Metro board meeting, Gateway Cities freeway expansion meeting, Vermont/Manchester project branding, Community Land Trusts, Traffic Reduction Study, and more:
- Mondays and Wednesdays - L.A. County Public Health's former daily 2 p.m. COVID-19 briefings are now generally on Mondays and Wednesdays. Watch at the County Channel, Channel 94 on most cable systems, or via the County of Los Angeles Facebook page, where broadcast briefings are archived.
- Mostly Daily - L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti hosts a mostly daily COVID-19 briefing at 5:30 p.m. Watch archived briefings at the mayor's Facebook page or YouTube channel.
- Wednesday 2/24 - The Gateway Cities Council of Governments SR 91/605/405 Corridor Cities Committee will meet, starting at 6 p.m., and consider a proposal to support a new Metro and Caltrans alternative for the 605 Freeway Corridor Improvement Project. The $5+billion 605CIP would expand the capacity of the 605, 5, 60, 10, and 105 Freeways, including demolishing hundreds of homes, mostly in the cities of Downey and Santa Fe Springs. This meeting will be the first opportunity for local elected officials to hear public input and Metro's presentation, to ask questions, and to weigh in - especially regarding the new somewhat-less-harmful alternative that Metro has shared very little information about. The Happy City Coalition is urging supporters to give a public comment about why the freeway expansion is harmful. To view and participate, Gateway COG requests participants register in advance via Zoom. For details, see meeting agenda packet and Happy City Coalition Twitter.
- Wednesday 2/24 - At 6:00 p.m., join the Coalition for Responsible Community Development at the second of three Vermont/Manchester Community Workshops to discuss the naming of the Vermont and Manchester Transit Priority Joint Development Project and brainstorm on logo ideas. The SEED transportation boarding school, which represents the first phase, broke ground last October. The project will also ultimately feature 180 units of affordable housing, a grocery store, community-serving retail, a business incubator space, a transit plaza (serving the Bus Rapid Transit planned for Vermont), and a Metro-operated Training and Innovation Center offering professional development resources for current and aspiring Metro employees. Register for the Zoom link at https://vermont-manchester-branding.eventbrite.com/
- Thursday 2/25 - Metro will host it regular monthly board meeting to discuss and decide numerous matters, including a staff proposal to increase funding for transit policing. The Alliance for Community Transit (ACT-LA) is calling on people to speak out against additional money for policing - see ACT-LA action alert toolkit. The meeting starts at 10 a.m. Details, including agenda and staff reports, at Metro board webpage.
- Starting Friday 2/6 - Local Community Land Trusts are holding a series of virtual town hall meetings on the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA.) Liberty CLT and TRUST South L.A. will host a TOPA town hall Friday 2/6 from 6-8 p.m. via Zoom. Additional TOPA town hall meetings planned for Saturday 3/6 and Saturday 3/13. Details at TRUST South L.A. Instagram and Twitter.
- Saturday 2/27 - Metro will host the third Zoom community meeting on its Traffic Reduction Study - formerly known as Metro's congestion pricing study. Metro will share early traffic reduction concepts to be further studied; participants will be able to ask questions and provide input. Spanish interpretation will be available. Meeting will take place from 1-2:30 p.m. - Zoom registration link. Details at Metro project webpage.
Did we miss anything? Is there something we should list on future calendars? Email joe [at] streetsblog.org
