710 Cartoon Appearing in the Pasadena Sun
January 6, 2013
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Metro Public Art in Los Angeles: Art of the Purple Line
http://www.discoverlosangeles.com/blog/metro-public-art-los-angeles-art-purple-line
September 14, 2012
Updated on September 25, 2012

Los Angeles Metro’s public art showcases the city’s roots, providing
visitors with an easy way to learn about various aspects of LA’s
personality. Movies, culture, myth and architecture all appear in the
public art works of LA Metro’s Purple Line, which runs from Union Station
to Wilshire and Western. Take some time to explore, and see how public
art in LA adds another dimension to the city’s art scene.
Union Station: "LA: City of Angels"

Civic Center Station: "Under the Living Rock"

Pershing Square Station: "Neons for Pershing Square Station"

7th Street/Metro Center Station: "The Movies: Fantasies and Spectacles"

Westlake/MacArthur Park Station: "El Sol/La Luna"

Wilshire/Normandie Station: "Festival of Masks Parade"

Lawsuit by Coalition of Diverse Groups Challenges NFL Rose Bowl Lease
For
Immediate Release
The
mission of the San Rafael
Neighborhoods Association
(SRNA) is to enhance and
maintain the character and
quality of all San Rafael
neighborhoods through
advocacy and an activated
community.
|
San
Rafael Neighborhoods
Association
(SRNA)
LAWSUIT
BY COALITION OF DIVERSE
GROUPS CHALLENGES NFL ROSE
BOWL LEASE
|
|
Pasadena. On January 3rd,
the Coalition
for Preservation of the
Arroyo, a
newly-formed public interest
group, joined by the East
Arroyo Neighborhood
Preservation Committee, the
Linda-Vista Annandale
Association, and the San
Rafael Neighborhoods
Association, sued Pasadena in
Los Angeles Superior Court on
environmental grounds. The
case number is BS141038.
The lawsuit
contends that Pasadena
violated the California
Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA) in amending its
Municipal Code to allow
expanded use of the historic
Rose Bowl Stadium by the NFL
while construction of a
permanent NFL stadium is
pending in Los Angeles. The
City failed to comply with
local and state laws in
approving the five-year use of
the Rose Bowl for up to 13 NFL
games.
The City
acknowledges that significant
environmental impacts to the
sensitive habitat of the
Arroyo Seco and its
surrounding neighborhoods
would attend the use of the
Rose Bowl by the NFL, with
substantial City-wide ripple
effects. However, the
environmental impact report
(EIR) failed to consider the
"whole of the action" when
approving a Code amendment
that forecasts commitment to
an unstudied lease.
The EIR failed
to identify and the City
failed to adopt
performance-based, enforceable
mitigations for: football in
the Central Arroyo weekend
after weekend and some
weekdays for at least six
months a year; double the
current Rose Bowl traffic, air
pollution, noise, trash, and
neighborhood parking impacts,
including on rainy days, and ongoing
degradation of both the Arroyo neighborhoods
and the Central Arroyo itself;
75,000 NFL fans per game plus
an unknown number of
ticketless tailgaters and
other NFL fans in the Central
Arroyo and in the
Arroyo neighborhoods; NFL
tailgating outside the Rose
Bowl; public
safety demands including
enforcement of impacts of
alcohol abuse; and loss of
community-based recreation in
the Central Arroyo for half of
each year, including golf,
kids' soccer, swimming, and
all recreational loop
activities.
The Court is
asked to issue a peremptory
writ in the public interest to
enforce the many laws that
protect the Arroyo Seco and
the many laws and policies
that protect the surrounding
neighborhoods. Consideration
of an amendment to the
Municipal Code should await an
actual NFL lease proposal, so
that appropriate mitigation
and alternatives can be
considered as part of the
project -- up front.
Jonas
Peters, Ph.D., Coalition
representative and Chair of
the East Arroyo Neighborhood
Preservation Committee
states: "The
East Arroyo is a racially and
socioeconomically diverse
community that benefits
enormously from its proximity
to the Central Arroyo,
including many recreational
resources that the Rose Bowl
and Brookside Park areas
collectively provide. The
negative impacts of the NFL
project on the quality of life
of the East Arroyo
neighborhoods, ranging from
serious nuisances that include
excessive traffic, noise,
trash, and crime, to serious
health consequences that may
result from increased
cumulative air pollution and
severe limits to weekend
