Monday, February 24, 2014

Expo's Venice Boulevard Bridge: Six Months Later


Last summer, the two bridges that will carry Expo Line trains over Venice Boulevard were little more than a couple of empty rebar cages.  Just over half-a-year later, the concrete has cured and the only things missing from the above picture are steel rails and catenary wiring.  Now carrying over 27,000 passengers on a daily basis, the Expo Line officially surpassed its 2020 ridership projection seven years ahead of schedule.  That's a positive sign, given that extensions are currently in the works at both ends of the line.  Expo's Phase II, which extends rail service into the heart of Downtown Santa Monica, is expected to open sometime between 2015 and 2016.  Fifteen miles east in Downtown Los Angeles, Metro expects construction to begin on the Regional Connector later this year.  The Regional Connector, which received a $670 million grant from the Federal Government this past week, will link the Blue and Expo Lines to the Pasadena and East LA branches of the Gold Line.  Traveling 1.9 miles between the Financial District and Little Tokyo, the new subway tunnel is anticipated to generate an additional 17,000 daily riders.


7 comments:

  1. Great shots! Can't wait to ride. I only wish that the entire expo line was elevated like this. I also wish there were plans for a spur down Venice Blvd, but isn't that what metro riders wish.

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    1. A spur down Venice or Culver would be awesome, but that would require billions of non-existent dollars.

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  2. A trolly or street car down Venice is a bit more realistic...

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  3. I'm confused...in the updated photo, where is the track?

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    1. The rails have not been installed yet. Still one year of construction to go!

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  4. I believe in Metro's long range plans there are plans to possibly connect the Green Line from LAX to Venice along Venice Blvd-ish type of alignment (see potentially what it could look like http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news/2014/02/18/15879/a-potential-2040-los-angeles-metro-subway-system-m/ ). The funding could become available depending on how Metro reintroduces a future Measure J that will be on the 2016 ballot.

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    1. Metro has studied an extension of the Green Line down Lincoln Boulevard, but it's pretty far down the list of projects. Given the more immediate proposed/under-construction lines on the Westside (Expo, Purple, Sepulveda), I don't expect to see rail down Lincoln Boulevard within my lifetime.

      That map was drawn up by a member of the Transit Coalition Forum as a sort-of "wish list," last summer. It takes some hints from Metro's Long Term Plan, but it's not an official map. I previously covered it here: http://buildinglosangeles.blogspot.com/2013/10/ambitious-fantasy-map-for-metro-rail.html

      While I'd love for LA to have that system by 2040, even a Measure R/J type ballot initiative in 2016 won't put us on that trajectory. Probably not even if it was followed by a third measure in 2020. Something like that would probably require a complete realignment of the Federal Government's transportation funding priorities.

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