|
|
Post by joemagruder on Nov 17, 2015 22:38:05 GMT -8
I'm always fascinated by the streetcar track constructors of 100 years ago who could make these kinds of modifications without interrupting service. Indeed, the BART construction on Market Street 45 years ago was done without serious interruptions to service as the tracks were moved from one side of the street to the other.
|
|
|
|
Post by jdrcrasher on Nov 18, 2015 6:18:35 GMT -8
Frankly what I think they should've done in the very beginning when the original gold (blue) line was being developed was transition underground to Alameda after the Chinatown station, with a station right in front of US and continue on underneath the 101, not all these unnecessary aerial curves onto Vignes just so it could stop alongside the Metrolink, only to then have to curve AGAIN over the 101 back adjacent to Alameda.
Sigh if only...
|
|
|
|
Post by thanks4goingmetro on Nov 19, 2015 12:40:47 GMT -8
Hey guys, I work near the site of the 2nd/Hope (Grand Ave) subway station. There hasn't been much to report for a very long time but it seems the utility relocation work on Flower/5th has slowed or is over and now work is happening at 2nd/Hope now that the Broad Museum's restaurant construction is complete and General Thaddeus Kosciusko Way has reopened to pedestrians and auto traffic. The famous hobo encampment and trees on the triangular island behind Walt Disney Concert Hall has been cleared of trees and homeless individuals. So has the clearing across the 2nd St off-ramp next to the water pumping station.   Utility work at 2nd/Hope  |
|
|
|
Post by metrocenter on Nov 30, 2015 11:10:19 GMT -8
Great to see the progress finally being made at 2nd/Hope station.
According to EIR docs, the weird freeway-like section of Flower between 1st and 3rd will be replaced and realigned. The lower-grade lane of northbound Flower Street will be raised, the bridge will be eliminated, and the intersection of Flower/Hope/Kosciuszko will turned into a simple crossing (with traffic lights, of course).
The street realignment will change the shape and size of the "island" which will be the site of the station. So I would guess that the reconfiguration will have to be done before the station is started.
|
|
|
|
Post by bzcat on Dec 4, 2015 12:00:50 GMT -8
|
|
|
|
Post by masonite on Dec 4, 2015 16:19:17 GMT -8
It is forecasted for 2021 now. |
|
|
|
Post by bobdavis on Jan 8, 2016 23:31:25 GMT -8
Closure starts today (Jan 8). The outage was postponed so as not to affect nearby merchants during holiday season. It received coverage on the TV news tonight.
|
|
|
|
Post by thanks4goingmetro on Jan 21, 2016 13:13:47 GMT -8
 Work at the site of the 2nd/Hope St station on Hope Street, the triangular plaza site, and the slope next to the water plant is underway daily in the time between morning and evening rush hours. Does anyone know if the Connector stations will get refined names? In my opinion, 7th/Metro Center should be 7th/Financial District and 2nd/Hope might be better off as: 2nd/Financial District or 2nd-Grand Ave (perhaps too New York-esque for some tastes), or lastly, Grand Ave/Bunker Hill. Just my thought as a lowly Financial District office drone.  |
|
|
|
Post by metrocenter on Jan 26, 2016 8:00:23 GMT -8
LA's "Financial District" has for decades been defined a the stretch of Downtown west of Olive from 5th Street to 8th Street. Even though many of the financial companies downtown are now outside of that area (in Bunker Hill), the name persists.
For the new station's name, "2nd/Hope" is very accurate, but probably not very memorable. I would think "Bunker Hill" would be the best description, since it will be the one and only station to serve all of Bunker Hill directly, and since the name is well known to anyone working or living in Downtown L.A.
Station names usually get refined during the development process, and sometimes even after opening to the public.
|
|
|
|
Post by bzcat on Jan 26, 2016 12:42:53 GMT -8
Changing "Metro Center" name seems redudant because it is already well established name. And besides, the financial district didn't move south to 7th street.
Same with 2nd street... NOT in the financial district. I agree with metrocenter that station should be called "Bunker Hill".
