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About LinkBacksThanx,CA. Alrighty sediment, can you give us the federal and local funding percentages?Originally Posted by CaliforniaAdventurer
Thanx,CA. Alrighty sediment, can you give us the federal and local funding percentages?
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Make him say "please", sed.
Please Please Me, Sed...
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsHFS6PGPG8]YouTube - The Beatles - Please Please Me (My Stereo Remix) NO DUOPHONIC![/ame]
To Boldly Go Where No MiceChatter Has Gone Before!
Ok, sed will find out then Bruce will say something brilliant.
And I know Uncle Bob is reading along, he gets a shout out, too.
You mean, something brilliant and insightful like "Wow!" That much to install it all again new? It wouldn't have cost near that much to rehab the old rails if they'd have just left them 'abandoned in place' for the future..."
And I know Uncle Bob is reading along, he gets a shout out, too.
And there would be other advantages - If the old rails were still there and occasionally used for a load of freight going to that one lumberyard or cement plant out at the end of the line, and the residents knew that service could be started back up at any time, then they couldn't make those NIMBY claims of "You can't put a new rail line there! It's too close to the High School and UNSAFE!" Because it was always there, just not used much.
--<< Bruce >>--
There's No Place Like 127.0.0.1
Can rail that was paved over be uncovered and put back into use?
Don't see why not... The only question would be if the ties are still solid and the ballast hasn't settled too bad in the dead years.
If they have trenched underneath the tracks to punch any utility or storm drain lines and didn't re-compact properly (which is darned near impossible working from the sides) there will be spots where it settles. You could still run a freight down it r-e-a-l s-l-o-w and "Watch it wobble, See it wiggle" but I wouldn't try going any faster than a walk till you know what will happen.
You'd probably want to rip up the pavement and inspect/replace as needed - and should anyway, because the street itself is usually in pretty bad shape if the tracks are still there - they can profile it off and pave another inch-thick skim layer of asphalt over the bad roadway, but if the substructure is mushy the cracks that clearly show where the tracks run will pop right back through in months.
Probably a ton of loose or missing spikes, luckily they have ways to fix that - a ROW Maintenance machine that pulls the spike, squirts epoxy in the hole, and drives a larger spike. Make sure the bolts on the joiners are still tight, replace the Cadweld bonding links between the rail sections or swap it out for fully welded rail... Point being the Right Of Way would still be clear.
Where it is bad is when Local Governments in their infinite stupidity have made the old ROW impassible. They allowed a new building to encroach too close to the tracks, or they sold off a few lots and built things that can't easily be moved.
Or in the case of the old subway sections of the PE and LARy through Downtown LA, they allowed newer high-rises to punch a few of their foundation piles right through the abandoned tunnels. Hard to drive a train through a big hunk of reinforced concrete holding up a building... They would have to start over or go around - or try to make a big header and pillar system in place and re-route the loads so they can remove the piling, which would be a real piece of work underground.
--<< Bruce >>--
There's No Place Like 127.0.0.1
Sorry, folks, I don't know anything about funding.
Second, I thought there were some parts of the Orange Line tracks that were pulled up. Still, It's just laying track. How hard could it be? The hard part is getting the land.
Third, monorail! monorail!!! monorail!!!!!
Mono... doh!!
Question is mainly: over the top of freeways or underneath them? Safety might require them to be above (so idiot people can't climb up them too easily). And, is there enough room to build the monorail while the buses still run?
Fourth, the "special interests" at LAX are the parking lot owners. My response is that a few of the lots will just have to be used as something else, assuming they're not in the planes' way.
Fifth, I agree with CA that the walk from Metrolink to the Bob Hope Airport isn't so bad -- maybe a little bit of work for Southwest flights, but real nice for United. That's why luggage has wheels. I've done it a few times myself. Scheduling is the hardest part, but 1.5-2 hours waiting in an airport is standard these days. Waiting for the train on the way back is a little more problematic. I usually try to get ride from someone nearby: parents, parents-in-law, etc.
Last edited by sediment; 12-09-2009 at 10:17 AM.
"Here You Leave the World of California Today and Enter the World of, um, er, California Today."
U.S. Senate Committee Allocates $2.5 Billion for High Speed Rail
Continue reading U.S. Senate Committee Allocates $2.5 Billion for High Speed Rail.Earlier this fall, the House of Representatives allocated $4 billion for High Speed Rail in the 2010 transportation bill. Then along came the Senate with a proposal to cut that to $1.2 billion. That changed yesterday.
“The Consolidated Appropriations Committee bill included $2.5 billion for high-speed rail for fiscal year 2010, more than doubling President Barack Obama’s original recommendation of $1 billion and the Senate’s original $1.2 billion figure, but still short of the $4 billion recommended by the House," explained Erin Steva of CALPIRG, a non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organization. The full Senate is expected to vote on the matter soon. Once passed, the money will be sought for by California and other states in a competitive grant process.
