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Post by Gokhan on Aug 2, 2012 16:16:27 GMT -8
Better late than never to have a dedicated thread for the Expo board meetings. Today's Expo board meeting was probably the longest ever. There was an hour-long heated discussion of the CPUC order for the replacement of the frog. Mark Ridley-Thomas kept disagreeing with Zev. Metro does have a spare frog but they don't want to immediately replace it for two reasons: (1) It can make the problem even worse and (2) it would close down the Expo and Blue Lines during replacement, at least through the junction. Therefore, Expo is hiring a top nationwide rail expert to consult on the issue. Once they consult with the rail expert, they will report to CPUC on how to proceed. CPUC agrees. Zev also mentioned that safety has never been discussed so long at any other Metro or Expo board meeting before and he pointed out the Blue Line accidents that have been happening. They also discussed the noise measurements, which seem to be more or less satisfying the FTA criteria. There may be a few places where it could be excessive by only 1 dBA. If that's persistent, they will do some rail grinding or such at those locations. Listen to the board-meeting audio I recorded and posted online for all first-hand information on the frog and much more. Expo board meeting 2012/08/02
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Post by bluelineshawn on Aug 2, 2012 20:15:37 GMT -8
Good thread and thanks for the link.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 6, 2012 15:55:42 GMT -8
Today's Expo board meeting was centered around race. The matter was the local-hires data reporting. The original project labor agreement only asked for the zipcode and income data. Ridley-Thomas and Wesson are now also demanding race/ethnicity data, which isn't part of the original agreement with the contractor. The contractor is not releasing this info because it's against the company policy and it's not part of their contract agreement with Expo. Zev Yaroslavsky then questioned what has race to do with anything and why the zipcodes aren't enough. Ridley-Thomas and Wesson kept saying that the race data would be useful anyway and it should be reported. At the end, the motion by Ridley-Thomas and Wesson directing the contractor to provide the race/ethnicity data was unanimously approved. There were also a lot of public speakers passionately speaking for the motion, one of them saying that they were already discriminated by the Crenshaw Line having an at-grade section. Listen to all the excitement here: Expo board meeting 2012/09/06
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Post by masonite on Sept 7, 2012 9:21:34 GMT -8
Today's Expo board meeting was centered around race. The matter was the local-hires data reporting. The original project labor agreement only asked for the zipcode and income data. Ridley-Thomas and Wesson are now also demanding race/ethnicity data, which isn't part of the original agreement with the contractor. The contractor is not releasing this info because it's against the company policy and it's not part of their contract agreement with Expo. Zev Yaroslavsky then questioned what has race to do with anything and why the zipcodes aren't enough. Ridley-Thomas and Wesson kept saying that the race data would be useful anyway and it should be reported. At the end, the motion by Ridley-Thomas and Wesson directing the contractor to provide the race/ethnicity data was unanimously approved. There were also a lot of public speakers passionately speaking for the motion, one of them saying that they were already discriminated by the Crenshaw Line having an at-grade section. Listen to all the excitement here: Expo board meeting 2012/09/06Thanks for the info, but I'll pass on listening. These clowns should be focusing on real issues like the lack of TVM machines at Culver City. Apparently, there was a 45 minute wait for the machines on Sat. They should certainly have more than 2 on each side since many people coming to this station need to buy tickets. Even when it is not crowded I noticed on Labor Day people had to wait and some missed the train. For example, even though I have a TAP card with cash value, I had to use the machine to activate a day pass on it. I'd hate to think what would happen if one of the machines ran out of TAP cards or was out of service. Shouldn't Wesson be off the Board by now? Phase II should be represented by local officials in the area not guys like MRT and Wesson who seem more concerned with racial politics than actually building an effective line under budget.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 7, 2012 9:48:36 GMT -8
These clowns should be focusing on real issues like the lack of TVM machines at Culver City. They have no clue when it comes to real issues. I don't remember MRT on the Expo board talking about anything but job creation for the underprivileged or how dangerous Expo Line is etc. Now, he has brought the race issues into the picture and that's probably what they will be talking in the near future. You can replace him with Fix Expo and it wouldn't make much difference. They are also good friends in real life. Someone else I know also bought a day pass and he said he couldn't use it because it kept saying it's not activated. Bizarre...
