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Statement on Farmdale Ave. crossingJanuary 30, 2008 Bumper-to-bumper traffic between downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica is a front-page issue. The Expo Line can help significantly, and soon. Friends 4 Expo Transit is the grassroots group of volunteers who have been supporting the Expo Line, some for over 18 years. Our motto, "Connecting Neighbors," reflects members from Los Angeles, Culver City, Santa Monica, and across the region. We support the state-of-the-art safety measures proposed by the Expo Authority for an at-grade crossing at Farmdale Avenue by Dorsey High School — which exceed even the Gold Line standard, by including pedestrian gates, crossing guards, and trains slowing during the time that students cross — and urge the Expo Board to move forward with the current California Public Utilities Commission application and resolve the issue as soon as possible. Reopening the Expo Line's environmental clearance for a pedestrian bridge that neither improves safety and convenience, nor satisfies opponents demanding the whole line be underground, could upset the consensus for its consistent design standards, break the budget and schedule, and even kill the project. To not complete this critical transportation improvement would be a tragic loss in mobility, not to mention a huge political embarrassment for Los Angeles that could also hurt our chances at federal funding on future projects. We look forward to the Expo Line opening and providing safe, fast and efficient service to the communities it serves. Attachment
Light rail and pedestrians safely co-exist in many cities, such as here in Portland. This video (YouTube direct link) shows pedestrian gates on the Pasadena Gold Line. Gates would be down only 30 seconds every 5 minutes in mid-afternoon - much less than the 30 seconds every minute a typical traffic signal is red.
East Los Angeles New High School #1 (left) is being built at First Street and Mission Road, right next to where the Eastside Gold Line will run in the median. PDF version (330K) |
