Streetsblog Los Angeles

What entrances to the Regional Connector could look like. Lots more images after the jump...

(Public meetings for the connector continue today at the Central Library, 630 W. Fifth St.; 1 to 3 p.m., Aug. 28, at the Colburn School, 200 S. Grand Ave.; and 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Aug. 29, at the Japanese American National Museum, 369 E. First St. Project information is at metro.net/projects/connector.)

At last night’s outreach meeting for the Regional Connector, Metro finally released its station drawings for the four new train stations that will be built as part of the Connector project. Looking at the renderings, it’s hard to see what exactly about these drawings required such secrecy that Metro refused to show them to press even after a briefing for Metro Board Members.

Before analyzing the station design, we should note that this is not the final design, but just the most recent thoughts on how the stations could and should look. Opportunities exist for artists to personalize the stations somewhat, as we’ve seen with both the Expo Line Stations and the Orange Line Extension Stations are also forthcoming.

After the jump, we’ll look at each station, starting with the Little Tokyo Station and provide some basic thoughts. Read more…

After two months of delay, and after being pushed to second on today’s agenda behind the Westside Subway, the Regional Connector finally had a moment to shine at the Metro Board of Directors.  The environmental documents approving the Connector passed seven to zero.  The official twitter account for the Regional Connector celebrated by noting that the “Regional Connector has gone from a study to a project.  How cool is that?”  Given that the Connector is perhaps the most important project in the region, connecting all existing and future transit lines, the final passage of the environmental documents is very cool.

While the environmental documents were approved, a motion to allow Metro to move into “final design” of the project with their current contractor passed with amendments that required Metro staff to continue to work with hotels and financial institutions along the Flower Street route before moving into final design.  If staff and representatives from Flower Street can’t reach an agreement, then it would be up to contractos to determine if the desired modifications can be reached within the project budget.

Over the past two months, Metro staff worked with the Little Tokyo community and Financial District representatives to reach a compromise between the initial environmental documents and the concerns of the Financial District.

Metro delayed a vote on the Regional Connector environmental documents so that staff and business in the hotel industry and Financial District could work out a compromise.  With many of the major players from the Financial District absent from today’s meeting, the extended tunneling proposed for the Regional Connector, it will now be tunneled with a “deep bore” method for the entire route minus one block from 4th Street to Fifth Street on Flower.  The Source has a complete list of the changes made to the Regional Connector environmental documents to reach a compromise.

Other former Regional Connector opponents were also on-hand to voice support for the current alignment.

“Little Tokyo immediately recognized the impact of the Regional Connector to our community,” stated Chris Aihara, representing the Little Tokyo Community before thanking staff for working with the community to create a project they felt protected their community.  Mike Okamoto with the Little Tokyo Business Council later expressed support for the project but warned that details still need to be addressed for a mitigation plan. Read more…

Last week, the Metro Board of Directors decided to push a motion to approve the final environmental documents for the Regional Connector until April so that negotiations between top Metro staff and representatives of the Financial District could continue negotiations over what kind of tunneling method will be used to complete the below-ground connector through the District.

Sources familiar with the negotiations describe a productive relationship between the Financial District Representatives and Metro brass.  At last week’s Board Meeting, staff did provide a quick update to the Metro Board that “one of the methods discussed is using tunnel boring machines to go as far south as 5th Street, instead of 4th Street, to reduce the part of Flower where cut-and-cover methods would be used.”  This compromise could meet both of the major concerns that changes to the planned environmental documents would have at this late date: that a change could preclude a future station at 5th and Flower coveted by the District and that a change could require a massive re-write of the environmental documents requiring a new public process and months of delay.

While nothing is set in stone yet, it appears that what once appeared to be a major hurdle for the project that is considered by many a transit advocate as the “most important project in the region,” might see only a couple of months of delay due to the changes needed to mollify the well-connected Financial District.