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Post by masonite on Sept 7, 2012 13:01:48 GMT -8
These clowns should be focusing on real issues like the lack of TVM machines at Culver City. They have no clue when it comes to real issues. I don't remember MRT on the Expo board talking about anything but job creation for the underprivileged or how dangerous Expo Line is etc. Now, he has brought the race issues into the picture and that's probably what they will be talking in the near future. You can replace him with Fix Expo and it wouldn't make much difference. They are also good friends in real life. Someone else I know also bought a day pass and he said he couldn't use it because it kept saying it's not activated. Bizarre... Also, you'd think they could get Caltrans to actually put up a sign on the freeway. Somethink like this shouldn't take half a year. I believe the Expo Authority did ask, but no result yet.
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Post by Gokhan on Nov 10, 2012 19:43:36 GMT -8
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Post by Gokhan on Mar 7, 2013 15:25:15 GMT -8
We haven't done this recording in a while and here is today's Expo board-meeting audio. Mr. Clint Simmons opposed the proposed LAX FlyAway bus for the Expo La Brea Station, saying that it will bring nuisance to his neighborhood. After a weekend repair in February that corrected the track gauge, the junction is now fully fixed and there are no problems with it anymore, all trains running through it smoothly. They still haven't been able to get the required licenses and agreements from various cities and if they can't do so very soon, they will not be able to incorporate the bike path into Expo Phase 2. Expo board meeting audio 2013/03/07
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Post by Gokhan on May 2, 2013 14:47:20 GMT -8
Enjoy the Expo board-meeting audio from today: Expo board-meeting audio 2013/05/02Mr. Clint Simmons pointed out that they run trains in Culver City 20 MPH less because one of the residents complained about noise. They will be able to replace the reversely installed frog there by September, once they get the new frog in August. MRT made a big deal out of the $10 million price increase for the maintenance facility. Unfortunately the relocation of the overhead communication lines (fiber and cable lines) along Venice Blvd is now delaying the construction of the Venice Blvd bridge. In order to make up for some of the delays, Skanksa/Rados will start on the MSE abutment there next month. Other possible concerns for delay are resulting from the relocation of the power lines along Colorado and Sepulveda by SCE. Last but not least, the City is holding and delaying the project by not signing off on the final design over a dispute over the maintenance of the landscape and building the sidewalks on Sepulveda. Rick said that to delay the project over a dispute was a violation of the MOU (mutually binding memorandum of understanding) and he will write a letter to the City, warning them that they will be responsible for all the huge (tens of millions of dollars) cost of the delay resulting from them not signing off on the project.
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f ron
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Posts: 222
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Post by f ron on May 2, 2013 16:29:28 GMT -8
Thanks for the update Gökhan. Do you know the nature of the noise complaint? Too much "clickity-clack"? Is that why they're replacing the frog? It's hard to imagine they'd be going to that much trouble for one complaint unless it had merit.
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Post by roadtrainer on May 2, 2013 18:42:58 GMT -8
Enjoy the Expo board-meeting audio from today: Expo board-meeting audio 2013/05/02Mr. Clint Simmons pointed out that they run trains in Culver City 20 MPH less because one of the residents complained about noise. They will be able to replace the reversely installed frog there by September, once they get the new frog in August. :)I hope the board realizes that Simmons is a pain in the Ash, Who is also opposing any progress on the Rail line. And what frog are you talking about?
