http://www.citywatchla.com/4box-right/5341-how-mayor-garcetti-can-keep-la-transportation-on-track
By Ken Alpern, July 4, 2013
ALPERN AT LARGE
- New Mayor Eric Garcetti
has inherited both a legacy and a huge "to-do" list from former Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa, and it's no secret that both men share the desire
to establish a first-rate 21st Century transportation system for the
City and County of Los Angeles.
However,
Mayor Garcetti has the opportunity and need
to build upon the successes of his predecessor, while reversing some of
the inertia and baggage his predecessor left him as well.
And it's safe to say that Angelenos and LA County residents expect no
less of Mayor Garcetti, because he resides in a county and Southland
that many (perhaps most?) non-Angeleno residents know more of and about
Eric Garcetti than they do of their own smaller-town mayor. It may seem
crazy, but it's true that when it comes to major transportation and
other initiatives, Eric Garcetti is de facto mayor of more than just Los
Angeles.
So let's do a quick overview of some of
Antonio Villaraigosa's accomplishments, which were HUGE: he broke through the legal and funding roadblocks to reconstructing the
Wilshire Subway, helped pushed through
Measure R and almost pushed through
Measure J, helped start the
America Fast Forward initiative in Washington, and did yeoman's work behind the scenes towards getting light rail built from the Expo Line through
Crenshaw Blvd. to LAX.
Villaraigosa's baggage includes: too much wining and dining and
inappropriate promises with developers who cared not about transit, the
environment and mobility but with making only a quick buck, turning off
Angeleno voters by bad land use and budgetary decisions after they voted
overwhelmingly for Measure R, and creating a city/county divide that
unnecessarily alienated and infuriated the San Gabriel Valley, Southeast
County Cities and South Bay Cities.
It's not accurate or fair to say that Villaraigosa's negatives
outnumbered his positives on transportation--much of it he couldn't
avoid, and involved tough and painful decisions, but the style and
nature of Eric Garcetti gives the latter a golden opportunity for a
fresh start--but Garcetti WILL be expected to keep up the efforts and
energy of his predecessor on transportation, lest he be viewed as
another Mayor Hahn.
So here we go:
GOAL #1: Pick the right three
Metro Boardmembers to represent the City of Los Angeles!
This is a chore I do not envy Hizzoner Garcetti. Everyone has an
agenda, and no one wants to be disincluded. Effectively, he'll have
four votes on the Metro Board, and while has been argued that we should
have voters directly vote for the Metro Board, it's not the way it
works. So in other words, fellow voters, your City and County votes
mean something with respect to Metro decisions!
We've got an Expo Line that's not finished but has much if not most
of the big hurdles behind it, we've got a Crenshaw Line that remains
controversial and divisive within the region and City, a Downtown Light
Rail Connector that is not without controversy, and the need to finally
connect MetroRail to LAX.
So Garcetti will need loyal advisors and friends to form a reliable and savvy voting bloc on the Board.
My recommendations (and boy, won't Garcetti get oodles of "advice")
is to keep Richard Katz (a smart, savvy veteran) and to appoint
Westsider Mike Bonin and Mid-City/Downtowner Jan Perry.
GOAL #2: Create betterments for the
Expo and Crenshaw Lines that include Regional Transit Centers!
The key stations that will have two connecting rail lines will become
reality within a Garcetti mayoral era (especially if he is re-elected
in four years) include Exposition/Crenshaw, Exposition/Sepulveda/Pico
and Century/Aviation. These are perfect locations for rail, bus, DASH
van and other options for intermodal transit centers and transit malls.
Land use decisions are critical at these sites, and after the Casden
debacle at Exposition/Sepulveda/Pico (Casden never gave a damn about
transit-oriented development, and now isn't obligated to build one), the
need for Metro and the City of LA to step up and make these transit
centers to serve commuters is more glaring than ever.
And while we're at it, parking for all key stations where it is in
short supply is necessary to encourage Angelenos who choose to get out
of their cars to do just that. Parking does NOT discourage transit use,
and anyone in Planning or the LADOT who continues to drink that
kool-aid should be fired or transferred post-haste.
GOAL#3: Be the right
communicator and diplomat to get past the contentious Crenshaw/LAX Line conundrum!
Antonio Villaraigosa and Mark Ridley-Thomas helped get us past most
of the nasty and thorny decision-making and politically-sensitive issues
with their recent decision to
award the project to a contractor that
will build what is one of the most expensive light rail projects ever,
and with both an underground Leimert Park and surface-level
Westchester/Hindry station...but without a Park Mesa tunnel.
