1. Rita Robinson, head of LADOT expressed agency
concerns in letters to Expo about safety of Overland students, saying Expo's
incorrect methodology and faulty traffic counts lead to an under-reporting of
traffic impacts in their Phase 2 DEIR.
Then the Mayor appointed Ms. Robinson to the MTA board. Although there
is no apparent change to the at-grade crossing design which puts kids and
traffic at risk, Expo spokesman Steve Polechronis said that Expo did not change
their traffic methodology in response to the LADOT complaints, they merely
added some "new" counts and will proceed by the school at-grade.
2. There will be
no federal environmental clearance, nor federal money, on Phase 2. Though MTA hired a lobbyist (the first time
ever for an individual MTA project) to go to Washington to change legislation so
Expo could use the local money already spent on Phase 1 as the match to get
federal money on Phase 2 (and they were successful), following the passage of
Measure R Expo pulled out of NEPA, the federal environmental process. That short-sighted folly was a betrayal of
Expo's commitment to seek Federal New Starts funding (federal transit matching
funds) and has doomed the project to the chronic underfunding they use as an
excuse for not grade separating. It also
makes Phase 2 ineligible for federal stimulus money, now or ever. It also removes important federal oversight
of MTA, an "agency gone wild." Lastly, it sucks up Measure R money in
front of the "Subway to the Sea."
3. The Mayor's new Chief Deputy Mayor, Jay Carson,
"retired" from Shangri-La Construction to take his city job. Shangri-La is building the LA factory for the
Ansaldobreda light rail trains. Villaraigosa led the charge to chose the
Ansaldobreda trains in spite of numerous concerns with delivery, dependability,
and design of the rail cars, and even though MTA Chief Art Leahy and three MTA
board members advised against it. Mr.
Carson, of course, will recuse himself from any (further) dealings though he
previously worked on the project.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-breda25-2009sep25,0,6538528.story
4. After fighting
the Expo project for over 15 years, Culver City passed Circulation Element 2.N
in response to community concerns about light rail safety, traffic and
neighborhood impacts. The policy prohibits at-grade light rail crossings
anywhere in Culver City and any elevated alignments adjacent to residential
uses. MTA complied and spent $54 million
to redesign an elevated Expo crossing going through Culver City that did not
previously qualify for a grade separation.
5. In answer to
complaints from residents living near Expo's proposed train maintenance yard,
the City of Santa Monica has come up with a "hybrid" proposal which
will move the yard a short distance from the planned location to create a 120
foot buffer to lessen quality of life impacts to the community—the proposed
cost would add $100-120 million to the project.
Building a subway is generally estimated to cost $100 million per
mile. NFSR and the WLA community are
asking for a ¾ mile Expo tunnel, from Overland to Sepulveda, that would solve
student/pedestrian/vehicle safety, traffic impacts, noise and other quality of
life issues. Seems like a bargain
doesn't it? Where are the bold proposals
from LA local politicians that will protect our citizens and communities?
6. Expo says it
would take "special" engineering to go underground at Overland Ave.
Because of a storm drain they may have to go down 50 feet. Really?
The Eastside Gold Line Extension has two 1.7 mile long light rail
tunnels 60 feet below Boyle Heights.
(That light rail line cost less than $900 million, 80% funded by the
federal government). The Seattle Central Link light rail is boring 180 feet
deep for two 1-mile light rail tunnels ($500 million in federal New Starts
funds). It's not about money; it's about
priorities and politics.