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Post by Gokhan on May 2, 2013 22:09:37 GMT -8
Thanks for the update Gökhan. Do you know the nature of the noise complaint? Too much "clickity-clack"? Is that why they're replacing the frog? It's hard to imagine they'd be going to that much trouble for one complaint unless it had merit. Initially they said the frog (one of several in the Hayden switch) had some bad noise dampener and today Eric Olson in his monthly project-status update said that it was installed in the wrong orientation and a new one was in order. A very loud East Culver City neighborhood activist who has a house or villa by the Hayden switch and whom Metro, Expo, and everyone else is terrified of complained about the click - clack and Metro since then imposed a 20 MPH speed limit at the switch, even for a straight run. The normal speed limit there is 45 or 55 MPH and hopefully after the frog is replaced, Metro will no longer be worried that the loud guy will bite and go back to the regular 45 or 55 MPH speed limit. Another noise mitigation they are working on is that they got a new special rail grinder, which will make it possible to grind the at-grade crossings and switches, which wasn't possible with the rail grinder used during the construction. Yet another noise mitigation in the works is that they are trying to get approval from the CPUC to reduce the dBA of the at-grade-crossing bells and focus them into the at-grade crossing.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 5, 2013 14:34:28 GMT -8
At the September 5, 2013, Expo board meeting today, Mr. Clint Simmons said in his public comments that a driver knocked down a portion of the sound wall at Exposition Boulevard and Cochran Ave and broke both hips about a month ago. The morning train service was interrupted. There is still a hole in the sound wall covered with a screen. He was also complaining about the noise and saying that they now started to use different, noisier and shakier trains on the Expo Line. Major milestone: rail-track installation will begin late this month. Bike path is about 60 - 85% into the design. The section between 9th and 14th Streets on Colorado Ave is currently being widened. Major issue: Ongoing SCE utiliy relocation along Colorado Ave. Here is the audio recording but the volume is rather inconsistent: Expo board-meeting audio 2013/09/05
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 6, 2013 11:37:39 GMT -8
At the board meeting yesterday, someone was saying in his public comments that Expo was lying about the local-jobs program. Today, they were recording a speech at the La Cienega Station plaza about it. There was a contractor pickup parked at the plaza, as well as a new-model black Mercedes - Benz at the parking-structure entrance.
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Post by roadtrainer on Sept 7, 2013 16:41:01 GMT -8
At the September 5, 2013, Expo board meeting today, Mr. Clint Simmons said in his public comments It's high time for Clint Simmons to go to the rest home and quit complaining about Expo Rail!
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 9, 2014 15:55:37 GMT -8
You can listen to the January 9, 2014, Expo-board-meeting audio here. There were no public comments. The big news from the meeting today: Expo Line Phase 2 revenue-operation date (ROD): December 7, 2015 Schedule contingency (maximally allowed delay in the schedule): 167 days Expo Line Phase 2 revenue-operation date (ROD) with schedule contingency: May 22, 2016 So, all this means is that Expo Line Phase 2 is currently estimated to open sometime between these two dates. If all goes well, it will open on or near December 7, 2015. Current estimate for the worst-case scenario is a May 22, 2016, opening. In other news, they are now having problems with the Venice/Robertson and Venice/National street reconstruction, as Caltrans is now demanding very deep excavation and reconstruction of the road bed. It's going to cost tens of millions of dollars more than originally estimated. Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc's, price was too high and they will now get a price from Skanska/Rados. It will be at least early 2015 or so before the reconstruction is finished. In other good news, Expo Greenway stream daylighting project between Overland Avenue and Westwood Blvd is moving forward. There will be a motion next month.
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Post by culvercitylocke on Jan 10, 2014 12:35:03 GMT -8
ms with the Venice/Robertson and Venice/National street reconstruction, as Caltrans is now demanding very deep excavation and reconstruction of the road bed. It's going to cost tens of millions of dollars more than originally estimated. Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc's, price was too high and they will now get a price from Skanska/Rados. It will be at least early 2015 or so before the reconstruction is finished. In other good news, Expo Greenway stream daylighting project between Overland Avenue and Westwood Blvd is moving forward. There will be a motion next month. So it'll take longer to rebuild 200 feet of existing road than it took to add an entirely new bridge? Bravo guys, way to get paid over and over and over again. Jeez. that said, the roadway around the bridge is in tremendously horrific shape, it needs an extremely robust rebuild, an inch of asphalt patches ain't gonna cut it.