recreational access within our
prized Central Arroyo
parkland, are simply too much
to ignore. The mitigations
offered in the EIR by the City
against the negative impacts
were insufficient and in many
regards insulted our
intelligence and our
collective community interest.
The Committee views the
proposed NFL five-year plan as
a disaster to our neighborhood
quality of life."
Nina Chomsky,
Coalition representative
and President of the Linda
Vista-Annandale
Association, states:
"The
poor quality and minimal EIR
underscores the City's lack
of commitment to protecting
the Arroyo neighborhoods,
including the Linda
Vista-Annandale
neighborhood, from the
proposed NFL use of the Rose
Bowl for five continuous
years. Similarly,
the City has demonstrated no
commitment to protect and
preserve the Central Arroyo
that is valued and used by
thousands upon thousands of
Pasadena residents for
enjoyment of recreation and
open space. Destructive
degradation of our
neighborhoods and the
Central Arroyo is
insufficiently mitigated and
not acceptable to cover Rose
Bowlfiscal shortfalls,
gaps, and overruns.
The NFL EIR must identify
and the City must adopt full
and adequate protective
mitigations FIRST."
Ron
Paler, M.D., Coalition
representative and
President of the San
Rafael Neighborhoods
Association, states:
"The
San Rafael Neighborhoods
Association joins in this
action due to its belief
that the City of Pasadena
prepared an inadequate and
factually erroneous EIR that
fails to adequately study
impacts to the neighborhoods
surrounding the Rose Bowl.
For example, the EIR is
flawed in the description of
fire response times in West
Pasadena that will be
further impeded by up to 13
NFL major events at the Rose
Bowl. This issue was
neglected by the City.
Additionally, the EIR fails
to address the impact of
major traffic congestion on
major arterial streets such
as Avenue 64 and West
Colorado Boulevard. The
Association seeks to protect
the environment and people
of Pasadena from significant
and irreparable harm posed
by this project."
|
Trucks Will Roll Down an E-Highway In California Test
Trolley-like system could let people breathe easier amid congestion
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444506004577613523952540182.html
[In the "710 Tunnel, A War of Words" put together by Joe Cano,
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=579398835409269&set=vb.100000174729747&type=2&theater
after a question asked (about 15:40 into the video), Doug Fielding, Metro's Executive Director, Highway Programs, bragged about Southern California being the only area in the country that is investigating zero-emission technology for trucks. One of these technologies is the Siemens' eHighway Catenary Concept, which will be tested in California in the near or farther-away future. Mr. Fielding didn't answer the woman's question, but, instead, referred to the zero-emission studies. However, solving the truck pollution problem is far in the future, so he was skirting the question about truck pollution today and in the near future.
It will cost truck owners considerable money to change over the zero-emission vehicles. The studies Mr. Fielding was referring to deal mainly with the 710 Corridor. If the Siemens' eHighway is adopted as the way to go or if a simpler system of battery chargers along the freeways (see "Technologies, Challenges & Opportunities I-710 Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Vehicle Systems," http://www.metro.net/projects_studies/zero_emission/images/CALSTART_I-710_TCO_Report.pdf ), do you think that truck owners will convert to zero-emission vehicles if a system is in place only on the 710 Corridor? That would be hard to believe.
Which brings up the point: To what extent is the 710 Tunnel to be part of either the Siemens' e-Highway or another zero-emission system to encourage truck owners to convert to zero-emission vehicles, a system that they can use from the ports on the 710 Corridor, to the 210 North, State Route 14, the High Desert Corridor, to the SR-18? Is this why the tunnel really will be built?]
The above article:
Trucks during testing in Germany
By Bob Sechler
September 24, 2012
Los Angeles-area officials are betting that one route to cleaner air in
the smog-choked region might be a so-called e-highway for commercial
trucks.
