The Militant found himself traveling along Exposition Blvd on Saturday and pleasantly found what used to be the long-abandoned stretch of Pacific Electric track along the boulevard's median to be replaced by a shallow trench guarded by k-rail barriers and fencing, all, of course, for the much-anticipated (M) Exposition Light Rail Line. But...hello, what's this? Though the project is still in its early phases of construction, behold, we have crews working on the very first stretch of track ever laid on the Exposition light rail line (pictured above)! The photo was taken at the intersection of Exposition and Denker Ave., right between Western and Normandie. Talk about progress!Of course, not everyone is pleased. In fact, this would downright piss them off (maybe that's why this section was the first to have track?). But, too little, too late, the Militant says. Such issues should have been hammered out years ago.
10 comments:
I bought my place down in Crenshaw because I knew they were going to put in the Expo Line. If all goes according to plan, I'll soon be waist deep in coffee, art galleries, and white people talking about how cool and edgy the neighborhood is. Hopefully soon my shack will be worth 1 billion dollars. Muhuwahaha!
Nice post and I have to agree there are other lines that need to be built before others. Anything that can reduce the DTLA to WLA/Santa Monica congestion is a start.
You wanna see bunch panties over a Metro Line check this out:
http://thefcblog.com/2008/06/26/gold-line-gets-short-shrift-in-funding/
Total Me,me,me tantrums and they got really angry when I was the voice of reason telling them Metro Lines need to serve regional transportation issues first then the micro-runs like the gold line.
fraz
Seeing this track laid makes me happy. Not only is L.A. working on bringing transportation choices (which is what cities need; the free market thrives on competition, right?), but it's also doing it NOW. My dad is one of many people working to ensure this project is built on time and there are as little traffic obstructions as possible. Hoorah for construction!
LACMTA is yet to bore the tunnel and work is currently being done to move all the underground pipes in that area to the side to make the Expo line safe. Seeing track is a definite plus.
I can't wait to see what disruptions building the Subway to the Sea will cause, but I sure as hell will defend it when people start their bitching.
[/rant]
Meanwhile, the MTA's newest Rapid service isn't sure exactly where it goes...
There are so many issues with the Expo Line though. Many South Central residents are claiming environmental racism and have decided to sue Metro. The main issue has been that in Culver City and right near USC, the train will have an overpass or underpass for the sake of pedestrian safety. But further down Exposition Blvd. towards Foshay Learning Center (K-12) and Dorsey High School, the train will travel at grade, which means there will be no overpass/underpass. The train will be 50 feet away from Dorsey High and both schools are in a high traffic area and release students during rush hour traffic. Let's remember also that MTA's Blue Line which also travels at street level has a record of 91 deaths and 802 accidents. In response, Metro responded to the communities issues and said they would be building a "holding pen" for students at Dorsey to control pedestrian traffic and ensure safety. I don't know about you, but holding pen sounds like they are caging some animals. Anyways, the public was upset about that as well and all Metro did was rename their holding pen so that it is now called a "pedestrian plaza." Explain to me how you will contain hundreds of high schoolers in one area without there being any issues?? Finally, the community is citing the fact that Metro is spending more in the one mile stretch from La Cienega to Robertson in Culver City than they are in the 4 miles between Vermont and La Brea.
More info can be found at:
http://fixexpo.blogspot.com/
Fizzah R.: The Militant also believes it's racist to assume that hundreds of black and Latino schoolchildren are too dumb to know there's a train coming and not know how to cross the tracks in a safe manner. They have more sense than that.
The real dumb ones are the adults driving the cars (regardless of race) who think they can beat the train.
The Militant would also like to point out that pedestrian overpass bridges were built on the Blue Line after the line opened, and the same can be done here, without delaying the line's opening.
Finally, the community is citing the fact that Metro is spending more in the one mile stretch from La Cienega to Robertson in Culver City than they are in the 4 miles between Vermont and La Brea.
Ummm, because it's going to be the (for the time being) end of the line and they need to build a park- and-ride facility and bus bays there?
Militant: I am not assuming that Black and Latino children can't tell when to cross the tracks. That's like saying there is no need for protected/lighted crosswalks near schools because the kids are smart enough to know when to cross. Why take the risk? And my point was that (1) it is just bad planning to disregard the safety of children, and (2) it seems some communities are put in such risky positions more often than others.
Finally, of course they can build overpasses after...why aren't they willing to do that?
So are some of the people here actually saying that people who live along the Expo shouldn't be taken into account while building it? Why are certain people's opinions taken into account and other people's not?
They should build an attractive barrier (yes attractive, not that ugly thing they have at the Imperial Station, a little gate right on street level, I'm not an idiot and that's freakin scary to me, ever got off a bus and had to literally walk past railroad tracks on your way to catch a train, it's a way different experience than that of the Gold Line by Pasadena) by Forshay School. If you had a kindergarten wouldn't you want some kind of a barrier to be put up. And holding pen, who would think that was an ok way to describe a barrier that holds people.
What a nice blog with some good artikels. keep up the good work.
Are following you here from sweden.
Best Regards.
Kent
hårprodukter
This is an awesome post. Thank you so much for sharing.
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