Eastside extension opening and current events

[bluelineshawn]

Seems like it's time for a new thread since the line is open. Actually it's time for the two gold line threads to merge into one topic. In fact many topics need to be merged, but I digress. What I really want to do is offer my impressions of the new line and was hoping that others might want to do the same.

So far Little Tokyo appears to be the busiest of the new stations. It's used by both people heading to Little Tokyo and at rush hour by business people. I imagine that many of them previously used to walk to Civic Center, but are either closer to Little Tokyo or otherwise find it more convenient to take one line instead of two. It's cool to see that so many of the people heading to Little Tokyo are Japanese visitors. That makes me think that the line is helping maintain the area as a tourist destination.

The rest of the line isn't totally unbusy. Not crowded by a long shot, but we're still really early. I'm sure that it will pick up over the next year as more people adjust their travel patterns, but I suspect that it won't really reach its potential until the connector is built.

Yesterday I did see two people cross against the signal at Little Tokyo. One was a guy running for the train and the second was a woman on a bike with a baby on the back. Really no excuse given the signal. Contrary to what I posted in the construction thread, there is a walk/don't walk signal on the south side of the Little Tokyo station. Was that there from the beginning? Because I must have missed it if it was.

The train that I was on (a Siemens) made it from Union Station to the traffic light at Little Tokyo in 2.5 minutes. Even after waiting for the entire light we still made the station in about 3.25 minutes. Would have been 30 seconds sooner if not for the light. That extra bit (I timed 4 minutes on opening day, with a brief stop at the light) makes the ride feel much faster.

It'll be really interesting to see what Boyle Heights is like in 5 years. I've walked around it quite a bit lately and it really is one of the cooler neighborhoods in LA. I suspect that gentrification is just around the corner.

Let's here your thoughts!

[nicksantangelo]

Took it opening day, then came back the following Saturday to check out the entire line (I only went as far as Mariachi Station the first day- so crowded). I agree about the Heights- there are some really interesting shops and eateries, some I have known but quite a few I must've blown by in my car. Made it a point to stop at Purgatory Pizza, which is at the Aliso stop. Quite desolate, save for the new school on the north side of the street. My guess is alot of those warehouses will either be leveled or adaptively reused. The pizza was fantastic, by the way. I like the jog down Indiana to 3rd Street, that was cool and the mix of (friendly) riders was nice to see. Everyone really seemed to enjoy the ride, lots of families, kids and their friends, people like me just checking it out.

There are some restaurants and shops at the end of the line (Atlantic), but not much of a destination, at least to me. A ways to connect with Monterey Park north would be great, because there are a ton of places just north of the 10 Fwy.

[metrocenter]

^ You mentioned improvements in Boyle Heights. Besides the Gold Line and Mariachi Plaza, there is also the new High School in Pico/Aliso, removal of the blighted Pico-Aliso projects, and (depending on your taste in architecture) the new Hollenbeck LAPD station.

In addition, there are two projects that will begin soon, at First/Chicago near Soto Station. The first is a planned renovation of the library, that is supposed to open it up to First Street. (Hopefully it will involve a new fence that isn't so ugly.) The second project is a renovation of tiny Lani Park, the little triangle park right where First Street does its S-curve.

I realize these aren't huge projects, but every little bit counts.

I suspect that there will eventually be some gentrification and some development, once this depression ends. But I wouldn't hold my breath for any non-public projects to break ground any time soon.

[bluelineshawn]

I don't think that gentrification will wait for new projects. I think that we'll see people buying and improving existing homes. Some of the houses are fantastic, but they need some fixing up.

And new projects may come sooner than you think. There is a new project going up here in Carson (Avalon Blvd and Carson St) that was approved after the housing/market crashes. They started construction about 2 months ago and it's already being built and visible from the street. Projects are going to get built when they make sense. Especially somewhat smaller ones like the one here (although it's big for Carson at 5 stories with ground floor retail).

[LAofAnaheim]

Regarding the two parking garages being erected at Indiana and Atlantic stations....will they have ground floor retail?

[spokker]

First accident, and the "Metro is racist" group is on it!

laeastside.com/2009/11/it-didnt-take-long/

How many accidents it will take before the area gets the consideration the residents of South Pasadena received?

There is no question of personal responsibility here. There are no inquiries into whether or not a little Thanksgiving drinking was involved. There is no question that the driver was following all traffic laws and that the train crushed this innocent driver's car.

The only question is an accusation of racism. Lost on these people are the CPUC rules and regulations regarding light rail.

Notice that in Pasadena a semi-exclusive right of way already existed, and that the CPUC requires that semi-exclusive rights of way have crossing arms. There is no reason to believe that if that right of way did not exist that a new one would have been built for the Gold Line, not exactly the highest performing line in the system. There is every reason to believe that if that right of way did not exist, it would have either been street-running light rail or none at all.

Notice that on the Eastside the line is street running because existing rights of way did not exist and tunneling the entire route was out of the question (this would have given the Eastside an unfair advantage over Pasadena, and we don't want that!).