But the delay caused by the ongoing negotiations has brought the project’s momentum to a halt.  The “Little Tokyo Leadership Council” that will work with Metro to minimize impacts of the project construction in their community and will provide feedback in the station design remains unformed.  Last week The Source published renderings of what stations could look like for the Westside Subway, but station design meetings for the connector haven’t been scheduled.  While Metro can report that there are some initial drawings for Regional Connector stations, they aren’t ready for public viewing yet.  Neither of these needed steps, the formation of the leadership council and the planning for station design, can happen until after the environmental documents are certified. Read more…

Negotiations continue between representatives of the Financial District and Metro staff concerning the tunneling options for the Connector through the district continue this week behind closed doors according to sources familiar with both sides of the negotiation.  Both Metro and the Mayor’s Office have ignored attempts to ask about the status of the discussions and nobody was willing to speak “on the record” about negotiations.  However, there are a few things Streetsblog has learned that it can share.

As Streetsblog reported earlier, a group of powerful businesses and advocacy groups have banded together to demand what they consider equal treatment for the city’s powerful Financial District when it comes to how the tunnel for the Connector is built and whether or not the District deserves its own subway stop.  A strongly worded letter and lobbying effort caused the Metro Board to delay a vote on the final environmental documents for the Connector last month.  The Board vowed to take up the issue this month, but at this moment the exact timeline is uncertain.

A relatively small group has been in the negotiations.  Metro’s team has been headed not by Connector staff, but by Metro’s Chief of Strategic Planning, Martha Welbourne, showing as high a level of commitment to working something out as possible without CEO Art Leahy sitting in on the meetings.  The main topics of discussion is how to come up with a new tunneling plan for the Connector through the Financial District that is less disruptive to the community and still allows for a future station at 5th and Flower.

Representatives of the District have complained that the “cut and cover” method for creating a tunnel for the light rail through the District would create hardship for businesses in the area.  However the fully underground tunneling project similar to what is planned for Little Tokyo and the rest of Downtown Los Angeles would preclude  a station at 5th and Flower.  A station in that area would be approved with the environmental documents, but at the moment there is no funding for such a station in that area.

Advocates for the rail line are worried that if a different tunneling option is agreed to, that a lag would be created in the environmental clearance.  Most Metro watchers, Streetsblog included, believed that the Regional Connector would receive its final approval last month.  Would a new tunneling plan require new environmental studies?  Depending what new compromise is reached, it could.  But the months that a new study would take would still take less time than a lawsuit against the project funded by the obviously well-financed Financial District. Read more…

When the final environmental documents for the Regional Connector were released to the public, we published a Frequently Asked Questions article explaining some of the politics and the issues facing the rail project.  In the body of the article, Streetsblog glossed over the concerns of a number of major players in the Downtown Financial District including Thomas Properties, Westin Bonaventure Fixing Angelenos Stuck in Traffic (FAST), the California Club, Hines and Central City Association about the “cut and cover” tunneling style that would be used to create the Connector tunnel in the Financial District.

Image: Experience L.A.

It turns out that we made a mistake, the Financial District’s representatives had more than enough influence to delay the approval by at least a month so that Metro staff and the concerned citizens could try and work out their differences.  A motion to give final approval to the environmental documents for the Regional Connector were tabled before the February meeting of the Metro Board of Directors.  As we wait for the March Metro Board meeting, Streetsblog offers and updated F.A.Q. on the Regional Connector.

Wait, which one is the Regional Connector Again?

Wikipedia gets this one right:

The Regional Connector (formally, the Metro Regional Connector Transit Corridor Project, also known as theDowntown Connector or Downtown Light-Rail Connector) is a proposed mass-transit rail project to create a newlight-rail corridor through Downtown Los Angeles. The purpose of the corridor is to connect the Blue and Expo Lines to the Gold Line and Union Station. The corridor would become part of the Los Angeles County Metro Rail System.

What is the hold-up?

A Downtown group of businesses and interests in Downtown’s financial district including Thomas Properties, Westin Bonaventure Fixing Angelenos Stuck in Traffic (FAST), the California Club, Hines and the Central City Association are laying the groundwork for a lawsuit against the Regional Connector’s drilling plans.  In every other part of the Connector project, a boring machine will be used to create the tunnel the Connector will run through.  In the Financial District, a less expensive “cut and cover” method will be used.  A lot of construction in a “cut and cover” plan happens at the street level, and the Financial District businesses worry that they will lose a lot of business as construction drags on .

