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ChineseDowntown Connector alternatives analysis
[tags]los angeles, mta, blue line, expo line, gold line, light rail, downtown los angeles[/tags]
Possible alignments of a downtown Los Angeles connector to link the Metro Blue and Expo lines with the Gold Line.
Credit: Metro
Metro’s plate is pretty full with short- and long-term expansion plans. The Gold Line to East L.A. and the first phase of the Expo Line are under construction. The transit agency is conducting meetings for expanding services to the Westside and along Crenshaw Boulevard. Even the Orange Line is expanding from Warner Center to Chatsworth.
And now comes the Downtown Connector.
Transit advocates have been pushing for this, although there’s no money for it in the short term. Even its long-term prospects are sketchy, since more Metro board members would perceive this project as a second subway for downtown with no benefit to outlying areas.
The connector has merit — and necessity — going for it. When Expo Line opens, it will create a bottleneck at 7th Street/Metro Center that will make for very crowded platforms, trains running back-to-back and turning vehicles around in a very short time. Plus, as some of the alignments suggest, the north and east extensions serve important destinations in downtown: a cluster of fine arts venues, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, the Grand Avenue Project, the Civic Center and Little Tokyo. Best of all, Metro would eliminate one to two transfers as trains can now be through-routed. This allows for combinations of runs from Long Beach and the Westside to Pasadena and East L.A.
Keep in mind that an alternatives analysis is not a slam dunk for another subway. Alternatives include doing nothing, running the rail lines above ground, or even “connecting buses.”
Two meetings are scheduled for downtown Los Angeles in November.
- Tuesday, November 6, 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Central Library Meeting Room A, 630 W. 5th St.
Transit access: Metro Red/Purple and Blue lines; Rapid lines 720, 740, 745 and 760; and all local lines 1-99 and express lines 400-499; all LADOT DASH downtown lines; Foothill Transit Silver Streak; Montebello Bus Lines 40 (east and west) and 50; Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus Line 10; and Torrance Transit Line 2.
- Wednesday, November 7, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.
Japanese American National Museum, 369 E. First St.
Transit access: Metro lines 30-31-330, 40 and 42; and LADOT DASH Downtown line A.
Metro is also accepting comments in lieu of public appearances. Comments must be received by November 21, and become part of the public record.
Written comments should be sent to:
Dolores Roybal Saltarelli, Project Manager
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
One Gateway Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90012-2952
Send comments via e-mail or a form.
See also:
- The Transit Coalition forum thread on the Downtown Connector (registration required to post)
Discussion
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Please keep discussions civil: exercise Troll Controll.
Why doesn’t the connector form a loop around Downtown, like it does in San Diego? Up Flower, down 1st, then down Alameda to meet up with the Blue line at Washington?
The Circle Line in London in wonderful.
Glasgow’s circle is nicknamed “A Clockwork Orange”.
A circle line downtown is a wonderful idea as is a circle line between Red and Purple Line and Fairfax and La Cienega.
Tim, one reason why there’s no loop in downtown L.A. is because the southeast is primarily industrial, and the ridership potential would be too low to make rail feasible.
Metro had to cancel Line 58, the Alameda Street bus, because ridership was non-existent. If people aren’t taking a bus, there’s no reason why rail will turn things around.
Industrial areas are very hard to redevelop. Unless market pressure forces land prices so high that other uses are more feasible, or the industrial areas have been abandoned, those areas are going to remain industrial zones.
Tim, and anyone else, these are questions that you should — and could — address with Metro. Go to one of the two meetings or mail a comment directly.
Well the beauty of this line is that it doesn’t all have to be in subway. Some streets are wide enough and land-uses are there to allow large portions of this - 7th/Metro to Alameda Street via Bunker Hill- corridor to operate as an elevated line and then take advantage of the Bunker Hill topography to bring back down into a tunnel to connect with 7th Street/Metro Center station.
Add to that, that 3 of the 5 county supervisors (Molina, Knabe and Antonovich) are very much in favor of it and know that this is not another Downtown subway corridor so there are factors that this may help the connector get built.
As a side note, this project is just a primary piece right now, in the future additional “connectors” can be added to replace or add capacity to existing LRT corridors such as replacing the Blue Line corridor with a subway/elevated line trhough Convention Center, South Park and Fashion District.
Thanks guys. I did e-mail that suggestion to them already. I still think it would work. Along this street there are numerous destinations, including the Toy Factory Lofts, the Greyhound bus terminal, the American apparel factory, etc. This industrial area is getting less and less industrial as more residential comes in.