Two meetings planned for January
From Dolores Quintana
Metro Los Angeles opened a public comment during the environmental review phase of the proposed rail line that would connect the San Fernando Valley through the Sepulveda Pass to the Westside and eventually the LAX-served areas.
The draft environmental impact assessment for the project has been published and you can review the proposed rail routes, both heavy and monorail, and give Metro your opinion on the matter and choose the one that you think best fits the situation.
Interested residents can use these opportunities to comment on the suggestions:
Online comment form: https://bit.ly/SepulvedaCommentForm
By email: Peter Carter, LA Metro Project Manager
One Gateway Plaza, 99-22-6
Los Angeles, CA 90012
By email: [email protected]
By phone: 213.922.7375
If you want to learn more about the options, Metro Los Angeles has set up three virtual meetings online through Zoom:
Tuesday, January 11, 2022, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Registration: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QEfrVMtZRFKYZqPVgz26wg
Saturday, January 22, 2022, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Registration: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QwXtjBgbT8qR7-gO8nghzA
Of the six options available, three are heavy rails and three are monorails.
Option 1: Automatic monorail that runs entirely on the 405 corridor and railroad tracks of the Metrolink Ventura County Line with an electric bus shuttle to UCLA. The monorail would start at the Van Nuys Metrolink station and end at the Expo Sepulveda station. Trains could have anywhere from two to eight cars, with six being the normal length during rush hour. The cars would each take 76 to 79 passengers. The tram would travel 25.3 miles and have eight air stations: Expo Sepulveda, Santa Monica, Wilshire, with a D-line change, Getty Center, US 101, G-Line Sepulveda Station, Sherman Way, and Van Nuys Metrolink Station. It would be connected to UCLA by a separate electric shuttle bus at Wilshire station.
Option 2: Automatic monorail lined up along the 405 corridor and the Metrolink Ventura County Line railroad tracks with an automatic aerial passenger transport link to UCLA.
This option is identical to option one, except that the connection to UCLA is an automated people mover. A footbridge would run from the monorail station on the south side of Wilshire to an Automated People Mover (APM) air station on the north side of Wilshire. The APM would travel on structure primarily along Gayley Avenue to an antenna station near the west end of Bruin Walk on UCLA campus. The people mover would run on the same frequency as the monorail.
Alternative 3: Automatic aerial monorail along the 405 Corridor, an underground section between Wilshire and Getty Centers, then completely airborne along Track 405 and Van Nuys Metrolink Line.
This alternative is similar to the first two options, except that it has an underground section to connect to UCLA and is therefore a bit longer at 26.3 miles. The additional station at UCLA would be a subway station.
Alternative 4: Heavy Rail with an underground section south of Ventura Blvd and as the crow flies generally along Sepulveda Blvd in the San Fernando Valley.
The first heavy train option has almost all of the same stations, there would be no stop at the Getty Center and the same start and end points as the monorail options, but has fewer cars that can accommodate more people, normally each train would have three cars, each of which could accommodate up to 170 people. The train could attach an additional car if necessary. The train frequency would be a bit slower at 2.5 minutes during rush hour. The train route would total 14 miles and the line would run underground between the E Line and a portal south of Ventura Blvd in the San Fernando Valley. North of Ventura Boulevard, the route would generally be on an air structure above Sepulveda Boulevard and the Metrolink Ventura County Line railroad tracks.
The train would have four subway stations on Exposition Blvd (Metro E line), Santa Monica Blvd, Wilshire Blvd (Metro D line) and UCLA Gateway Plaza, as well as four air stations on Ventura Blvd, G-line Sepulveda Station, Sherman Way and the Van Nuys Metrolink station. The connection to UCLA would be at a subway station at Gateway Plaza.
Alternative 5: Heavy Rail with a subway segment along Sepulveda Boulevard and an air route along the Metrolink Ventura County Line tracks in the San Fernando Valley.
This option is very similar to Option 4, the difference being that the route along Sepulveda Blvd is also underground and the only air segment is along the railroad tracks of the Metrolink Ventura County Line. The connection to UCLA would also be at a subway station at Gateway Plaza.
Option 6: Heavy rail that would run completely underground, including along Van Nuys Blvd in the San Fernando Valley and with a southern terminus on Bundy Drive next to the E Line on the Westside.
This option is most different from the other heavy rail options. The line ends at Expo Bundy instead of Expo Sepulveda. The rush hour frequency is every four minutes instead of two minutes. The train capacity is two, four or six cars and is expected to consist of six cars at peak times, with each car having a capacity of 133 passengers. The route is 24.6 miles, with the segment on the Westside generally running northeast between the E Line Expo / Bundy Station and the UCLA campus. The San Fernando Valley section would follow Van Nuys Blvd. This option would have seven subway stations at Olympic Bl (Metro E line), Santa Monica Blvd (West LA Civic Center), Wilshire Blvd (Metro D line), UCLA’s Gateway Plaza, Ventura Blvd, Van Nuys station the G-line and the Van Nuys Metrolink station with connection to UCLA at the gateway, as usual.
The Sepulveda Pass rail project was partially secured through the adoption of Measure M, which is a transport sales tax. In March, Metro Los Angeles approved contracts for two teams to develop these potential rail routes. LA Sky Rail Express, a team made up of John Laing, Skanska, BYD, Gensler, HDR, ACI, and Innova, is working on the suspension railway options and Sepulveda Transit Corridor Partners, a team that includes the Bechtel Development Company, Meridiam Sepulveda and American Triple I, has been working on suggesting heavy rail options.
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