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Post by Alexis Kasperavičius on Feb 25, 2014 2:10:33 GMT -8
Here we go again, the board is considering a motion to rename: Blue Line: - "Grand" to "Grand/L.A. Trade Tech"
Expo Line:- "23rd Street" to "23rd St/L.A. Trade Tech"
- "Exposition/La Brea" to "Exposition/La Brea Ethel Bradley "
(link)If this keeps up we'll soon have the: 7th/Metro/Yorty/Bradley/Riordan/Villaraigosa/Rosa Parks/Martin Luther King/Emiliano Zapata/Ceasar Chavez Station and Eternal Flame Memorial to Our Brave Troops
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Post by Philip on Feb 25, 2014 9:30:36 GMT -8
All changes that are, for the most part, awful and/or more confusing.
There should be *one* stop designated L.A. Trade Tech - or if they really feel like they need to have two, then there should be some way to distinguish them (i.e. L.A. Trade Tech North, L.A. Trade Tech South, etc.).
Expo/La Brea is fine. If it should be changed to anything, it should be "Rancho Cienega" seeing as its within walking distance of the Sports Complex, a legitimate destination.
And still, Memorial Park in Pasadena remains "Memorial Park" instead of "Old Town Pasadena"...
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Post by masonite on Feb 25, 2014 9:56:21 GMT -8
Here we go again, the board is considering a motion to rename: Blue Line: - "Grand" to "Grand/L.A. Trade Tech"
Expo Line:- "23rd Street" to "23rd St/L.A. Trade Tech"
- "Exposition/La Brea" to "Exposition/La Brea Ethel Bradley "
(link)If this keeps up we'll soon have the: 7th/Metro/Yorty/Bradley/Riordan/Villaraigosa/Rosa Parks/Martin Luther King/Emiliano Zapata/Ceasar Chavez Station and Eternal Flame Memorial to Our Brave Troops Remember, a lot of stations are named after people. Chick Hearn is the Pico Station and Tom Bradley is Civic Center, and Julian Dixon is 7th Street/Metro Center. However, these names never make it onto the station maps or station signs so in reality it means very little.
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Post by metrocenter on Feb 25, 2014 10:23:26 GMT -8
I wish they would focus on the names that really need fixing, like "San Pedro" and "Anaheim" (which should be followed by "Street" to avoid confusing people.)
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Post by bzcat on Feb 25, 2014 10:31:53 GMT -8
Here we go again, the board is considering a motion to rename: Blue Line: - "Grand" to "Grand/L.A. Trade Tech"
Expo Line:- "23rd Street" to "23rd St/L.A. Trade Tech"
- "Exposition/La Brea" to "Exposition/La Brea Ethel Bradley "
(link)If this keeps up we'll soon have the: 7th/Metro/Yorty/Bradley/Riordan/Villaraigosa/Rosa Parks/Martin Luther King/Emiliano Zapata/Ceasar Chavez Station and Eternal Flame Memorial to Our Brave Troops Remember, a lot of stations are named after people. Chick Hearn is the Pico Station and Tom Bradley is Civic Center, and Julian Dixon is 7th Street/Metro Center. However, these names never make it onto the station maps or station signs so in reality it means very little. The ones with people's name are ceremonial names like the names on freeway interchange and are never used in any sort of maps or in daily use. So I never really get why people get all hot and bothered by those meaningless ceremonial names. I think LA Trade Tech is a good addition to Grand but not sure about 23rd Street. But I understand why LA Trade Tech may want its name on both stations... it is adjacent to both stations. The real issue here is that there is no transfers between the 2 stations - usually when you give stations the same name, it implies they are well... the same station. Here, the stations are separate.
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Post by Gokhan on Feb 25, 2014 10:44:22 GMT -8
And somehow amazingly we managed to have National/Palms renamed simply as "Palms"...
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Post by Gokhan on Mar 3, 2015 14:22:17 GMT -8
What has been going on with the Expo Authority lately??
July 2014 board meeting -- canceled September 2014 board meeting -- canceled December 2014 board meeting -- canceled January 2015 board meeting -- canceled March 2015 board meeting -- canceled
4 out of 7 board meetings were canceled in the last 7 months -- more than half the board meetings are not taking place!
