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ChineseDowntown Connector picture report
[tags]los angeles, mta, downtown los angeles, light rail, downtown connector, transit coalition[/tags]
About 70 people turned out to Metro’s lunchtime meeting for the Regional Connector alternatives analysis at the Central Library on Tuesday. The meeting room was a tad too small for the crowd, which spilled over into the hallway.
This was the first of two meetings. The next one is 6-8 tonight at the Japanese American National Museum. Map and transit access are available here. Public comments on the projects are accepted through November 21. The addresses are also listed at the aforementioned link.
Mr. Controversy himself, Damien Goodmon, gave his two minutes on how the project should be built. He used the two minutes well, as he stated a case for the downtown connector to be built with four tracks because the project ridership for interlined trains would have ridership that may require headways of less than a minute. He also suggested the project area be expanded south to at least Washington Boulevard, to allow grade-separated service on Flower Street.
Oh, and the reason the photo looks like this is not editorial commentary against Mr. Goodmon. It was just taken with a camera phone-grade lens.
Representing the Transit Coalition, and possibly himself, is Whitman Lam. He, like just about every speaker there, favored an underground extension of the train. The Coalition’s Bart Reed and art gallery proprietor/transit supporter Bert Green were also in the audience.
See, Lam’s photo came out bad, too.
The map of the downtown study area.
Light rail, the logical and almost unanimously preferred alternative.
Oh hell no. In other words, Metro must still consider a bus rapid transit connection as part of its alternatives analysis. Some features of BRT include greatly enhancing transit ridership by forcing two extra boardings to take the bus and connect with the rail at Union Station or 7th Street Metro Center, and added service by duplicating Metro’s local bus and LADOT’s DASH grid. Despite these benefits, the Central Library meeting attendants were cool to BRT.
Discussion
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Please keep discussions civil: exercise Troll Controll.
Nice report Wad.
Very nice report. Cheers.
I’m going to the meeting tonight.
You left out the benefit of racial inclusiveness for the BRT. Because only rich white people ride the train.
LOL, Don.
I wonder, if/when this is built, how many BRU “organizers” will use it instead of the Purple Line to get to Metro Board meetings … to scream how “no one of color uses rail”.
For your consideration, a realistic answer to connector systems, an elevated strategy which is readily built into structures and makes no contribution to additional surface congestion: http://www.prtstrategies.com
As one of the LAST white people riding the Blue Line, I hear U Kimberly. That Blue Line has gotten so racist!
Why not convert the Red Line tunnels to High Platform Light Rail (same loading guage as the Gold, Blue and Green Lines) and then hook the lines up so that any train (Save for the current Breda Red Line cars which we can sell to a number of cities) can go on a multiple of paths, including Pico/Staples Center to Pershing Square.
Erik: That’s basically impossible unless we want to shut down the system for a few years (even the thought of re-configuring Metro Center gives me a migraine), and at any rate, I don’t want to be riding a lower-capacity LRT vehicle to Hollywood at rush-hour. Of all things, even the Green Line is getting overcrowded at rush hour!
Good to see that so many favor an underground connector. The play by Mr. Controversy to move the project zone south was actually quite clever. It would be nice to have that chunk of the Blue line underground, but it’ll have to wait awhile. At least until after we finish the subway to Pinks.
Is there any other route except Flower & First Streets. This provides service to the new Grand Ave Project where the station can be built into the project and with a wide 1st street and city county land on the north side of 1st St where the line can run. Through the narrow section of 1st St east of San Pedro through little Tokyo to Alameda the line can go underground or 1st can be a pedestrian only mall.
Of course if the line was underground the full route it would be faster and cause less congestion.
Why would any other route even be considered?
Alan Fishel
we need the breda redline cars. it would be crazy to sell the wonderfull cars just build the el platforms over the street like chicago for the purple line. and forget about them people the scream eye sore .gas prices are too high listen at mentle ill laws . SORE EYES ARE SICK LAW MAKERS. forget
about sore eye when we got to move people in this city. modern freeway contreat pillars with rail looks nice
we cant keep fooling around ecery town in this contry one day might come to a hault. this war and oil and every citys buss fleet will be in line waiting for feual and los angeles if not careful in compleating building the rail lines might be in line with new york chicago and other big city buss fleet’s that’s haulted. i know youre thinking about hybrig powred buses they will have their troubles with their feuals too. electric rail for los angeles is the way to go. hell no with bussways wigh feual price ses can backrupt the mta. look at gas price ses today
why yes! make the subway to the sea partly elevated - within the borders of Beverly Hills. Just what Rodeo Drive deserves.
Johnny wrote:
The play by Mr. Controversy to move the project zone south was actually quite clever. It would be nice to have that chunk of the Blue line underground, but it’ll have to wait awhile. At least until after we finish the subway to Pinks.
The downtown connector may be a project that gets green-lighted out of a strict operational need.
As it is, the Blue Line has ridership that warrants full grade separation. It wasn’t expected to do this well. Sharing tracks with an equally busy Expo Line, one that is scheduled for completion in two years, is going to need some kind of grade separation. Either put the Flower Tracks underground, or build overpasses or underpasses for the crossing streets.