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Friday, May 3, 2013
Heavy Rail, or a Light Rail/BRT Mix? Garcetti and Greuel Discuss Options for Sepulveda Pass
http://la.streetsblog.org/2013/05/03/heavy-rail-or-a-light-railbrt-mix-garcetti-and-greuel-discuss-options-for-sepulveda-pass/
By Damien Newton, May 3, 2013
...sure you are...
Greuel, the City Controller who is battling City Councilman Eric Garcetti to be the next mayor of Los Angeles, took a moment to yesterday to highlight what many Angelenos already know. There is not enough freeway space for the number of people that want to, or feel forced to, drive to get where they need to go.
That statement is doubly true for the 405.
Maybe the next mayor should do something about it.
One issue that both Garcetti and Greuel agree on is that further widening of the I-405 through the Sepulveda Pass, one of the few transportation links between the populous exhurbs of the Westside and San Fernando Valley, is a fool’s game. Both advocate for a strong and real transit alternative to driving on the 405.
And advocates agree. David Murphy is the head of Angelenos Against Gridlock (AAG). In the past weeks, AAG earned a lot of media attention by attacking the widening and revealing the celebrity support of Elon Musk for highlighting how far behind, and over budget, the 405 widening project is.
But Murphy’s group isn’t arguing for further widening, but for rail expansion.
“What does all the attention to the 405 traffic, including even on Good Morning America today, say about the need for rail?” Murphy asked rhetorically in an email.
While both candidates agree that transit is the best way to move people through the pass, they each offer different solutions.
“I am also committed to developing a relief project for the 405,” Greuel continued yesterday. “I began exploring this as a councilmember and, as mayor, I am ready to put those plans into action and provide relief to the 405 congestion. My plan supports investing in Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), Light Rail, dedicated lanes and prioritizing the city’s bike plan.”
But Garcetti doesn’t think light rail, even supplemented with other
transportation options, is the answer. At a recent candidate forum
broadcast by CBS 2/KCAL 9 and hosted by the National Council of Jewish Women Los Angeles and Bend the Arc, Garcetti made the case of a major investment in heavy rail, or even a subway through the mountains.
“If you look at the number of passengers we have to alleviate, light-rail probably wouldn’t do enough,” Garcetti is quoted as saying in Neon Tommy. “[The rail would] go from the north San Fernando Valley basically to LAX, including a transit tunnel through the 405 pass that would allow you to be able to go essentially from Sherman Oaks to UCLA in five or 10 minutes.”
While a tunnel may sound cost prohibitive, Greuel hasn’t ruled out the tunnel option. She noted that it might actually be easier to tunnel than build on or near the 405 given recent experiences.
Despite the higher cost of heavy rail, the plan does have backers in
the transit advocacy community. The Transit Coalition proposes a “GEM
Line” of heavy rail right through the mountains. Their proposal incudes
stops throughout the San Fernando Valley starting at Sylmar and ending
on Ventura Boulevard. Then there are another four stops on the Westside,
including one at UCLA.
Whether it’s Greuel’s transit mix or Garcetti’s heavy rail, the
conversation sure has changed from a couple of years ago when
then-Governor Schwarzenegger suggested double-decking the freeway.
However, to move a project for the Sepulveda Pass is going to require some political muscle. True, there is funding for a transit project for the Pass in Measure R,
but under the current funding plan funds wouldn’t be available until
the third decade of funding from the half cent sales tax. Again, both
Garcetti and Greuel have pledged to work hard to accelerate construction
of transit projects, but Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa can tell you that’s
a lot easier said then done.
Despite assembling a national coalition of mayors and transit
advocates, the Mayor’s famous America Fast Forward program acheived only
modest reforms of federal funding formulas. All the logic in the world
will be dashed against the rocks when pushed up against the
short-sightedness of the House Republican Caucus. And without reforms
that lower the 2/3 voter threshold needed to pass another transit tax,
or an extension of the current one, it’s anyone’s guess whether another
tax proposal would just pass the threshold as Measure R did in 2008 or
just miss as Measure J did in 2012.
“We need to use
our resources wisely including innovative funding mechanisms, like
America Fast Forward bonds for Measure R to accelerate construction of
priority transit and highway projects. Measure R transit projects will
generate more than $67 billion in economic activity, adding 409,000
jobs, $25 billion in income and 8 billion in new tax revenues. But we
need to keep up the momentum,” Greuel promised yesterday. “That means
expediting the Subway to UCLA, extending the Expo Line to Santa Monica,
and we have to get the Regional Connector built. I’ll also work closely
with Sacramento and our Congressional delegation to make sure Los
Angeles is getting our fair share of state and federal transportation
dollars.”