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Post by Gokhan on Jun 4, 2015 15:33:15 GMT -8
Click the link below to listen to the audio: Expo board meeting audio 2015/06/04I had to call the communications room to have the audio turned on. I missed the first or first few public comments. There was a big discussion on the bike path and Expo Greenway. I had no idea Overland Avenue had become a race track after the addition of the third lanes, with daily carnage taking place, cars speeding, hitting and flipping other cars, parked cars being sideswiped. They are still hoping to open the line in late March - early April 2016 but the construction delays are severe and can prevent it. Testing of the entire line will begin in July. Next week, testing of the at-grade crossings east of Sepulveda will begin. Bike path between Overland Avenue and Westwood Blvd will be built. It was supported by NFSR and opposed by some Expo supporters who demanded a costly redesign to add up to 13 ft of more space for the Expo Greenway. According to Paul Koretz, City of LA doesn't want to commit to the Expo Greenway in the foreseeable future, which sounds like the Greenway won't be built any time soon if gets built at all. Therefore, the motion was approved unanimously. There was an addition to the motion to change the gingko and palm trees between Overland and Westwood to native trees if there is no cost or to report any additional cost. This could be costly because the nursery has already grown the trees that were ordered a year ago. I am a strong supporter of the Expo Greenway, but personally, as the point of view of a supporter who actually uses the line regularly, I think it was right to build the bike path here now because otherwise the area would be a dirt junkyard for many years, making the access to the station from Overland Avenue impossible during the rain and make the bike path inaccessible from Overland as well. Also, it would look really bad to have a junkyard next to an otherwise beautiful station for many years, reminding me of the situation with the Culver City Station.
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f ron
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Posts: 222
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Post by f ron on Jun 5, 2015 9:15:55 GMT -8
Click the link below to listen to the audio: Expo board meeting audio 2015/06/04I had to call the communications room to have the audio turned on. I missed the first or first few public comments. There was a big discussion on the bike path and Expo Greenway. I had no idea Overland Avenue had become a race track after the addition of the third lanes, with daily carnage taking place, cars speeding, hitting and flipping other cars, parked cars being sideswiped. It's not a daily event but every one of those things you list, speeding, cars flipped and parked cars being sideswiped occur. If you weren't aware of the race track conditions then you may have missed a few of my posts on the subject over the past few months. Truly, what they've done to Overland --create conditions to move the greatest number of cars across the tracks as quickly as possible before the gates are lowered-- is pretty appalling. I take it back. The speeding takes place every day.
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Post by John Ryan on Jun 5, 2015 10:15:12 GMT -8
Such a missed opportunity to put protected bike lanes on Overland
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Post by tramfan on Jun 5, 2015 13:35:31 GMT -8
Overland has become scary ride for a cyclist like me with cars speeding by me. The irony is that they added the extra lane to move traffic faster between the lowering of the gates is not something that will occur until a year from now so it will take some time before the gates will actually slow the traffic down with regular closings; in the meantime we have to deal with this temporary (hopefully) racetrack.
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f ron
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Post by f ron on Jun 5, 2015 13:43:19 GMT -8
Overland has become scary ride for a cyclist like me with cars speeding by me. The irony is that they added the extra lane to move traffic faster between the lowering of the gates is not something that will occur until a year from now so it will take some time before the gates will actually slow the traffic down with regular closings; in the meantime we have to deal with this temporary (hopefully) racetrack. I avoid it all together when I'm cycling but if it's your only best access going north/south, my sympathies to you. Even thought the train is still a year or so-ish away, the signals at the gate are functioning and regulating traffic. I suppose with the trains running the reds will be more frequent and that may slow things down but, honestly, on that street 'green' is code for 'haul ass before the lights change on you!". It gets hairy for pedestrians too. When one walks down the side walk cars come so close at a crazy clip. I've witnessed first hand frequent high-speed incursions to the crosswalk --against the lights with a school crossing guard present. Six lanes (7 if you also count the turning lane) don't belong in neighborhoods. It's only a matter of time before the worst possible thing happening.
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Post by tramfan on Jun 8, 2015 12:06:39 GMT -8
You can thank the Nimby's for this Overland speedway. When they insisted on having an underground crossing and station while Metro was offering an overpass the extra 3rd lane was the solution to still keep traffic at a "normal" pace with the impediment of the crossing gates.
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