.To Metro, the new 902 bus that begins service on December 13th will relieve congestion on the Orange Line. But for transit advocates at Southern California Transit Advocates, there are plenty of reasons to be opposed to it, including this point:
How can a third of a billion be invested in a busway that now calls for supplemental express service on parallel surface streets a mere four years after opening? This seems to bespeak of defects in the design of the facility or shortcomings in the basic underlying assumptions behind it. In any case, these issues should be explored before any significant investments are undertaken that are born of a need to fix mistakes in the conception or execution of the Orange Line.The Orange Line Van Nuys Station is the second most used stop next to the NoHo Station where riders transfer to the subway.
Transit Advocates Question New NoHo to Northeast Valley Bus - LAist
Interesting. They're complaining about more service, and that the Orange Line's popularity was underestimated.
Now, $300 million to lay 15 miles of pavement over rails on a right of way: that certainly is too much. But then, 25000 riders a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year is over $8 million per year. 37 years, and it will have paid for itself. (Weekend riding will lower that break-even point.)
Also, the wiki page on the Orange Line notes that parts of the tracks have been removed, and that some of the surface of the transitway were replaced only after about a year of service. I'll chalk that up to poor construction of those parts, or possibly bad weather damage.
Last edited by sediment; 12-09-2009 at 02:56 PM.
"Here You Leave the World of California Today and Enter the World of, um, er, California Today."
MTA approves $1.7-billion rail line along Crenshaw Boulevard
The line is the biggest beneficiary to date from Measure R, the half-cent sales tax for transportation that L.A. County voters approved last year.
Officials said they hope to break ground on the project in 2012 or 2013 and hope to open the line in 2018.
Map:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...534229.graphic
Last edited by CaliforniaAdventurer; 12-11-2009 at 10:32 AM. Reason: Link to map
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Besides news of the CRENSHAW CORRIDOR Line being greenlit, to connect the Green and Expo lines.....
Another project on the MTA's radar would link the Expo/Blue Lines to the Gold Line through Downtown LA. Without transfering from 7thMetro to UnionStation on the Red/Purple subway lines, the Expo/Blue light rail trains could connect to either direction of the Gold Line, offering passengers a trip to Pasadena or East LA from Long Beach or Culver City without transfering from one train to another...
-CaliforniaAdventurer
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Pasadena Star News - 12/09/2009
Our View: Regional Connector will link up our region
Our View: Regional Connector will link up our region - Pasadena Star-NewsCONNECTING our region by rail line to other parts of Los Angeles County - Downtown L.A., Hollywood, the San Fernando Valley - is the ultimate goal of rail planners. After all, if you can't get there from here by train, you might as well drive.
While we have been advocates of the San Gabriel Valley getting its share of rail lines built, we also see the bigger picture. Now that the Metro Board of Directors agreed in October to fund the Gold Line Foothill Extension's first leg from east Pasadena to Azusa (at Citrus College/Azusa Pacific University), it's time to plan for future connecting light-rail lines.
One of those planned is the two-mile long Regional Connector line, which is aptly named: It will connect to the existing Gold Line at the Little Tokyo Station, moving passengers directly to the Long Beach Blue Line and the under-construction Exposition Line, which by 2011 will run from 7th Street in Downtown L.A. to Culver City.
Why is such a connector line so important for San Gabriel Valley light-rail riders? Because there's a flaw in our region's still young and growing light-rail system. The lines don't always connect. In fact, they rarely overlap. Riders who have ridden rail lines in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C. and even the Bay Area expect rail lines to connect and to reach their destinations without getting out, changing trains, changing lines and platforms.
This is not the case with most of our light-rail and subway lines. The result is an inconvenient trip, one that often takes longer than if the trip was made by car, which is why many have not switched from car to rail.
With a completed Regional Connector, which will cost a cool $1 billion, a rider can get on a Gold Line Eastside train in Monterey Park or East Los Angeles and get to Staples Center for a Lakers/Clippers/Kings game, or to L.A. Live across the street, site of concerts, museums, movie theaters and restaurants. The MTA is still deciding where the stations will go, but we would recommend stops at the Disney Hall (supported by Los Angeles County taxpayers) and the financial district. This would open up the rail choice to weekday commuters who work in these more far-flung Downtown locations and to weekend riders and tourists who want an easy, convenient way to reach L.A.-area destinations and events without driving and paying for parking.
We support the funding of the Regional Connector in the Metro's Long Range Transportation Plan, which right now would get $160 million. Metro has asked that each of the five subregions of the county served by the Regional Connector pay a one-fifth share of that start-up costs. This is a reasonable and appropriate funding approach. We also support the Metro going after Federal New Starts funding for the balance.
The Regional Connector is a project that would add riders to both Gold Line Eastside and Gold Line Foothill. It fills in some connectivity missing from a nascent rail line system that is behind other big metropolitan areas - but rapidly catching up.
Comprehensive Rapid Transit Plan for the City and County of Los Angeles (1925)
Mass Rapid Transit Plan Concept Maps
Past visions of Transportation's Future in Los Angeles
Mass Rapid Transit Plan Concept Maps
Nice page! On MTA's web site, too!
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