Garcetti agrees that it is important to find other ways to
accelerate transportation and transit projects and has suggested that a
second run at Measure J might be one of the best options.
L.A. Wants to Turn Its Concrete 'River' Into a Real River
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/design/2013/05/ls-wants-turn-its-concrete-river-real-river/5482/
By Lamar Anderson, May 3, 2013
In recent years the Los Angeles River has enjoyed a renaissance. Though the waterway hasn’t really been a natural habitat since the 1930s (when the city lined the riverbed with concrete to control flooding), new bike paths, public art, and kayak tours now draw Angelenos to the water’s edge. So far these upgrades have been largely peripheral, due in large part to urban enthusiasts’ determination to start using the giant ditch they inherited as a river. Meanwhile, the city’s more substantial plan to transform the channel into a living habitat is mired in delays at the federal level.
The Los Angeles River Revitalization Plan, completed in 2007 by the landscape design firm Mia Lehrer + Associates, calls for the removal of most of the concrete and natural habitat restoration around the river. But, as the Architect’s Newspaper‘s Sam Lubell reports, a delay in a feasibility study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has stalled this ambitious project, putting everyone’s dreams of a green urban idyll on hold.
The Los Angeles River Revitalization Plan, completed in 2007 by the landscape design firm Mia Lehrer + Associates, calls for the removal of most of the concrete and natural habitat restoration around the river. But, as the Architect’s Newspaper‘s Sam Lubell reports, a delay in a feasibility study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has stalled this ambitious project, putting everyone’s dreams of a green urban idyll on hold.

The LA River today. Courtesy of the Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering.
Before work can proceed, the Corps must assess the flood risks and, counterintuitively, the habitat risks of altering the river’s makeup. (Are we worried that all those algae colonies will die off for want of concrete?) The feasibility study was scheduled to wind up at the end of this year, but six years of bureaucratic snares and funding mishaps have jeopardized that deadline.
Carol Armstrong, director of the Los Angeles River Project Office for the city’s Bureau of Engineering, told the Architect’s Newspaper that she expects the study to drag on because of a lack of support in Washington. "They’d rather add acres to the Everglades instead of changing a concrete channel in LA. It’s a cognitive shift we’re going to have to make," she said.
Next to Florida’s famous wetlands, yes, a concrete ditch doesn’t have much to offer as a natural wonder. But let’s hope the feds realize that a city waterfront—with all the Portlandia-style frolicking and bursts of economic activity that come with it—is ultimately urban good.

Rendering of a revitalized LA River with landscaping and public promenades. Courtesy of the Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering.


Courtesy of the Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering.
Why the Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce Voted Against Bike Lanes
The chamber’s 17-0 vote opposing bike lanes on Colorado last week is the latest twist in a spreading controversy.
http://eaglerock.patch.com/articles/why-the-eagle-rock-chamber-of-commerce-voted-against-bike-lanes
By Ajay Singh, May 2, 2013
It’s a little past 5 p.m. on Thursday and Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce President Michael Nogueira is preparing to go home after a hard day’s work at Sir Michael’s, his party rentals business on Eagle Rock Boulevard. Moments earlier, he parked a catering truck in the store’s driveway, backing it with practiced precision—never mind that the right side of the vehicle slightly scraped the outer wall of a flower shop next door, sending flakes of plaster flying.
As Nogueira stands on the sidewalk, facing the boulevard, a man driving a sparkling white Mercedes sedan waves casually at him. “Alatorre,” says Nogueira, returning the greeting. Minutes later, a man riding a bicycle cruises south on the boulevard, and Nogueira perks up.
“He doesn’t need a bicycle lane,” does he? Nogueira asks, instantly answering his own question: “No, he doesn’t.”
If Nogueira gets his way, no biker in Eagle Rock will get to ride in a bike lane, and he’s hardly the only member of the community to oppose plans by the Department of Transportation to create a bike lane along both sides of Colorado Boulevard by July next year, reducing the number of vehicular traffic lanes on each side from three to two.
There’s a reason why Nogueira has bikes on his mind today: Last week, on Tuesday, April 23, the executive board of the Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce held a closed session at the Solheim Lutheran Home, where it voted unanimously, 17-0, to oppose the installation of bike lanes on Colorado at the expense of traffic lanes.
Among those who voted against the dedication of an entire traffic lane to bicycles was Bryan Paul, general manager of Eagle Rock Plaza, Nogueira said.
“We’re not saying we don’t want the bikes—we’re saying why give up one lane for them,” Nogueira explains. “This is a big city and the bigger it gets the more people are going to rely on cars.”
The reason the executive board of the Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce is against dedicated bike lanes is that “we don’t see bike lanes helping business in any shape or form,” Nogueira said, conceding that the only businesses that might benefit would be cafés.
