South LA

Last week, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the proposed Farmdale Station for the Expo Line, clearing the Expo Construction Authority to begin construction of the station.  The Notice of Availability for the FONSI can be found at the end of the article, or you can link to the relevant documents at the Expo Construction Authority's website.

The Segundo-based Fresh & Easy grocery store chain has earned high marks from environmental advocates for their LEED certified green building designs and hybrid-diesel trucking fleet.  However, the issue of where they place their parking lots and the impact that placement has on urban walkability may trip the green giant's plan to open a store on Crenshaw Avenue.

Yesterday, the New York Times published a piece on the coming Expo Line and what it's going to mean for development in South L.A. and West L.A.  In truth, you should find time to read the entire article, but here's a quick summary in the mean time.

If I had to pick one thing that makes Los Angeles' bicycle scene different than scenes in other cities, there are three things that come to mind: the amazing D.I.Y. Culture embodied by the co-ops, Midnight Ridazz and the City of Lights Programs.  It's not that other cities' bike communities don't have their own co-ops, plan their own massive bike rides, or reach out to minority cyclists; it's that Los Angeles' army of advocates have been doing this work for so long without the backing of any major funders or even the city itself.

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.