Metro Expo Line pushes forward toward Santa Monica
Construction on National/Palms Boulevard bridge to begin
Residents in the Palms area saw some traffic changes this week when preparation work began for construction of a National/Palms Boulevard bridge to accommodate the extension of the Metro Expo Line from Culver City to Santa Monica.
On Tuesday construction crews will began realigning and re-striping lanes on National Boulevard between Manning Avenue and Exposition Boulevard, near the Santa Monica (10) Freeway.
Concrete barriers will be installed along National and at the National/Exposition intersection, blocking the area where excavation work will begin later this week, according to the Exposition Construction Authority.
National Boulevard will remain open during the construction work, although one traffic lane in each direction will be closed. The street will be reduced to one southbound lane between Manning and Exposition. The northbound road will remain two lanes, but left turns will not be permitted from Palms onto National, according to the construction authority.
The new bridge will be built next to an existing Southern Pacific single-track railroad bridge over National. A railroad bridge at Motor Avenue was torn down in July to make way for a wider Expo Line bridge.
The $1.5 billion, 6.6-mile Expo Line extension, scheduled for completion in 2015, will allow light rail trains to travel from downtown Los Angeles past the current terminus in Culver City to downtown Santa Monica.
Metro officials estimate that by 2030, 64,000 people will use the 15.2-mile Expo Line daily.
Since its establishment in 1989, Metro’s art department has worked to enrich transit environments with artwork, and has commissioned more than 300 artists to produce a variety of projects.
This year the Metro art program is offering new opportunities for Phase 2 of the Metro Expo Line, which extends 6.6 miles, from Culver City to Santa Monica. Artists can apply for two categories: the two-dimensional and the ionic sculpture.
After a detailed examination of the candidates, including closed-door interviews with both Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel, the community group that has led the advocacy efforts for a Leimert Park Village Station and 11-block Crenshaw Boulevard tunnel on the Crenshaw-LAX Rail Line released their scorecard on the two mayoral candidates. The Crenshaw Subway Coalition grades both Garcetti and Greuel “A-” on the Leimert Park Village Station; and on the 11-block Crenshaw Boulevard tunnel Garcetti receives a “C” and Greuel a “B+.”
The Crenshaw Subway Coalition is gearing up for a possible showdown over additional funding for the Crenshaw-to-LAX light rail line, including a Leimert Park Village Station, but may have to await a May 23 decision by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board on just how bruising—or necessary—a showdown will be.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Voters will decide today whether to extend a half-cent sales tax for an additional 30 years to accelerate public transit and highway projects, including the Westside Subway Extension and transit to Los Angeles International Airport.
An executive with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority applauded the state legislature’s recent approval of funding for the first phase of a high-speed rail project from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