“Will bike lanes slow down traffic?” he asked. “Yes, big time—maybe bumper to bumper. Will the city give us more parking in exchange for bike lanes? No. Will it give us more turning lanes? No.”
The issue of turning lanes might appear to be the newest wrinkle in the simmering bike lanes controversy in Eagle Rock and Highland Park. And on the face of it, it might even seem irrelevant—if not also a distraction from the core issues at hand.
But as Nogueira tells it, turning lanes are inextricably tied to the larger issue of how traffic on the “island” stretch of Colorado between Eagle Rock Boulevard and Townsend, will be impacted by bike lanes.
“Let’s say we have two lanes of traffic and I want to turn left in my truck on Colorado to go to Colombo’s,” says Nogueira. “I have to wait for a break in the fast lane on the other side, while I’m blocking the fast lane on this side.”
Emergency vehicles, too, will be impacted by bike lanes, according to Nogueira. That’s because when an emergency occurs, motorcars are required to pull over to the right—which is going to be difficult because the far right bike lane will be out of bounds to them.
“You’re going to have a traffic jam,” says Nogueira, adding that the spillover of traffic onto Hill Drive (where Nogueira and Chamber Corresponding Secretary Kaye Beckham live) is another concern.
There are safety issues, too—such as the prospect of motorists opening the doors of parked vehicles smack into an oncoming rider, Nogueira pointed out. But the bottom line is: “We have to look at whether bike lanes are going to help us any in business.”
Nogueira doubts bikers are likely to ride all the way from Pasadena, for example, to eat in Eagle Rock restaurants. “Really?” he asks rhetorically, adding: “Come on!”
The best way forward, Nogueira recommends, is to conduct independent studies about the number of bikers who actually use Colorado right now.
“We have cameras, don’t we? Put them out there and see how many bikes go down Colorado,” he says.
Asked how he reconciles the fact that as president of the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council he voted for bike lanes recently, Nogueira replies: “I did vote on it at the time. Now I’m hearing from my chamber and I’ve got to look at it both ways.”
The other point a lot of folks don’t understand is that there aren’t many people in Eagle Rock who are both residents and business owners like him, Nogueira says.
“How many in TERA or on the neighborhood council have a business and live here?” he asks.
Nogueira said he will soon issue an e-mail blast to all 129 of the Chamber members, informing them of the executive board's decision. Subsequently, he expects the Chamber to write a letter to the Department of Transportation, apprising it of the Chamber's opposition to exculsive bike lanes.
Because the Chamber’s vote was in closed sessions, details are of course unavailable. Meanwhile, there are theories as to what might have transpired behind those closed doors.
“I’m glad to hear that the Chamber’s leadership is informing its members of the decision they’ve made on their behalf,” says David Greene, vice president of the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council.
“In my experience, it's better for these decisions to come from the bottom up—at the Neighborhood Council, for example, we listened to residents and business owners before we voted unanimously to support buffered bike lanes on Colorado.”
Adds Greene: “Our vote reflected the overwhelming support we heard for bike lanes. I'll be interested to hear the reaction of Chamber of Commerce member businesses to their leaders' decree, since I know some are strong bike lane supporters."
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TruthTeller90041
Monica G
Josef Bray-Ali
"Explain to me how eliminating a car lane, in either direction, causing further traffic congestion, is good for Eagle Rock?"
Ask Glendale and Pasadena. They both have only four car lanes and their stretches of roads seem to be doing pretty well.
"You cannot convert a city that was built AFTER the automobile into a pedestrian/cycling city, no matter how hard you try."
Interesting. You do know that this area is a street car suburb, right? And if we're going to believe your theory, then we're also going to have to throw out a lot of evidence from cities across the globe that have made the transition away from total auto domination.
The other stuff you have written is adding a layer of emotion that doesn't really prove your point on way or another.
Scott Martin-Rowe
Mark Charles
HCL
Andrew Hindes
jayres
John Goldfarb
jayres
Josef Bray-Ali
Kathy
Mark Vallianatos
Marcus
But the reality is that motorists aren't the only ones who use these roads. Pedestrians are woefully forgotten by motorists by such commentors Kathy. I completely agree that we need to address traffic speed, but that's where we part opinions.
Bike lanes provide a buffer for cyclists, and encourage safer driving by reducing the 'freeway effect' by a three lane highway. Two lanes on the other hand are a safer, calming measure. They work in Glendale. They work in Pasadena. Both cities with bigger populations and seem to handle traffic well.
jayres
Jon Leibowitz
Pat Skipper
Mark Vallianatos
Jon Leibowitz
As for buses, I find that bus drivers tend to treat the road with more respect and awareness than a great number of motorists. When I'm on a bike I tend to feel a lot safer having a bus behind me, simply because they are professionals in multiple senses of the word. Buses and bicycles both have a net positive effect on reducing congestion from roads, shouldn't this be encouraged? Or would you rather have everyone inside a car contributing further to the problem being discussed?
