West LA

In the tradition of LA Bike Plan.com and Bus Riders Union.com comes a new website Neighbors for Smarter Rail.  Of course, Neighbors for Smart Rail is the name of the coalition of neighborhood and other community groups that are opposing the current alignment of the Expo Line through the Westside until the line runs below-grade.

First, let me assure you that just because I'm moving farther west, Streetsblog isn't going to suddenly morph into a blog that only talks about the Expo Line, Santa Monica and the inner workings of the Mar Vista Neighborhood Council.  I'm not going to start wearing light blue and make sarcastic comments about USC.  Promise.

As predicted, the Westside Coalition of homeowners and businesses opposed to the construction of Phase II of the Expo Line at-grade through portions of the Westside have filed a petition to have the certification of the FEIR for the project overturned.  You can read the full, twenty-six page, petition exclusively at Streetsblog, here, but the rationale for the challenge can be found on page three of the document:

Anyone awaiting word on whether the group fighting to stop or reconfigure Phase II of the Expo Line would file lawsuit doesn't have to wait until March 6, the last day they can file to legally challenge the certification of the Environmental Impact Statement approved by the Expo Board on February 4. At a meeting of Neighbors for Smart Rail last week, the organization was collecting checks and promising from the podium that a legal filing was in the works.

After years of debates, threats of lawsuits, contentious community meetings and even heated discussion on Streetsblog message boards; there was a feeling that yesterday's meeting of the Expo Board to debate the certification of the environmental documents for Phase II would be a momentous meeting.  Predictions of a 4-3 vote either for or against certification seemed a safe bet; with the exception of the Transit Coalition's Bart Reed who predicted a "blowout," everyone I talked to thought it would be close.

Tomorrow's meeting of the Expo Construction Authority Board of Directors promises to be one of the best-attended, most controversial and longest meeting of the body. The Board is scheduled to vote on approval of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Phase II of the Expo Line, and there are still many issues that are controversial with various constituencies. The meeting begins at 2:00 P.M. at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration at 500 West Temple Street. For those of you that plan on listening in at home, you can call in at (213) 974-4700 or (877) 873-8017. Spanish language call information and more details at the meeting can be found at the Expo Construction Authority's website.

I was somewhat heartened last week when coverage of the massive I-405 Sepulveda Pass Widening Project actually mentioned the amazing amount of highway vehicle congestion that will be created by the project over its estimated three year construction phase.  However, I waited to write about the press coverage because I was hopeful that some writer would actually make the connection that the this project could actually create more congestion over the course of the construction than will be "relieved"before induced demand helps fill those new travel lanes back up.  Unfortunately, there is no such luck.  The news coverage ranges from, "traffic is going to be awful but at least everything is going to be so much better when it's done" to "traffic is going to be worse than they're saying because the government is always wrong about these sort of thing."  Unfortunately, nobody is taking on the government's claim that the project is going to permanently reduce congestion in the corridor.

(This is the first in a four part series following up on stories that have run through the year but aren't yet finished.)

The Expo Construction Authority has finally released the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Phase II of the Expo Line with some key changes.  I'll spend more time reviewing the document and talking to some of the key players in the drama over the weekend and will be back with a longer story on Monday.  But for those of you that can't wait to start talking, here are the key changes from the press release, which can be read in its entirety here.  Or you can read the environmental documents in their entirety on the Expo Construction Authority Board website.