Metro is leaving the possibility of a financial district station on the table with construction of pocket tracks and wider tunnel between 4th and 5th street. We may yet get a "Financial District" station down the road.
|
|
|
|
Post by thanks4goingmetro on Jan 26, 2016 16:50:27 GMT -8
Changing "Metro Center" name seems redudant because it is already well established name. And besides, the financial district didn't move south to 7th street.  I'm afraid the Financial District has just up and moved on us! Or maybe it was always there. Metro Center is still a dumb name and its relevance to place/location in DTLA is dubious especially when locals call it "Seventh and Metro," what does that even mean? I've never heard of a street named "Metro" in DTLA, oh right, in their infinite wisdom they named a station after the function of the station (central downtown transfer point), Metro really broke the fourth wall with that one. |
|
|
|
Post by metrocenter on Jan 28, 2016 10:46:04 GMT -8
They named it "Metro Center", because in the beginning the station was the only transfer station (since there were only two lines in the entire system, and they crossed at that station). It is a major transfer point, so it makes sense it has a own distinctive name.
The full name, "7th St/Metro Center", is a compromise between giving the station it's own name and indicating it's location. But it's a bad compromise. Nobody calls it by its whole name: they call it "Seventh and Metro". So the name just winds up causing confusion.
I would prefer they just rename it as "Metro Center". Lots of people are familiar with that name already. But "Financial District" would work as well. Either way, Metro should do something to clarify the station name before Regional Connector comes online, and tens of thousands more riders start flowing through that station.
|
|
|
|
Post by gatewaygent on Jan 28, 2016 19:40:34 GMT -8
The only reason I wouldn't like to see it named "Financial District" Station is because of the far off distant possibility of one day getting a station between 4th/5th St. Lofty dream, I know, but stranger things have happened.
|
|
|
|
Post by metrocenter on Jan 30, 2016 6:36:58 GMT -8
(Does the fact that my name is "metrocenter" make me biased? Hehe)
|
|
|
|
Post by thanks4goingmetro on Feb 19, 2016 14:55:24 GMT -8
 2nd/Hope construction has revved up. Northbound Hope is now closed north of 3rd Street. |
|
|
|
Post by thanks4goingmetro on Mar 2, 2016 14:42:36 GMT -8
 2nd/Hope site as of 3/1/16 I could see piles being driven in late last week |
|
|
|
Post by metrocenter on Apr 21, 2016 8:28:26 GMT -8
Regional Connector News - April 2016
The Regional Connector tunneling machine has arrived in L.A.! (Check out its twitter account!) It travelled by barge for about a week from Tacoma to get here.
At 2nd/Hope, the bridge has been removed. Major terraforming happening on that block bounded by 2nd, 3rd, Flower and Hope.
Along Flower Street, piles are being installed across the street from the Bonaventure Hotel (between 4th and 5th, east side of street).
The Little Tokyo station has reopened, after a three-month closure to redirect the tracks. This "shoofly" needed to be built to allow construction of the wye of tunnels which will be excavated for the new replacement station, which will be underground at the southwest corner of First/Alameda.
At 7th Street/Metro Center, the new entrance on the south of 7th, into The Bloc (shopping center), has been delayed. Originally set to open at the end of 2015, we're now looking for an opening somewhere near the end of 2016. |
|
|
|
Post by thanks4goingmetro on Jul 28, 2016 11:06:04 GMT -8
2nd/Hope (Bunker Hill) station  I met an archaeologist on my his dig, she says there's been more prior civilization finds than dino bones. 2nd/Hope (Bunker Hill) station  I'm told this will be the deepest station in the system at over 100 feet below the surface. 5th/Flower interconnect  Work has shifted to the west side of flower st. Still excavating and relocating utilities for the TBM launch site. This space will also house a pocket track in the future. |
|
|
|
Post by thanks4goingmetro on Sept 30, 2016 14:54:58 GMT -8
Hey guys, I don't have any pictures to post, from what I've seen in the station areas:
Flower Street
Staging equipment has moved exclusively to the west side of the street (next to the Bonaventure) and there appears to be no activity going on in the street on Flower.