Jon Leibowitz
Andrew Hindes
Josef Bray-Ali
There are a lot of good reasons for a city to install bike lanes. Going into the in this thread is going to take too long and it won't move the discussion forward.
Bike lanes are about providing a viable option for people to safely ride around the neighborhood - and that is pretty much it. If they are done properly more people will use them - and that is well supported by evidence from LA and other cities across the US and across the world.
Pat Skipper
i'm quite aware of where the buses will be if were take away their lanes. they will be in the number 2 lane, doing what they should be doing: loading and unloading while everyone tries to squeeze down to one lane. we don't have time for that bs to accommodate the very few people on bikes.
if the goal is to slow traffic down, put a cop on colorado once a week. the revenues would more than pay the salary. building a bike lane to control the speed limit is a ludicrous argument.
Tim Ryder
Ruben Navarro
Mark Vallianatos
Eddie
Just about two hours later, a little past 7pm I was riding home Westbound on Colorado, “by Eagle Vista” when at least two vehicles flew by me at least twice my speed…..and I was already at 25mph. And, one of the drivers actually thought it was cool to test his driving skills to see how close he could get to me – JERK! On top of that, he/she blew the light at Loleta! Good thing it not was during school hours.
As a consumer of Eagle Rock businesses, cyclist, homeowner, and motorist (and I drive plenty), the speeds on Colorado are a serious problem. It’s a real shame I don't feel safe riding my bike in my own neighborhood!!!
Marcus
Look at the senators who voted against more gun control background checks. Their popularity is now dropping because they didn't listen to their voters, but instead listened to the NRA. Mistake.
I suggest that we all lobby our elected officials if you think bike lanes are needed and don't want business interests to have the final say.
Bike lanes are a good thing.
bbkong
This is something that will affect everyone in Eagle Rock and we should be allowed to vote on it. Not the fake stakeholders, but actual residents and people who own businesses here.
Why is this idea a problem?
Townsend
bbkong
Josef Bray-Ali
First, bike lane or no bike lane, if there is an emergency vehicle coming down the road all road users are obliged to get out of the way and move to the right. Bike riders included.
Car drivers can move into the bike lanes in these scenarios - and I have been on Venice Blvd. riding to the Westside and on other bike lanes when a cop car or an ambulance blow by. Everyone moves to the right and the cars proceed.
Here is where this argument against lanes falls apart: a bike lane does not have an invisible force field across it. It actually provides relatively unoccupied road space for cars to move into when an emergency vehicle is approaching. If there are cyclists, they lean against parked cars or get on the sidewalk (or against the curb). Motorists move into the bike lane.
In the current setup, there is no space for an emergency vehicle to go if all three lanes are blocked with cars! The emergency vehicles will have a better chance of squeezing through with a bike lane.
I hope this addresses this anti-bike lane argument.
True Freedom
My family will not patronize any business on Colorado in Eagle Rock until the speed issue is fixed.
Last nite, my wife picked me up from work so we could go out to dinner. We headed to a restaurant on Colorado. The drivers driving well over the speed limit, the aggressive weaving to get somewhere, etc.. made slowing for a parking space and parallel parking an awful experience.
Many people are using Colorado as an alternative to the freeway, and expect to travel at high speeds. They need to use the freeway. That's why it's there.
I'd estimate 95% of all the cars I saw at that hour weren't using Colorado for shopping. They were using Colorado for Eagle Rock cut-thru on their way to Glendale or else where.
Chamber of Commerce, I'd be willing to bet you'd see better business if you're able to slow traffic on Colorado.
Colorado in the heart of Pasadena has an average speed of about 15mph. People don't use it for cutting cross town... They use it for access to shopping. Some will argue that Pasadena has alternate streets to carry the cross-town traffic. This is true, but so does Eagle Rock: the 134
Get Colorado under control
True Freedom
The road and engine noise (and smell) of cars zipping by at 45mph create a poor pedestrian environment.
Perhaps if cars were a bit further from the sidewalk (because of a bike lane) and were travelling much slower (25-30mph), I would actually park and walk to more than one shop on Colorado.
Big thumbs down on my Eagle Rock shopping experience.
S.Martinez
I have loved ones that bicycle on Colorado Boulevard– because it's good for their health, good for the environment and in some cases because they can't afford to travel by any other means and arrive at their destination in a timely manner. I want my friends and family to be safe on Colorado Boulevard. I want everyone to be safe regardless of their mode of travel and that is why I support bike lanes.