LA Streetcar Selects Locally Preferred Alternative
March 15, 2012 6 Comments
Metro and the LA Streetcar announced late last week the selection of a locally preferred alternative (or LPA) for the Downtown LA Streetcar project. With this, the full Alternatives Analysis is being sent to the Metro Board for review — but the LPA is presented as the preferred option.
I closely examined the alternatives in a post back in December. While my preference is Alternative 4 (which travels east on 9th Street), the study recommends Alternative 7 (traveling east on 7th Street) as the LPA. It does, however include Alternative 4 as a secondary option and recommend that both be studied as the process moves forward.
I think they’ve made the right choice, carrying both of these routes forward for further study and eliminating all others. Take a look back at my reasons for settling on these two, and let me know what you think.
Either way, I’m looking forward to this project continuing through the analysis process and moving closer to construction.
The LPA for the Downtown Streetcar is route Alternative 7 (with a secondary possibility of Alternative 4).
Hooray for the death of the Grand Ave alignment, with its ugly and disastrous elevated bridge in front of the Biltmore and the Library. Any word on plans to keep the streetcar from getting stuck in traffic if they choose the LPA 7th Street route?
Based on the Executive Summary Metro posted, it doesn’t look like there are plans to help the streetcar on 7th Street. It does say they included the 9th Street option because:
“The Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) is proposing a potential lane reduction on 7th Street that includes the addition of bicycle lanes. This project has not been designed, so it is unclear if it would affect the LPA on 7th Street. Metro andLADOT will continue to work together on both projects, including during the advanced conceptual engineering and environmental documentation phases. Identifying an alternative alignment provides a contingency plan for the LPA shouldthe LADOT project preclude streetcar operation on 7th Street.”
It looks like the 9th Street option is contingency in case it won’t work so well on 7th, but only because of the bike lane, not traffic.
Can’t wait for a Expo Line post (hint, hint), LOL.
One will come, but I’m going to wait until I ride it! The planning process is (obviously) done, so I’ll focus on the user experience.
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