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Post by skater on Oct 18, 2013 20:37:29 GMT -8
the tagging appears to read "237riders 2late railus str8 MTA" Personally I find better quality tagging interesting to look at, but if the MTA leaves tagging up in tunnels, trenches up, others will see that the writing stays and it will inspire them to try it also. That's how new york MTA finnaly stopped the tagging, by taking sure no tagged cars were sent into service,so hardly anyone saw tbe tags, discouraging it from being done again.
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Post by RMoses on Oct 18, 2013 21:15:51 GMT -8
I stand corrected, this is certainly good news. Can't wait to see the protests....
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 19, 2013 1:01:45 GMT -8
Excluding the Colorado Ave section, these are the nine Expo Phase 2 at-grade crossings, all gated: - Bagley Ave
- Overland Ave
- Westwood Blvd
- Military Ave
- Barrington Ave
- Stewart St
- 26th St
- 20th St
- 19th St
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Post by rajacobs on Oct 19, 2013 11:01:01 GMT -8
the tagging appears to read "237riders 2late railus str8 MTA" Personally I find better quality tagging interesting to look at, but if the MTA leaves tagging up in tunnels, trenches up, others will see that the writing stays and it will inspire them to try it also. That's how new york MTA finnaly stopped the tagging, by taking sure no tagged cars were sent into service,so hardly anyone saw tbe tags, discouraging it from being done again. Nice "translation!" ...Still not sure what it refers to, though. Is 237 a bus line? ...and "railus?"
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Post by skater on Oct 19, 2013 11:53:32 GMT -8
actually it says 267... it may be a street number or an area code, but I have never beard of one of these with 267. as for "railus" or "railos" or maybe "raid us", I don know about that, it is hard to tell.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 19, 2013 12:25:15 GMT -8
the tagging appears to read "237riders 2late railus str8 MTA" Personally I find better quality tagging interesting to look at, but if the MTA leaves tagging up in tunnels, trenches up, others will see that the writing stays and it will inspire them to try it also. That's how new york MTA finnaly stopped the tagging, by taking sure no tagged cars were sent into service,so hardly anyone saw tbe tags, discouraging it from being done again. Nice "translation!" ...Still not sure what it refers to, though. Is 237 a bus line? ...and "railus?" Good translation indeed. I would further translate it as: "To (Number) 37 riders (who ride it) too late -- rail us straight, MTA" Perhaps what they mean is that they want owl service on the Expo Line like Metro has on the No 37 (Adams Blvd) Bus so that they can take the more convenient, straight-moving train instead of the slow and roundabout bus.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 19, 2013 13:10:56 GMT -8
actually it says 267... it may be a street number or an area code, but I have never beard of one of these with 267. as for "railus" or "railos" or maybe "raid us", I don know about that, it is hard to tell. OK, perhaps they are referring to the really roundabout No 267 Bus from El Monte to Altadena and asking for a straight rail service in the I-710 corridor. I agree -- Metro should build light-rail in the I-710 corridor instead of a freeway tunnel. Perhaps this is the correct translation: "(Number) 267 (Bus) riders (are) too late (to work because the bus is slow and roundabout). Rail us straight, MTA." I really think they should try e-mailing the Metro board members instead of tagging.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 21, 2013 8:09:26 GMT -8
Venice Blvd Bridge falsework is coming down next week. Work starts Sunday night and ends on Halloween. It'll be a haunted bridge.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 21, 2013 10:01:33 GMT -8
Palms Station platform is now under construction. This is the view from Clarington Ave:
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Post by rajacobs on Oct 21, 2013 10:10:21 GMT -8
Perhaps the Palms station is under construction, but with no work completed on the gap between the bridge and the earthen fill associated wit the Westbound track, I fail to understand the plan. ...Seems like the area has been boxed in and construction of the westbound track undergirding has been made more difficult.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 21, 2013 10:16:53 GMT -8
Perhaps the Palms station is under construction, but with no work completed on the gap between the bridge and the earthen fill associated wit the Westbound track, I fail to understand the plan. ...Seems like the area has been boxed in and construction of the westbound track undergirding has been made more difficult. I wouldn't worry about it. All they need to do is to make the rebar cages and forms for the retaining wall between the two abutments there. They will then backfill it with earth.
