Post by JerardWright on Aug 29, 2011 2:38:30 GMT -8
Daily Breeze
Meeting explores ways of connecting Metro light rail system to LAX
By Kristin S. Agostoni Staff Writer
Posted: 08/24/2011 04:23:40 PM PDTUpdated: 08/24/2011 04:29:02 PM PDT
There was no wrong way to offer suggestions on how Metro should one day connect its light rail system to Los Angeles International Airport.
Some people sketched pictures, while others articulated ideas to consultants, who scribbled them onto large display boards.
And a few of the more artistically inclined attendees of the county Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Tuesday night workshop picked up the pipe cleaners, plastic building blocks and other art supplies that covered a center table, and started building their own "model" mass transit systems.
The meeting at the Flight Path Learning Center was the first of three forums designed to gather feedback on how the rail system should tie into LAX - whether it be by a light rail extension, automated people mover, rapid transit buses or a combination of those options. The workshops precede a more formal environmental review process during which alternatives will be explored in detail.
"Tonight and the next two nights is to present to the community, here's the project ... give us your ideas," said Renee Berlin, Metro executive officer of transportation development and implementation.
The Metro Green line today comes close but stops short of LAX, carrying passengers to Aviation Boulevard and Imperial Highway. From there, travelers can board free shuttles headed to the airport.
Another planned Metro line in the works, the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor, would get airport-bound riders a bit closer, bringing them to a proposed new station at Aviation and Century boulevards.
But with that stop still more than a mile from the terminals, the transit agency is planning for a future tie-in. The project would be funded with $200 million from Measure R, the half-cent sales tax increase approved by voters in 2008.
"What we're basically doing is beginning the study and taking a look at how we can connect the Metro system to LAX," spokesman Rick Jager said.
Del Aire resident Peter Carian on Tuesday was among those advocating a light-rail link running directly into the airport as opposed to a rapid bus alternative - along with a future rail connection to LAX that would run along Sepulveda Boulevard from the Westside.
"The biggest complaints about LAX are traffic, and the solution is mass transit," Carian said. "But the mass transit has to replace the need to drive in."
Metro's environmental review process is expected to officially start in the fall and stretch into 2013, Metro officials said. It comes as LAX is embarking on its own master planning effort that also will address mass transit, including the potential for an automated people mover.
Craig Eggers, a member of the Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa and co-chairman of the panel's Airport Relations Committee, on Tuesday urged Metro and LAX to work concurrently so that mass transit goals become a reality "sooner rather than later."
kristin.agostoni@dailybreeze.com
Find out more
To offer feedback about a future connection from Metro's rail system to Los Angeles International Airport, and get details on future meetings, link to metro.net/greenlinetolax/. Another forum is planned tonight downtown, and a third will be Tuesday in Culver City. Call 310-499-0553 with questions.
Meeting explores ways of connecting Metro light rail system to LAX
By Kristin S. Agostoni Staff Writer
Posted: 08/24/2011 04:23:40 PM PDTUpdated: 08/24/2011 04:29:02 PM PDT
There was no wrong way to offer suggestions on how Metro should one day connect its light rail system to Los Angeles International Airport.
Some people sketched pictures, while others articulated ideas to consultants, who scribbled them onto large display boards.
And a few of the more artistically inclined attendees of the county Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Tuesday night workshop picked up the pipe cleaners, plastic building blocks and other art supplies that covered a center table, and started building their own "model" mass transit systems.
The meeting at the Flight Path Learning Center was the first of three forums designed to gather feedback on how the rail system should tie into LAX - whether it be by a light rail extension, automated people mover, rapid transit buses or a combination of those options. The workshops precede a more formal environmental review process during which alternatives will be explored in detail.
"Tonight and the next two nights is to present to the community, here's the project ... give us your ideas," said Renee Berlin, Metro executive officer of transportation development and implementation.
The Metro Green line today comes close but stops short of LAX, carrying passengers to Aviation Boulevard and Imperial Highway. From there, travelers can board free shuttles headed to the airport.
Another planned Metro line in the works, the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor, would get airport-bound riders a bit closer, bringing them to a proposed new station at Aviation and Century boulevards.
But with that stop still more than a mile from the terminals, the transit agency is planning for a future tie-in. The project would be funded with $200 million from Measure R, the half-cent sales tax increase approved by voters in 2008.
"What we're basically doing is beginning the study and taking a look at how we can connect the Metro system to LAX," spokesman Rick Jager said.
Del Aire resident Peter Carian on Tuesday was among those advocating a light-rail link running directly into the airport as opposed to a rapid bus alternative - along with a future rail connection to LAX that would run along Sepulveda Boulevard from the Westside.
"The biggest complaints about LAX are traffic, and the solution is mass transit," Carian said. "But the mass transit has to replace the need to drive in."
Metro's environmental review process is expected to officially start in the fall and stretch into 2013, Metro officials said. It comes as LAX is embarking on its own master planning effort that also will address mass transit, including the potential for an automated people mover.
Craig Eggers, a member of the Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa and co-chairman of the panel's Airport Relations Committee, on Tuesday urged Metro and LAX to work concurrently so that mass transit goals become a reality "sooner rather than later."
kristin.agostoni@dailybreeze.com
Find out more
To offer feedback about a future connection from Metro's rail system to Los Angeles International Airport, and get details on future meetings, link to metro.net/greenlinetolax/. Another forum is planned tonight downtown, and a third will be Tuesday in Culver City. Call 310-499-0553 with questions.
