic plan, where city officials are planning to begin adjusting the two busy arteries to act like one-way streets starting March 8.

At last week's meeting between Metro and the public about the Westside extension, Metro said that a subway (or subways) could be built and finished in five years.

Last night, a packed room of community members at LACMA listened attentively to Metro present nineteen options to serve the Westside. This first in a series of three public input meetings (two more meetings next week) was exciting -- wheels are in motion to get Los Angeles moving, even if that reality be around ten years from now.