The same principle applies to the Blue Line. No crossing arms on the street-running sections and crossing arms on the semi-exclusive sections where it shares a right of way with a freight track. Not that any of this will quell the cries of, "Metro is racist!"

It's really too bad, because drivers historically do great on Thanksgiving weekend.

www.thetimesnews.com/news/thanksgiving-29969-interstate-wrecks.html

www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-iowa-dangeroustha,0,6903368.story

www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13866498

But when they drive around the light rail, it's Metro's fault.

[bluelineshawn]

From the blog:

The one passenger on the train was uninjured.

an entire train for one person. Sad.

[spokker]

Nov 27, 2009 13:04:39 GMT -8 bluelineshawn said:

From the blog:

The one passenger on the train was uninjured.

an entire train for one person. Sad.

There's the story!

[spokker]

Also, I find it really puts car vs. light rail accidents into perspective when you consider that every licensed driver in California is supposed to know what's in the California Driver Handbook.

www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/speed_limits.htm#speedrrx

Here’s another section specifically for light rail vehicles.

www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/shr_bus_sc_trly_ev.htm#lrv

They say that the area around the Eastside Extension is too confusing for some drivers. They should hand in their licenses don't you think?

[spokker]

Nov 27, 2009 20:24:26 GMT -8 Jason Saunders said:

This is a pretty hashed out topic.

Oh, I didn't know you were tired of talking about it. Thanks for the heads up.

[bluelineshawn]

Nov 27, 2009 20:42:23 GMT -8 spokker said:

Nov 27, 2009 20:24:26 GMT -8 Jason Saunders said:

This is a pretty hashed out topic.

Oh, I didn't know you were tired of talking about it. Thanks for the heads up.

I'm tired of all of your topics and I can't be the only one. The people that you have a problem with on this issue don't even post here.

[spokker]

Nov 27, 2009 20:59:52 GMT -8 bluelineshawn said:

I'm tired of all of your topics and I can't be the only one. The people that you have a problem with on this issue don't even post here.

I will continue posting about it. Consider not reading my posts or putting me on ignore. Thank you and God bless.

To be honest I'm surprised more people aren't talking about it.

[Gokhan]

spokker's posts are quite justified. Many things posted on this board are repetitive, as on any discussion board. Also, most people we address don't read the posts here; so, that shouldn't be an issue either. Last but not least, it's very important to respect individual posters here, even though we don't like their posts sometimes. Otherwise, the threads become unreadable, and the discussion board becomes not fun.

[kenalpern]

Let's all please tone down any harsh rhetoric--whether we choose to follow or ignore any topics is a personal one, and there's only have a problem with new input and ideas when it's bullying and shutting down other people's input and ideas.

[James Fujita]

Of course, Spokker has every right to post whatever he wants, but perhaps there ought to be a separate thread for "train/ car accidents" or "why people who can't follow road rules are idiots?"

I dunno, but it seems like this is the wrong thread for accident reports/ complaints.

bluelineshawn said:

What I really want to do is offer my impressions of the new line and was hoping that others might want to do the same.

and while safety issues might be considered an experience, it probably does deserve a separate topic.

==

as for impressions of the new line, I'm finally going to get the chance to give it a try either Saturday or Sunday this weekend, depending upon how the weather cooperates

[adamv]

Nov 27, 2009 7:55:24 GMT -8 bluelineshawn said:

And new projects may come sooner than you think. There is a new project going up here in Carson (Avalon Blvd and Carson St) that was approved after the housing/market crashes. They started construction about 2 months ago and it's already being built and visible from the street. Projects are going to get built when they make sense. Especially somewhat smaller ones like the one here (although it's big for Carson at 5 stories with ground floor retail).

Is it on the same lot as that old car dealership? I'm a LA Galaxy Season ticket holder, and we eat down in that area a lot.

[bluelineshawn]

James, I'm not sure that the weather will cooperate, but I'm looking forward to your report.

adamv, No, the old Don Kott/Car Pros dealership is slightly north of Carson Street. It's across Carson Street from the City buildings and across Avalon from the Ralph's. It's where the IHOP, Mexican restaurant, bail bonds (from Jackie Brown), lube shop, and some other small businesses used to be. They have a crane up now so you can't miss it.

Landycakes to Everton. Interesting.

[spokker]

This actually happens on a lot of forums. There are long "mega threads" where a bunch of information about a broad topic is posted, and then the regulars who post in the thread get pissy about which things are right to go in the mega thread and then suggest that others post a separate thread for the topics deemed to be unworthy of the mega thread.

It's just the Internet being the Internet. No harm no foul.

[James Fujita]

FINALLY got my first ride on the Metro Edward R. Roybal Linea de Oro Gold Line today.

I went with my mother, who is a healthy skeptic and always willing to deflate my rose-colored glasses. However, she is fascinated by Mexican/Hispanic/Latino culture and was as interested to see this new rail line as I was. Overall, it was a good trip; glad to have waited for the rain to stop.