Bunker Hill
This being the deepest station on the line (and perhaps the entire system?) it seems like this has been high priority with tall mounds of excavated dirt appearing and disappearing daily.
2nd/Broadway
I think this is the furtherest behind station, the digging has only progressed just a few feet below the supporting deck beams. The area is just a big open cut.
Little Tokyo
Still digging the station cut, seems more than 30-40 feet deep so far.
|
|
|
|
Post by cygnip2p on Oct 10, 2016 16:01:54 GMT -8
|
|
|
|
Post by jdrcrasher on Oct 10, 2016 18:47:43 GMT -8
I actually kind of like it.
|
|
|
|
Post by johanragle on Oct 18, 2016 10:46:05 GMT -8
This is where I wish Metro's money tree were in bloom so that they could take the opportunity and redo the bridge over the 101 so that the new bridge curves would handle trains traveling 30+ mph. I wish they could coordinate with Park101.org and cap the freeway while they're at it. |
|
|
|
Post by culvercitylocke on Oct 23, 2016 8:08:47 GMT -8
TBM is being lowered into place for the first bore
|
|
|
|
Post by metrocenter on Nov 15, 2016 15:23:16 GMT -8
I went to a community meeting the other day and heard about the proposed name for the 2nd/Hope station. Wait for it..."Bunker Hill/Grand Avenue Arts station". Ugh.
The "Grand Avenue Arts" part of the name is being pushed by the Broad Museum. I think it's BS. Yes, there are several arts institutions on Grand Avenue. But people living/working nearby and around the county know the neighborhood as "Bunker Hill". Bunker Hill is the historical name, and it precisely describes the station's location (given that this station is the only station on the hill, and is pretty central to all of the downtown part of the hill).
Can you imagine a person giving directions to someone, saying that entire ten-syllable name? Nobody's going to say all that. Metro staff has already said they have no idea how they will fit that whole name on the wayfinding signs.
Objections from locals to the length of the proposed name were greeted with a pat on the head from project managers. Basically, in not so many words, "Thank you for your input, but we've already made a deal with the Broad, so your input doesn't matter." Staff will be making its recommendation to the Metro Board next month. |
|
|
|
Post by culvercitylocke on Nov 21, 2016 1:01:56 GMT -8
I went to a community meeting the other day and heard about the proposed name for the 2nd/Hope station. Wait for it..."Bunker Hill/Grand Avenue Arts station". Ugh.
The "Grand Avenue Arts" part of the name is being pushed by the Broad Museum. I think it's BS. Yes, there are several arts institutions on Grand Avenue. But people living/working nearby and around the county know the neighborhood as "Bunker Hill". Bunker Hill is the historical name, and it precisely describes the station's location (given that this station is the only station on the hill, and is pretty central to all of the downtown part of the hill).
Can you imagine a person giving directions to someone, saying that entire ten-syllable name? Nobody's going to say all that. Metro staff has already said they have no idea how they will fit that whole name on the wayfinding signs.
Objections from locals to the length of the proposed name were greeted with a pat on the head from project managers. Basically, in not so many words, "Thank you for your input, but we've already made a deal with the Broad, so your input doesn't matter." Staff will be making its recommendation to the Metro Board next month. When I moved to Los Angeles in 2002 I rode the bus and rail for three and a half years before getting a car in early 2006. In 2016, I still don't know too many of the neighborhood names or local politician names used for rail stations. I couldn't find bunker hill on a map but could instantly point it out on map or give driving or bus directions if you were to ask where second and hope was. and I could describe to you all the many events I have been to in the area by bus, by walking and by car. The point is that if bus stops were named like rail stops I would never have used public transit in the first place because the rail station names are totally in comprehensible to a non native. I lived walking distance to the landmark theatre for a year and never once heard or knew the neighborhood was called Rancho park. Without the 26th street, I wouldn't have a clue how to begin to direct you to a station called bergamot (apparently named after an art gallery?) Even though I've lived in west la for ten years. |
|
|
|
Post by tramfan on Nov 23, 2016 12:54:32 GMT -8
Bergamot station was a stop on the former rail line to Santa Monica. When it was abandoned in the eighties Santa Monica bought it and it became a renowned arts center with many art galleries. So it's a reference to history and art. If all the stations would be named after the streets it would become very boring and confusing. A lot of streets in LA and the suburbs have numbers. Would you call the stations on the Expo line 4th Street, 17th Street, 26 Street? I have been to 7th Street many times but never to go above ground and check out what this 7th Street actually is. I use Metrocenter because that's what I use it for; to connect with the Blue, Red and Purple line. That after living 10 years in our neighborhood you were oblivious to the fact that it's called Rancho Park, says more about you than the name of the neighborhood.