Curbed obtained a copy of the letter sent by the business leaders to Metro outlining their concerns.

What are the next steps? Read more…

(We just found out from Metro, via email and The Source, that the Regional Connector discussion is being moved until next month so “local concerns” can be addressed in the financial district. – DN)

It wouldn’t be the Metro Board of Directors without some drama.  Read the full agenda for tomorrow’s meeting of the Board by clicking here.

It appeared that, despite some grumbling about the exclusion of a station at Fifth and Flower, that the Regional Connector debate was over.  The Final Environmental Documents had completed public comment, the Little Tokyo community was mollified, and the billionaire with the napkin drawings was out of the picture.

Zev's got a pair of motions sure to cause some debate tomorrow. Photo: Deseret News

But last week, a motion by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky presented at committee caused a stir amongst transit watchers.  The motion overruled a staff recommendation to award another three-quarters of a million dollars for public outreach to the Robert Group, to complete outreach for the plan.  Yaroslavsky wants to see some fiscal numbers on how past monies were spent before the Board awards a new contract.

The motion caused consternation from some Regional Connector supporters.  At last Friday’s mayoral forum, I was approached by a prominent Downtown resident who asked me, “Is the Regional Conenctor in trouble?”  A second person at the same event wondered whether the Supervisor planned to delay Regional Connector in a scheme to speed up the Westside Subway.

Yaroslavsky claims that wasn’t the intent, his motion is just a matter of making sure Metro is spending its consultant dollars well.

“The Regional Connector is an important project, and I want to see it happen,” the Supervisor stated in a phone interview.  ”Three quarters of a million dollars is a lot of money and I just want to make sure we’re spending it properly.  The funding is being held over until next month and the contractor still has funds from us to cover continued outreach needs in that time.” Read more…

Or, we could spend $81 million to buy about this much of the High Speed Rail project.

While Metro has a dozen transit projects under construction or in the works, two have always stood out for the attention they attract.  The Westside Subway has always been the jewel of the transit agency’s plans, capturing the imagination of the transit starved city.  But, it was the Regional Connector, the Downtown light rail project that will unite them all that has been viewed by many as the most important of these projects.

As more and more environmental documents are published and review periods begin, Streetsblog is going to write an impartial F.A.Q. to update our readers to what’s going on, why they should care, and how to get involved. Given the medium in which we write, we’ll be updating the comments section regularly, so if we don’t answer your question in the FAQ, leave it in the comments section and we’ll get to it.

Today begins the public comment period on the Regional Corridor Environmental Impact Statement.  You can read the final environmental documents, by clicking here.

Streetsblog will feature ads for the Regional Connector Final EIS/EIR throughout the next 30 days.

Wait a second, I thought the environmental documents were released last week?

They were. The documents were released last Friday, but the public comment period didn’t begin until today. They didn’t want to begin the comment period right before a three day weekend, so the extra week gave people interested in commenting a little more time.

Comments may be submitted via email to regionalconnector@metro.net. Alternately, comments can be sent by U.S. mail to: Dolores Roybal-Saltarelli, Project Manager, One Gateway Plaza, 99-22-2 Los Angeles, CA, 90012. The public may also comment on Metro’s website by clicking on “Contact us.”  Comments are due by February 20.

What does this mean for the project timeline?

Once public comment on the document is completed, staff will have a chance to respond to comments before the Metro Board of Directors certifies the documents.  Assuming there is no legal challenge, Metro could be ready to start hiring design contractors by the spring of this year.  The Board is expected to vote on the documents at their February 23rd Board Meeting, but could easily delay the final decision.

What does the documents say about routing and stations?

The route is entirely underground and will have five stations, three of them are new.  The route begins in the Little Tokyo Arts District, runs down to second street and heads west.  It cuts south on Flower Street before ending at Metro Center.  There is still some talk of adding a station at 5th and Flower, but no funding has been identified for this station.

I Don’t Live Near the Downtown or Little Tokyo.  Why should I care?

As its name implies, the connector will connect all of Metro’s rail lines.  The connector is the difference between having a lot of rail lines and having a rail system.

Is there any opposition to the Regional Connector?

