Post by bennyp81 on Jun 23, 2005 9:06:32 GMT -8
Marty
User ID: 0317884 Mar 14th 1:08 AM
Paving the way for a Hawthorne Boulevard face lift
By Traci Jai Isaacs
DAILY BREEZE
By this time next year, drivers will spend less time idling in bumper-to-bumper traffic along Hawthorne Boulevard in Lawndale thanks to $15 million in roadway improvements planned for the city's main drag.
“Not only will the traffic be lighter, but we expect to see new businesses, jobs and city revenue,” Councilman Larry Rudolph said at Monday's groundbreaking ceremony for the Hawthorne Boulevard project.
Lawndale has planned the project for three years and it mirrors improvements already made by other South Bay cities who share the busy boulevard.
Plans for the 1.8-mile section include new roadway surfaces, modern underground drainage and traffic light synchronization so cars move more efficiently through intersections.
Lawndale city officials also look at the Hawthorne plan as an opportunity to improve its own business district. To that end, the city is making the corridor pedestrian-friendly and plans to landscape the now-barren center parking medians. The medians are remnants of the easement for the Red Car, the public trolley system that became defunct in the 1940s.
Construction is expected to take about a year.
“In the end, this project will be beautiful, make life easy for everyone, and be a real improvement to transportation in Los Angeles County,” county Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said Monday.
Hawthorne Boulevard is a major South Bay arterial corridor that has been getting more and more congested over time, transportation officials said.
Renee Berlin, a planner with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said cities have to take steps now to meet the demand head-on. Lawndale's stretch of Hawthorne Boulevard, for example, is expected to see 72,000 vehicles each day by 2025, an increase of 28,000 over 1996 levels.
Lawndale's project, funded largely by a $10.4 million MTA grant, benefits the region as a whole, said Gary Wosk, an MTA spokesman.
“I wish we could fund all the projects we get (requests for),” Wosk said. Last year, the transportation agency funded almost $1 billion in traffic improvement projects in 88 Los Angeles County cities.
Torrance and Hawthorne officials already are making changes to improve traffic flow on the thoroughfare, which becomes La Brea Avenue in Inglewood.
The city of Hawthorne completed a beautification project in 1998, repaved some of the roadway in 2000 and switched to a county-run traffic light synchronization, which decreased congestion by getting drivers through intersections more smoothly.
The California Department of Transportation owns Hawthorne Boulevard from the San Diego (405) Freeway to Pacific Coast Highway, including the six-mile stretch through Torrance.
Although Torrance adopted the Hawthorne Boulevard Specific Plan in 1996, which includes new zoning, landscaping and a modern transportation plan, projects first must be approved by Caltrans.
Some of the city's estimated $37 million in improvements have been completed but there's much work left, said Pam Tate, Torrance's planning manager. The city, for example, widened turn lanes and synchronized traffic lights.
The road plays a vital role in all South Bay cities, Tate said.
“We are all gateways to each other and it's important for each city to make an investment,” she said.
Ken Alpern
User ID: 0923684 Mar 14th 8:26 AM
Now THIS would be as good a boulevard as any to have a light rail run down the middle of it--as much as Lincoln Blvd. on the Westside needs it more, it is my hope that the South Bay recognizes that ultimately Hawthorne needs an elevated or street-level light rail because of its huge congestion.
At the Mar Vista Community Council Intermodal Transit Forum I'm organizing next month, a Lincoln Blvd. light rail line will be discussed--and I'm hoping it will be a prototype someday for future light rail lines along our busiest urban streets (like La Cienega, Hawthorne/La Brea, Crenshaw, etc.).
John
User ID: 9510053 Mar 14th 10:40 AM
It's good to hear that something is finally being done to east traffic on Hawthorne Blvd. I can remember the stop-and-go, bumper-to-bumper congestion there more than 10 years ago. I used to wonder why automobile drivers would want such conditions.
Marty
User ID: 0317884 Mar 14th 12:36 PM
Hawthorne would definately be a great candidate for light rail. If they had to elevate it, I don't think anybody could complain that it would ruin the character of the street, since it is mostly a bunch of power lines and mini malls. 190th and Hawthorne is like the 110 and 101 of powerlines - they're everywhere.
Robert
User ID: 9955583 Jun 28th 4:04 PM
Remember, way back when, LATL and PE used La Brea and Hawthorne Blvds?