The Westside and South Bay potentially had their projects in jeopardy because of the over $120 million devoted to this
Crenshaw/LAX Line betterment, which set one region against another until Measure C money could be found to fill in their gaps and prevent yet a new crisis.
The fury of the Mid-City of
the decision to keep
the Park Mesa region surface-level is both palpable and understandable ,
but it should be reminded that legal precedent and Metro policy
prevents such a tunnel.
Ask South Pasadena and Cheviot Hills residents what happened to their
desired tunnels, and it's not hard to figure out that if Metro policy
(based on car trips and safety measures) prevents a tunnel at one
location for a given project, then it does so for all other comparable
locations and projects. It's the law, and any contractor who promises
the moon (or a Park Mesa tunnel) is doing so inappropriately and without
any legal merit.
Better to focus on a new Measure J and long-term plan that focuses on
where a tunnel MUST be placed, which would be to expand this
Crenshaw/LAX line north underground (required for legal and engineering
reasons) to the future Wilshire Subway, and which would make this light
rail a very well-ridden line, indeed.
Compromise is tough, gut-wrenching and downright painful. Let's
focus on how to spruce up the Crenshaw Corridor and help the merchants
there any way we legally can--Garcetti needs to communicate these
sentiments to a region that is as seething and unhappy as are Westsiders
who wanted an Expo Line tunnel in their neighborhood.
GOAL #4: End the
East/West divide with respect to the Foothill Gold Line!
While County Supervisor Mike Antonovich gets failing marks for
political acumen, his vision is superb--Metrolink and high-speed rail
between the county and the rest of the state (and with Las Vegas), as
well as a Norwalk MetroRail/Metrolink connection, to say nothing of the
Foothill Gold Line extension to Ontario Airport.
(MetroRail serves local commuting needs and local development, while
Metrolink is more for long-distance commuting, and they're both very
helpful for those who use them)
The Wilshire Subway is fundamental to the region, but should never,
EVER be built to the exclusion of (and paid for by) the rest of the
county's transportation needs.
If Eric Garcetti wants to tax Angelenos only to expedite the Subway,
that's his prerogative, but there can never be a happy county unless he
respects the league of allied Republican and Democratic electeds who are
backing the Foothill Gold Line extension. If not for Antonovich, do it
for THESE folks who need our alliance, not our opposition.
In other words, Mayor Garcetti, be the man who got MetroRail to BOTH Ontario and LAX airports!
GOAL #5: Get
MetroRail to LAX (specifically the central airline terminals)
Despite the aforementioned controversy of the Crenshaw/LAX project,
while this project does create a nice network to connect the Expo Line
to the Green Line, it does NOT get MetroRail to the central airline
terminals...only to Century/Aviation station, which is a mile from those
airline terminals.
Anger and frustration still beset
taxpayers and voters
as to why we've not done this yet, but the big problem is the MAP. The
freeway and rail right of way are a mile or more from the airport.
(Speaking of MAP, the need to keep the 78 MAP limit of 78 Million
Annual Passengers intact is critical for the Economy, Environment and
Quality of Life for all city and county residents, no matter what crazy
things that Henry Waxman says about
LAX being able to expand)
So we've got two main options, and they potentially are in
competition with the Crenshaw/LAX line because that latter line serves
those accessing LAX from the east, but not really all that well from the
north, south and west:
1) Create a connecting People Mover Monorail from Century/Aviation to
the central airline terminals, to the cost of about $1-2 billion.
2) Redo the Crenshaw/LAX southern portion and create a singular
Crenshaw/Green Line under LAX, also to the cost of about $1-2 billion.
Only when we have a truly comprehensive LAX/MetroRail plan to serve
the Westside, South Bay, Mid-City, Southeast City and Downtown regions
will voters and taxpayers be happy. Expansions of the Green Line to the
Westside and South Bay must be taken seriously in any LAX land use
plan, and the need to revisit Alternative 2 for LAX modernization (NOT
expansion) is imperative.
Clearly, Eric Garcetti has his work cut out for him...but it can be
done. His predecessor has laid the groundwork and cleared many horrific
obstacles for him, and now it's up to Eric Garcetti to diplomatically
make his visions and case clear to both the electeds and voters alike.
The Villaraigosa Era of transportation is over, and the Garcetti Era of transportation must now begin post-haste.