It’s a rail project in Los Angeles.  Of course there’s opposition!  In this case, the opposition comes from businesses in the Little Tokyo area that are worried that construction will cause too much noise and chaos for the businesses to remain open.  Metro created a committee to work with impacted businesses and provide some sort of compensation for business lost.

This is one long document, I need help finding what I want to read!

Email your questions to regionalconnector@metro.net

If you have another question, leave it in the comments section.  We’ll do our best to get you an answer, so check back throughout the day.

Nothing comes easy.

For over a year, Regional Connector seemed a sure bet to earn quick passage from the Metro Board of Directors later this year.  A route and station plan compromse was reached with the Little Tokyo community that left rail advocates and community activists feeling good.  Partial funding for the project was approved in Measure R.  The Metro Board of Directors certified the draft environmental documents and a locally preferred alternative route in December of 2010.  Without some major change to either the politics or environmental review, the project will most likely be certified by the end of the year, and given the bi-partisan support for America Fast Forward might be in line for federal dollars.

The Regional Connector is a proposed mass-transit rail project to create a new light rail corridor in Downtown Los Angeles that would connect the Blue and Expo Lines to the Gold Line and Union Station.  Metro is currently accepting comments on the Final Environmental Impact Report and final approval is expected later this year.

Community Connector Coalition

In a letter, dated August 30 (embedded above), to Metro and Federal Transit Authority staff, a shadowy group known as the Community Connector Coalition(CCC) is urging Metro to throw out all of the work already done on the routing and environmental studies of the Regional Connector and start over with a new route drawn on top of a google map.  The membership of the group is left secret, a google search of the name produced links to the letter above which I just uploaded last night and nothing else.  So why does this letter scare the bejeezus out of some Regional Connector supporters?

Because the letter is signed by Eli Broad.  Yes, the Eli Broad who is a billionaire philanthropist who has an art collection you might have heard of and certainly has the ear of many a Democratic politician.  In a sign that Broad is playing for keeps, the contact information with follow-up questions on the letter isn’t a planning firm, but a high-powered corporate legal firm. Read more…

If Downtowners want to see a Regional Connector Station at 5th and Flower, they're going to have to find the money themselves. Photo:Clovis Bouhier/PBase

Here’s a quick rundown of the major votes by today’s Metro Board. Each of these five motions were discussed at Streetsblog over the last couple of weeks, and links to those stories can be found at the end of each summary.  Streetsblog will have links to all news reports on today’s meeting tomorrow.

Westside Subway Locally Preferred Alternative/Environmental Studies
As expected, the Metro Board of Directors unanimously voted to approve the Westside Subway “Locally Preferred Alternative” as the 9 1/2-mile route to the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Brentwood from the current end of the Purple Line at Wilshire/Western in Koreatown.  Despite over an hour of public comment from the Beverly Hills’ NUMBY’s, there was no decision made on whether the subway should have a stop on Santa Monica Boulevard in Century City or Constellation Avenue.

Yaroslavsky’s motion, which seemed to place the concerns of Beverly Hills regarding the Constellation Avenue/Santa Monica Boulevard debate ahead of those of other communities, was amended by the author to urge the staff to provide a detailed account of the impacts of both alternatives through the Westside.  This would have happened regardless under the Final Environmental Impact Statement that the Board approved funding for today.  For background on this motion, read yesterday’s Streetsblog story or an update on today’s vote from LA_Now.

Regional Connector Locally Preferred Alternative/Environmental Studies
The Metro Board also approved the “Locally Preferred Alternative” and funding for the environmental studies needed for the Regional Connector.  The debate was dominated by Little Tokyo business groups concerned that “cut and cover” subway construction would disrupt the community and cost them business. Downtown interests and LA City Councilwoman Jan Perry also expressed concerns about the exclusion of the 5th and Flower stop from the LPA.  The Board narrowly voted to exclude the 5th and Flower for now, but left the door open to include it in the environmental studies, if local businesses raise the roughly $2 million needed for that part of the study.  For more background, read this story at Streetsblog or an update on today’s vote from Blog Downtown.

“BikeWood” Hub at Hollywood and Vine Read more…