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Post by darrell on Oct 21, 2013 22:40:41 GMT -8
Some drive-by photos from last Saturday afternoon (10/19): With the forms off the bridge over Olympic is quite slim. The effect closer up at Cloverfield is again pretty shallow but somewhat wide. Not bad. The parapet wall is up on the Centinela bridge and the MSE wall to the west. The first falsework spans Pico, the last street crossing to be built. Note the column on the far left which will receive more falsework. I expect two straddle bents (north side to median and median to south side) will be embedded in this bridge span.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 22, 2013 8:54:58 GMT -8
It's a pity that they are still unable to construct the bridge over Pico Blvd because of the faulty foundation with the rusting rebar cage. I'm going to find out how long it will take them to repair the foundation and whether this will delay the overall project at next week's community meeting.
However, we're now seeing the most visible developments elsewhere along the project right now. All other bridges are finished and falsework will come off soon from all of them. I saw that they removed the Motor Ave Bridge forms and Sawtelle Bridge is also done. Rail will be installed soon. Stations are being built.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 22, 2013 8:56:07 GMT -8
Palms Station plaza work:
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Post by masonite on Oct 22, 2013 10:16:43 GMT -8
It's a pity that they are still unable to construct the bridge over Pico Blvd because of the faulty foundation with the rusting rebar cage. I'm going to find out how long it will take them to repair the foundation and whether this will delay the overall project at next week's community meeting. However, we're now seeing the most visible developments elsewhere along the project right now. All other bridges are finished and falsework will come off soon from all of them. I saw that they removed the Motor Ave Bridge forms and Sawtelle Bridge is also done. Rail will be installed soon. Stations are being built. Yes, exciting times. I had a friend in town with his family and he used to live in my neighborhood 15 years ago and has since moved out of the country. He had driven up Bundy and mentioned something about the freeway construction they were doing there (in reference to the Bundy Bridge). Basically, without knowing what is going on locally he assumed it was some sort of freeway off or on ramp, since it is very close to the freeway here and that is what it currently looks like. It will be nice when this actually looks like a station and a rail line. Hopefully, soon.
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Post by RMoses on Oct 23, 2013 9:40:23 GMT -8
Reminder, update meeting tonight. Expo Phase 2 Update MeetingSanta Monica Construction Update Wednesday, October 23, 2013 6:30 p.m. Crossroads School Community Room 1715 Olympic Boulevard Santa Monica, CA 90404 Parking available on campus and surrounding streets Planned Agenda for Community Meetings 6:30 - 7:00 p.m.: Formal Presentation 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.: Open House Session
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 23, 2013 9:44:13 GMT -8
It's a pity that they are still unable to construct the bridge over Pico Blvd because of the faulty foundation with the rusting rebar cage. I'm going to find out how long it will take them to repair the foundation and whether this will delay the overall project at next week's community meeting. However, we're now seeing the most visible developments elsewhere along the project right now. All other bridges are finished and falsework will come off soon from all of them. I saw that they removed the Motor Ave Bridge forms and Sawtelle Bridge is also done. Rail will be installed soon. Stations are being built. Yes, exciting times. I had a friend in town with his family and he used to live in my neighborhood 15 years ago and has since moved out of the country. He had driven up Bundy and mentioned something about the freeway construction they were doing there (in reference to the Bundy Bridge). Basically, without knowing what is going on locally he assumed it was some sort of freeway off or on ramp, since it is very close to the freeway here and that is what it currently looks like. It will be nice when this actually looks like a station and a rail line. Hopefully, soon. It's 0.3-mile-away from the freeway. He must have thought that they are building a second freeway along Exposition Blvd. The awful car culture makes people oblivious (and fat). It's such a striking contrast between Los Angeles and a European city.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 23, 2013 9:47:53 GMT -8
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Post by masonite on Oct 23, 2013 10:21:40 GMT -8