|
|
|
|
Post by metrocenter on Nov 23, 2016 13:31:25 GMT -8
Metro wants your opinion on the new station names. You can give your input here. It takes less than a minute. My votes were: - Little Tokyo/Arts District (same name as the old station)
- Broadway
- Bunker Hill
|
|
|
|
Post by thanks4goingmetro on Nov 23, 2016 14:06:30 GMT -8
Bergamot station was a stop on the former rail line to Santa Monica. When it was abandoned in the eighties Santa Monica bought it and it became a renowned arts center with many art galleries. So it's a reference to history and art. If all the stations would be named after the streets it would become very boring and confusing. A lot of streets in LA and the suburbs have numbers. Would you call the stations on the Expo line 4th Street, 17th Street, 26 Street? I have been to 7th Street many times but never to go above ground and check out what this 7th Street actually is. I use Metrocenter because that's what I use it for; to connect with the Blue, Red and Purple line. That after living 10 years in our neighborhood you were oblivious to the fact that it's called Rancho Park, says more about you than the name of the neighborhood. 7th Street is DTLA's Restaurant Row, no one is clamoring to have that appended onto the station name. I think 7th St/Financial District is somewhat more appropriate than Metro Center. I know Metro Center is suppose to mean something about several rapid transit transfer connections and it's the most busy station, but that does not confer a sense of place the way Financial District does if the amount of people in dark suits (myself included) exiting that station isn't enough. If I could rename the inter-lined stations from Pico to Little Tokyo I'd name this way: Pico/South Park 7th St/Financial District Grand Ave/Bunker Hill Broadway/LA Times Sq Little Tokyo |
|
|
|
Post by metrocenter on Nov 25, 2016 9:44:12 GMT -8
If I could rename the inter-lined stations from Pico to Little Tokyo I'd name this way: Pico/South Park 7th St/Financial District Grand Ave/Bunker Hill Broadway/LA Times Sq Little Tokyo Not bad: I like the street/destination pattern. I might go with: Pico/Convention Center (for the benefit of visitors) 7th/Financial District (no need for "St") Grand/Bunker Hill (no need for "Ave") Broadway/City HallLittle Tokyo/Arts District (doesn't fit the pattern, but it's already an accepted name, and serves two distinct neighborhoods) |
|
|
|
Post by bluelineshawn on Nov 25, 2016 12:08:43 GMT -8
If I could rename the inter-lined stations from Pico to Little Tokyo I'd name this way: Pico/South Park 7th St/Financial District Grand Ave/Bunker Hill Broadway/LA Times Sq Little Tokyo Not bad: I like the street/destination pattern. I might go with: Pico/Convention Center (for the benefit of visitors) 7th/Financial District (no need for "St") Grand/Bunker Hill (no need for "Ave") Broadway/City HallLittle Tokyo/Arts District (doesn't fit the pattern, but it's already an accepted name, and serves two distinct neighborhoods) Both are good ideas. I'd split the difference. Get rid of street/ave, keep South Park, and switch LAT for city hall. I'd get rid of arts district for the little Tokyo station under the assumption that the red/purple lines will get the arts district station. That really needs to happen. The arts district is pretty close to being the hottest neighborhood downtown. Only South Park is hotter. |
|