Within the next few years they plan to test a trolley-like system developed by Siemens AG SIE.XE +0.08% that relies on overhead electric wires to power specially equipped freight trucks down roadways. The technology is viewed as a way to reduce noxious vehicle emissions around the congested Los Angeles and Long Beach seaports, where cargo transport contributes to a good portion of the smog.
"We have the worst air pollution in the nation," says Sam Atwood, a spokesman for the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which is responsible for controlling smog in portions of a four-county region and is coordinating the effort with support from both ports and various local governments. The technology could be "an integral and essential part to our clean-air plan," he says.
Siemens's system involves outfitting new or existing diesel-electric hybrid trucks with high-tech rooftop gizmos and software that enable them to attach automatically to overhead electric wires that will power the vehicles for the distance they are in place. Siemens has been testing the technology at a former airstrip in Germany and says drivers retain full control to speed up, slow down, steer, and detach from the wires and switch back to diesel power.
That flexibility, if it lives up to its billing, means the wires simply could be strung over certain lanes of existing roadways without having to be off-limits to cars or non-equipped trucks.
Potentially, "it could be integrated into existing infrastructure" relatively quickly, says Heather Tomley, assistant director of environmental planning at the Port of Long Beach.
Some truckers are dubious. "It requires, of course, pretty dramatic changes to the [truck] fleet," says Randy Mullett, vice president of government relations and public affairs for Michigan-based freight-hauler Con-way Inc., CNW +0.31% which has substantial operations in California. For trucking companies, "it's not as easy as just putting a wire up."
Mr. Mullett says he considers the technology worth exploring, but he has yet to see estimates on what it might cost to outfit a truck. He also notes that pure diesel-powered trucks won't able to use the system since they can't run on electric power.
Sven Hackmann, a representative for Siemens, says the German company views the pending Los Angeles-area test as something of a "living lab" that among other things will help determine commercial pricing.
Siemens Promotes eHighway Catenary Concept
http://www.showtimesdaily.com/htuf-2012/siemens-promotes-ehighway-catenary-concept
September 18, 2012
Siemens’ eHighway concept
Siemens, with the support of California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District and development partners including Daimer-Mercedes, is proposing a new type of heavy duty hybrid based on a very old concept — electricity from overhead catenary wires.
Siemens (HTUF 2012 Booth 109) calls the concept eHighway, and says it’s “a cost-effective alternative to the use of fossil fuels in freight transport on the road.”The idea is to outfit trucks with a hybrid drivetrain, likely a series drive, and power them with electricity from overhead lines along high-traffic highways in the population-dense areas adjacent to major ports. When the trucks reach the end of the overhead lines, they switch to fossil fuel to complete their delivery or transfer missions.
The concept is also known as Zetech, for Zero Emission Truck and Electric Catenary Highway. The Santa Monica-based Gladstein, Neandross & Associates consultancy recently completed a Zetech analysis for SCAQMD, and concluded, “Catenary-powered hybrid trucks with internal combustion engines can simultaneously address emissions and fuel economy issues while providing operational flexibility at a similar or lower cost of ownership as other zero-emission technologies.”
HTUF host Calstart has also evaluated the catenary concept, and found “no major technological barriers.”
Both Calstart and GNA focused on the I-710 corridor leading from the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
Calstart said it sees 2035 as the “horizon year” for implementation: “The commercialization process for a complex product like a Class 8 truck includes significant engineering and development work, including demonstration and validation of early prototypes, building a small number of pre-production vehicles, and constructing a business case for moving to full production over the course of several years,” Calstart says. “It is not advisable to jump directly to the desired outcome because competing technologies must be evaluated, tested, proven, and commercialized.”
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