Bob
User ID: 0317884 Mar 14th 1:08 AM
Paving the way for a Hawthorne Boulevard face lift
By Traci Jai Isaacs
DAILY BREEZE
By this time next year, drivers will spend less time idling in bumper-to-bumper traffic along Hawthorne Boulevard in Lawndale thanks to $15 million in roadway improvements planned for the city's main drag.
“Not only will the traffic be lighter, but we expect to see new businesses, jobs and city revenue,” Councilman Larry Rudolph said at Monday's groundbreaking ceremony for the Hawthorne Boulevard project.
Lawndale has planned the project for three years and it mirrors improvements already made by other South Bay cities who share the busy boulevard.
Plans for the 1.8-mile section include new roadway surfaces, modern underground drainage and traffic light synchronization so cars move more efficiently through intersections.
Lawndale city officials also look at the Hawthorne plan as an opportunity to improve its own business district. To that end, the city is making the corridor pedestrian-friendly and plans to landscape the now-barren center parking medians. The medians are remnants of the easement for the Red Car, the public trolley system that became defunct in the 1940s.
Construction is expected to take about a year.
“In the end, this project will be beautiful, make life easy for everyone, and be a real improvement to transportation in Los Angeles County,” county Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said Monday.
Hawthorne Boulevard is a major South Bay arterial corridor that has been getting more and more congested over time, transportation officials said.
Renee Berlin, a planner with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said cities have to take steps now to meet the demand head-on. Lawndale's stretch of Hawthorne Boulevard, for example, is expected to see 72,000 vehicles each day by 2025, an increase of 28,000 over 1996 levels.
Lawndale's project, funded largely by a $10.4 million MTA grant, benefits the region as a whole, said Gary Wosk, an MTA spokesman.
“I wish we could fund all the projects we get (requests for),” Wosk said. Last year, the transportation agency funded almost $1 billion in traffic improvement projects in 88 Los Angeles County cities.
Torrance and Hawthorne officials already are making changes to improve traffic flow on the thoroughfare, which becomes La Brea Avenue in Inglewood.
The city of Hawthorne completed a beautification project in 1998, repaved some of the roadway in 2000 and switched to a county-run traffic light synchronization, which decreased congestion by getting drivers through intersections more smoothly.
The California Department of Transportation owns Hawthorne Boulevard from the San Diego (405) Freeway to Pacific Coast Highway, including the six-mile stretch through Torrance.
Although Torrance adopted the Hawthorne Boulevard Specific Plan in 1996, which includes new zoning, landscaping and a modern transportation plan, projects first must be approved by Caltrans.
Some of the city's estimated $37 million in improvements have been completed but there's much work left, said Pam Tate, Torrance's planning manager. The city, for example, widened turn lanes and synchronized traffic lights.
The road plays a vital role in all South Bay cities, Tate said.
“We are all gateways to each other and it's important for each city to make an investment,” she said.
Ken Alpern
User ID: 0923684 Mar 14th 8:26 AM
Now THIS would be as good a boulevard as any to have a light rail run down the middle of it--as much as Lincoln Blvd. on the Westside needs it more, it is my hope that the South Bay recognizes that ultimately Hawthorne needs an elevated or street-level light rail because of its huge congestion.
At the Mar Vista Community Council Intermodal Transit Forum I'm organizing next month, a Lincoln Blvd. light rail line will be discussed--and I'm hoping it will be a prototype someday for future light rail lines along our busiest urban streets (like La Cienega, Hawthorne/La Brea, Crenshaw, etc.).
John
User ID: 9510053 Mar 14th 10:40 AM
It's good to hear that something is finally being done to east traffic on Hawthorne Blvd. I can remember the stop-and-go, bumper-to-bumper congestion there more than 10 years ago. I used to wonder why automobile drivers would want such conditions.
Marty
User ID: 0317884 Mar 14th 12:36 PM
Hawthorne would definately be a great candidate for light rail. If they had to elevate it, I don't think anybody could complain that it would ruin the character of the street, since it is mostly a bunch of power lines and mini malls. 190th and Hawthorne is like the 110 and 101 of powerlines - they're everywhere.
Robert
User ID: 9955583 Jun 28th 4:04 PM
Remember, way back when, LATL and PE used La Brea and Hawthorne Blvds?
Bob