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Post by gibiscus on Oct 19, 2011 15:48:21 GMT -8
I have an idea for a streetcar serving the Fairfax District and the Sunset Strip. There could be a streetcar turnaround at the Fairfax/Olympic/San Vicente intersection, with the streetcar heading north on Fairfax until Sunset, then west on Sunset until San Vicente, then south on San Vicente to the Beverly Center/Cedars Sinai area, where it can either continue on San Vicente back to the turnaround, or go east on Beverly and south on Fairfax, providing a direct connection between the Beverly Center and Farmers Market areas. There could also be a branch going east from Fairfax on Melrose, then north up Highland, possibly all the way to the Hollywood Bowl...
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Post by matthewb on Oct 20, 2011 15:05:19 GMT -8
I think streetcars should be phased in throughout urbanized LA, but I prefer that they would stick to the major arterials that won't have light rail or subway. There definitely should be something on Santa Monica Blvd., and in my opinion the Sunset Strip would be great for some kind of service. Other candidate streets include Fountain, Melrose, Beverly, 3rd, Olympic, Pico, and Venice (East-West) and Virgil, Normandie, Western, Highland, Fairfax, and La Cienega (North-South). I didn't include San Vicente or Vermont because I think they should get heavy or light rail. I realized I focused on one part of the city, but I believe this is an area that could have enough demand to densify and is concentrated near the city's major employment centers. In practice, a streetcar line wouldn't need to cover every part of the boulevards, e.g. I think it would make perfect sense to route a Beverly streetcar from DT to Normandie and then cut up to Melrose where it could continue West. Once you have a grid covering the densest part of the city, you can get everywhere within it with only one transfer. Lines should run in transit only lanes, and should connect into the downtown streetcar system, too.
To really get this to scale to this extent, financing needs to be based on some kind of value capture for the real estate along these streets. Imagine all the value that will be created once those surface parking lots and gas stations can be turned into midrise mixed use development.
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Post by hooligan on Oct 20, 2011 16:58:29 GMT -8
Hawthorne blvd in the Southbay would also be a good candidate but I'd place the street cars in the middle median. with small stations at major streets if not street cars then a Dedicated bus lanes with station. the street is certainly wide enough. the space is really being wasted through the Lawndale area its being used as surface parking.
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Post by 11ball on Oct 20, 2011 20:10:03 GMT -8
Hawthorne blvd in the Southbay would also be a good candidate but I'd place the street cars in the middle median. with small stations at major streets if not street cars then a Dedicated bus lanes with station. the street is certainly wide enough. the space is really being wasted through the Lawndale area its being used as surface parking. I wouldn't mind seeing rail reintroduced to Hawthorne Blvd. The street's original name was Railroad Ave. DS |
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Post by erict on Oct 21, 2011 5:44:01 GMT -8
There are at least a thousand miles of rail we could easily build in LA County. I would also mention Sunset Blvd., Atlantic Blvd., Ventura Blvd... the list goes on and on. Some need heavy rail, some need light rail, some need streetcars. We need a few hundred billion to build it, and an unknown amount to operate and maintain it.
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Post by bzcat on Oct 21, 2011 10:16:37 GMT -8
I have an idea for a streetcar serving the Fairfax District and the Sunset Strip. There could be a streetcar turnaround at the Fairfax/Olympic/San Vicente intersection, with the streetcar heading north on Fairfax until Sunset, then west on Sunset until San Vicente, then south on San Vicente to the Beverly Center/Cedars Sinai area, where it can either continue on San Vicente back to the turnaround, or go east on Beverly and south on Fairfax, providing a direct connection between the Beverly Center and Farmers Market areas. There could also be a branch going east from Fairfax on Melrose, then north up Highland, possibly all the way to the Hollywood Bowl... Part of the route you proposed will eventually be duplicated by the Crenshaw line extension to WeHo. If you build streetcar loop as you proposed, it will actually undermine the overall mobility in the area by preventing the use of San Vicente for light rail. I don't mind streetcar in the mid city and Hollywood area but I think your loop is too big to be effective streetcar route. It needs to be separated into two different streetcar routes: The first one is two-direction loop that circles La Cienega - 3rd st - Fairfax - Melrose - La Cienega with transfer station to Crenshaw (Pink?) line light rail at the La Cienega/San Vicente / 3rd Street triangle. The second one is east-west route on Sunset that starts at La Cienega and turns up north on Vine and ends at Hollywood/Vine station |
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Post by jdrcrasher on Oct 21, 2011 19:51:20 GMT -8
I think what would make the most sense is having the Grove streetcar extended:
1. West on 3rd street to the Beverly Center (Crenshaw Corridor transfer station).
AND
2. South on Fairfax to Wilshire Blvd (Purple Line transfer station).
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Post by Dan Wentzel on Oct 26, 2011 9:45:27 GMT -8
I'm all in favor of "filling in the gaps" with streetcar service.
We need to see what the LPA for the northern extension of the Crenshaw Line to WeHo to Hollywood is first to know where to optimally put it.
Once the downtown streetcar goes online in a few years, I think there will be LOTS of areas in So Cal that will want their own streetcar service.
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Post by matthewb on Oct 26, 2011 11:45:08 GMT -8
I think what would make the most sense is having the Grove streetcar extended: 1. West on 3rd street to the Beverly Center (Crenshaw Corridor transfer station). AND 2. South on Fairfax to Wilshire Blvd (Purple Line transfer station). That thing ain't street legal. |
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Post by Philip on Jan 23, 2012 0:20:33 GMT -8
There are only a few areas of Los Angeles where building streetcars makes sense to me (outside of downtown, which is getting its own). Those areas would be:
Brand Blvd./Central Ave. in Glendale: Start it at Glenoaks and run it down to Colorado. Then, loop it around Central Avenue. A future extension south could connect with the Glendale Metrolink. Problem is there's really not much on Brand south of Colorado aside from a bunch of car dealerships, which I doubt would generate much interest in a streetcar. This could also be tied in with the streetcar at the Americana.
Green Ave./Union Ave. in Pasadena: As the city has proposed, a loop streetcar utilizing Green, Union, Lake, and Pasadena Aves. would be a great circulator for the city.
Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood: Run it from about Kings all the way to Doheny. Future extensions could occur, but I just don't think the streets are wide enough east of Kings and Beverly Hills to the west would likely oppose it.
There's probably others, but these seem most logical and feasible.
Other areas, like San Vicente, Venice, Vermont, etc. should be getting rapid transit.
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