I'm going to let my Flickr photos and YouTube videos do the talking, but while I wait for the upload to finish a few observations:

- I gave my TAP card a workout. 1) Starting in Little Tokyo, north to Union Station. 2) from Union Station to the end of the line. 3) from Atlantic to Indiana 4) from Indiana to Soto. 5) Soto to Mariachi Plaza 6) Mariachi Plaza to Little Tokyo

- passenger traffic was not bad for the middle of the day, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the full trip, including lunch at Liliana's Tamales, and an attempt to see the Japanese garden at the JACCC (the garden is closed on Mondays).

- a lot of Metro employees were there, either working on repairs of some sort or another or "just sitting around" as my mom put it.

- station names were mispronounced. "Marry-achi Plaza?"

- Soto station looked better than Mariachi, but Mariachi was quite nice.

- the train did not seem as slow as people have been complaining. it absolutely zipped across the river, and even between Little Tokyo and Union Station it seemed reasonable; quick enough for all practical purposes.

EDIT: Photos are up: www.flickr.com/photos/22038157@N05/sets/72157622878070825/

YouTube videos are also up: www.youtube.com/user/gjljoivey

[bluelineshawn]

Nice update James. I'm looking through the pics now. Marry-achi and San Peedro sound fine to me considering that we live in Loss Anjelus(Anjeles).

[darrell]

Here's a very photogenic location on the Eastside Gold Line this afternoon!

[jeisenbe]

Nice. You've got the Library Tower / US Bank Building, Bunker Hill, City Hall, the Temple and the train all in one shot! That's a nice looking rail line.

[Justin Walker]

Apr 12, 2010 18:47:57 GMT -8 jeisenbe said:

Nice. You've got the Library Tower / US Bank Building, Bunker Hill, City Hall, the Temple and the train all in one shot! That's a nice looking rail line.

Is that fencing along 1st St. some of the new fencing?

[darrell]

Apr 12, 2010 18:58:44 GMT -8 Justin Walker said:

Is that fencing along 1st St. some of the new fencing?

Must be - it wasn't there in a photo I took from the same place last December, but was in March.

[jeisenbe]

The black fencing looks good. Better than the chain link along the Blue Line in Long Beach.

[jdrcrasher]

If there was enough room, both sides of the tracks need to be fenced off to appease the NIMBYs.

[metrocenter]

The black fences were added throughout the Eastside Line. They look a helluva lot better than those little yellow flippy-plastic things that they replaced.

One fence down the middle should do the trick: this will stop people from trying to cross the tracks to get to the other side of the street.

Two fences would probably considered less safe: a person could claim he got confused and went into the track section, and then got trapped between the fences. You can't get trapped between one fence.

[masonite]

Apr 13, 2010 11:10:10 GMT -8 metrocenter said:

The black fences were added throughout the Eastside Line. They look a helluva lot better than those little yellow flippy-plastic things that they replaced.

One fence down the middle should do the trick: this will stop people from trying to cross the tracks to get to the other side of the street.

Two fences would probably considered less safe: a person could claim he got confused and went into the track section, and then got trapped between the fences. You can't get trapped between one fence.

Now the key question is will they speed up the street running portion of the Eastside Gold Line now that the line has performed well from a safety standpoint, and the fencing is in place?

[darrell]

Here are more Eastside photos, earlier this morning with a better sun angle.





Another train, from two blocks closer to Alameda:



Farther back and cropped:

[masonite]

I was on the Eastside Extension for the first time. I hadn't been on our rail system in a long time, because it is pretty inaccessible for me. I used to ride the system all the time back in the late 90's when I worked downtown so some of my comments aren't going to be eye-opening here.

First of all, compared to back then it is great to see the computer terminals in the Red/Purple Line announce the arrival of trains. It seemed to be reasonably accurate from my perspective. Also, the pre-recorded announcements (I think they were pre-recorded) on the upcoming station were loud and clear and a great improvement over the old days when the driver might announce something and it would be garbled and incoherent.

Angel's Flight was packed and it looked like Grand Central Market was benefiting, although they currently have a few open stalls (those may get filled pretty soon now).

On the Gold Line, it actually wasn't as slow as I was anticipating. It took me only 21 minutes to get to the end. The new black fencing looks good as others mentioned and the new garage at the end station (Atlantic) was open. However, there were only about 15 cars parked in it (apparently fits 266).

Overall, the most disappointing aspect is the surrounding areas are not very conducive for this type of transit in that they aren't all that dense and are basically full of strip malls and fast food joints for their commercial areas. Also, the line crosses freeways numerous times and the whole area is cutoff and boxed in by the freeways. Not many pedestrians on these streets at all. My destination was King Taco, which has its order counter only about 30 feet from the Maravilla station (it really is the King Taco Station).

Very few passengers went through from Chinatown through Union Station and overall the train was not very full even with 20 minute headways. On the positive side, the Little Tokyo station was pretty packed and by far the busiest of the GLEE stations.

One thing that you really have to like about the Gold Line is that you really cross the real culture divide of LA in the matter of a few stations. Where else in the world can you go from one of the hearts of the Mexican American community in Mariachi Plaza to Little Tokyo and one of the most important centers in all of the US of Japanese American Life to Chinatown, all in about 10 minutes or 5 stations or so. I have been all over the world and that is pretty tough to match. The Gold Line and Los Angeles come out looking amazing in that respect.