South LA

The first round of the "Last Battle of Farmdale" has been decided, and it appears to be a rout for those supporting the creation of a new station for the Expo Line at the intersection of Farmdale and Exposition Boulevard in front of Dorsey High School. Yesterday afternoon, California Public Utilities Commission Administrative Law Judge Maribeth A. Bushey ruled that the construction of an at-grade station satisfies C.P.U.C.'s safety requirements for the intersection. The full C.P.U.C. Committee can overturn Bushey's decision after public comment, which ends on July 13, but Bushey's ruling is a blow to those fighting for a grade-separates Expo Line.

To say that the proposed rail crossing for the Expo Line on Farmdale Avenue near Dorsey High School is controversial would be like saying that a few cyclists have issues with the way L.A. designs its streets...it would be a gross understatement. Now, with a hearing date of June 1 set by the California Public Utilities Commission over a plan to build a station at the Farmdale crossing, the Expo Line might finally be facing its last hurdle before Phase I is completed.

Over the weekend, the L.A. Eco-Village blog wrote about new bike lanes appearing over a 1.6 mile stretch of Hoover Street in South L.A. between 98th and 120th street.  A day later, the LADOT's Bike Blog picked up its own story about the lanes, noting that Hoover doesn't just have bike lanes, but underwent a road diet, narrowing the car travel lanes from four to two.

One thing that the National non-profit the Urban Land Institute and Streetsblog have in common is we both have strong views about Transit Oriented Development.  Another thing we have in common?  We both think the state of transit oriented planning in Los Angeles could really use improvement.

The strange saga of the Expo Light Rail Line continued yesterday when Judge Maribeth Bushey of the California Public Utilities Commission issued a proposed amendment to the environmental documents for the Expo Line Phase I that would allow the construction of a rail station at the intersection of Exposition Boulevard and Farmdale Avenue, right next to Dorsey High School.  The CPUC has previously ruled that the intersection has to have a pedestrian bridge because the proposed at-grade design was ruled unsafe.  You can read the full text of Bushey's proposal, here.  If you're just interested in reading about the design of such a station, post #872 on the Expo Forum on the Transit Coalition message boards has the details.

Too often, activists undertake a successful campaign of some sort and move on to the next campaign without taking the time to document what made their efforts such a success.  Not so with the recent Bike Parking Campaign in Pico-Union/Westlake undertaken by the City of Lighs/Ciudad de las Luces program of the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition.  While the campaign took the time to document their efforts in a blog post, the more accessible Bike Parking Resource Guide could be a guide book for any community that wants to take bike parking seriously.

Earlier today the Metro Board of Directors unanimously approved the light rail alternative for the Crenshaw Corridor and agreed to study making the light rail run underground for a dozen blocks between 48th and 59th street over the plans of the Metro staff. According to a press release, "The light rail alternative will be 8.5 miles in length from the Metro Green Line Aviation Station to the Expo Line, now under construction, at Crenshaw and Exposition boulevards, with a travel time estimated at 20 minutes. There will be seven new stations plus an option for one more. The final Environment Impact Study/Environment Impact Report could be ready by the end of 2010, with the line scheduled to open in 2018."

In what can only be considered a win for County Supervisor and Metro Board Member Mark Ridley-Thomas the Metro staff is now recommending that light rail, not Bus Rapid Transit, be brought to the Crenshaw Corridor. Ridley-Thomas has been active behind the scenes and in front of the microphone pushing for adequate funding for light rail for his district.

Sunday's Crenshaw Crush drew cyclists from all over the city to Leimert Park, home of the Drum Circle, for a bike ride that introduced riders to the history, the culture, the politics and the people of the Crenshaw District.