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Posted by
Easy
on Sun May 18 18:59:22 2008, in response to LACMTA news and LA area events, posted by Easy on Sun Apr 27 14:21:47 2008.
edf40wrjww2msgDetail:detailStr fiogf49gjkf0d The idea of a purple line "Subway to the Sea" has been gaining momentum for years and cities on the westside like Beverly Hills and West Hollywood have been lobbying to have the subway travel through their city. This is a complete reversal from 15 years ago. West Hollywood was disappointed when the MTA recently indicated that they preferred the Wilshire alignment which meant that the subway would go through Beverly Hills and not West Hollywood. Now due to community support and favorable ridership projections the MTA appears to want BOTH the Wilshire and Santa Monica Blvd alignments.
Interestingly the Santa Monica Blvd. alignment through West Hollywood is being called the "Pink" line. I don't think that name was picked by the residents of WeHo, but they seemed to have latched onto it and from what I've seen are not offended. Of course when you call the city where you live "WeHo" you're probably not easily offended. lol
WeHo’s Subway Inches Toward Reality
Thursday, May 15, 2008 - By Ryan Gierach, West Hollywood
West Hollywood, California (Thursday, May 15, 2008) - Metro planners presented West Hollywood with good news on Monday night.
A map shows one of the two options presented in which the subway would run beneath Santa Monica Boulevard.
To their own surprise, the proposed subway expansion makes better sense to planners when a Santa Monica Boulevard route is added to the traditionally better-preferred Wilshire Boulevard route.
A crowd of 75 attendees listened in rapture while Long Range Transportation planners explained how a Santa Monica spur running from the current Hollywood/Highland Red Line Station hooking up with a Wilshire line south of West Hollywood would not only increase ridership significantly, but also provides enough in travel time improvements to give Congress reason to fund the subway expansion.
“What was surprising to us,” David Mieger, project manager said, “is that adding Santa Monica Boulevard to the Wilshire route, in compliment to one another, it works [from a feasibility, cost and ridership perspective].”
A map shows one of the two options presented in which the subway would run beneath Santa Monica Boulevard.
The representatives, who are shepherding through to completion a massive public comment process designed to flesh out Metro’s Draft 2008 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), noted that huge increases in new boardings at existing stations, plus projected new boardings in new stations dotting the area, saw the cost per user travel-hour leap to a level of efficiency that would convince the federal government to fund the larger part of a project supposed to cost over $8.5 billion.
Transit users benefits of the four final options for the subway in time/dollars saved.
The planners will submit their recommendations to the MTA board in August. The board is expected to decide between the options presented soon afterward, setting into motion the search for funding.
Metro’s Draft 2008 Long Range Transportation Plan charts what transportation improvements are necessary to keep us all moving to the year 2030.
The LRTP establishes “priorities for funding a balanced transportation system that addresses transportation needs throughout the County, from closing gaps in the freeway carpool lane network, expanding Metro Rail and bus service, improving arterial capacity and speeds, bicycle and pedestrian improvements, and rideshare opportunities – just to name a few of the initiatives that help reduce congestion,” says its charter.
Having received 750 public comments in total and crunching projected ridership numbers based on a complicated metric involving residential and workplace density, the Wilshire only plans paled in comparison to the combined plan that includes a WeHo line.
Comparative new boardings for the proposed subway plans.
The cost rises appreciably when the West Hollywood spur is added to the Wilshire corridor’s, but efficiencies and huge ridership gained with the addition offsets that expense.
The Wilshire Corridor route is estimated to be $5.5 billion – the combined route will cost $8.5 billion.
A large part of the savings realized would be in having subway trains dedicated to the new lines, whereas the assumptions behind an either/or choice would rely on storage of the cars along with the others serving the Red Line.
The subway will, the presenters said, generate over 14,000 riders per hour between the La Cienega and Westwood stations.
Public comments portion of the Metro Planning meeting held in West Hollywood Monday night, May 14, 2008. Photo by Ryan Gierach.
New boardings along the Santa Monica route were projected at 20,000 per hour over the Wilshire-only route (80,000 compared top 60,000).
Boardings projected from including new boardings at the Hollywood/Highland station (connecting the San Fernando Valley with WeHo and points west) bumps that figure up past 110,000.
A few weeks remain for the public to weigh in on the options presented at the meeting.
For copies of this Draft 2008 Plan or questions regarding this document, please contact the Long Range Transportation Plan Hotline: Phone 213.922.2833 | Email metroplan@metro.net | Web metro.net/longrangeplan
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