Yes, exciting times. I had a friend in town with his family and he used to live in my neighborhood 15 years ago and has since moved out of the country. He had driven up Bundy and mentioned something about the freeway construction they were doing there (in reference to the Bundy Bridge). Basically, without knowing what is going on locally he assumed it was some sort of freeway off or on ramp, since it is very close to the freeway here and that is what it currently looks like. It will be nice when this actually looks like a station and a rail line. Hopefully, soon. It's 0.3-mile-away from the freeway. He must have thought that they are building a second freeway along Exposition Blvd. The awful car culture makes people oblivious (and fat). It's such a striking contrast between Los Angeles and a European city. I don't think he really analyzed it to be honest, but it is pretty close to the West bound on ramp on Centinela so it is plausible. Yeah, the point is we do have a car and freeway culture and it isn't hard to assume another on ramp or freeway infrastructure as a visitor. You don't expect to see rail here, at least not yet. I have to agree, right now at Bundy it looks more like a road project than a Metro Line at quick glance. This should change relatively soon.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 23, 2013 10:30:16 GMT -8
Olympic Games are returning to Coliseum in the summer of 2015 -- Special Olympics that is. I doubt Phase 2 will open by then (late July), but at least they should be testing the trains.
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Post by Alexis Kasperavičius on Oct 24, 2013 11:46:52 GMT -8
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Post by skater on Oct 24, 2013 12:01:52 GMT -8
I see that expo line fan is posting a lot of photos from here on his page! Since metro offered to have expo built elevated on the last stretch through Santa Monica, and they asked for street running, do you think they will at least be decent enough to give the trains full signal preemption?
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Post by TransportationZ on Oct 24, 2013 12:11:15 GMT -8
I see that expo line fan is posting a lot of photos from here on his page! Since metro offered to have expo built elevated on the last stretch through Santa Monica, and they asked for street running, do you think they will at least be decent enough to give the trains full signal preemption? I hope so. This really pissed me off. They sacrificed the speed and capacity of this line purely for the sake of aesthetics. It must have been an architect's idea.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 24, 2013 13:08:19 GMT -8
I see that expo line fan is posting a lot of photos from here on his page! Since metro offered to have expo built elevated on the last stretch through Santa Monica, and they asked for street running, do you think they will at least be decent enough to give the trains full signal preemption? I hope so. This really pissed me off. They sacrificed the speed and capacity of this line purely for the sake of aesthetics. It must have been an architect's idea. There were 3 signal-controlled crossings in the Olympic Blvd option and there are 7 in the Colorado Ave option. Trains would have to slow down to 9 MPH when entering and leaving the station because of the 100-ft-radius turn in the Olympic Blvd option. There would also be a slowdown to 23 MPH when making the transition from the right-of-way to the Olympic Blvd median. So, Olympic Blvd would take probably about 3 minutes (from 17th St). Colorado Ave will take about 4 minutes if signal priority is provided. It shouldn't be more than 5 minutes in the worst-case scenario with no signal priority. Santa Monica is a city that is though to deal with and I don't know how much signal priority they are willing to provide. I like the Colorado Ave option because it keeps the spirit of the old Santa Monica Air Line and the train is more visible.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 24, 2013 13:14:20 GMT -8
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Post by bzcat on Oct 24, 2013 13:56:22 GMT -8
I hope so. This really pissed me off. They sacrificed the speed and capacity of this line purely for the sake of aesthetics. It must have been an architect's idea. There were 3 signal-controlled crossings in the Olympic Blvd option and there are 7 in the Colorado Ave option. Trains would have to slow down to 9 MPH when entering and leaving the station because of the 100-ft-radius turn in the Olympic Blvd option. There would also be a slowdown to 23 MPH when making the transition from the right-of-way to the Olympic Blvd median. So, Olympic Blvd would take probably about 3 minutes (from 17th St). Colorado Ave will take about 4 minutes if signal priority is provided. It shouldn't be more than 5 minutes in the worst-case scenario with no signal priority. Santa Monica is a city that is though to deal with and I don't know how much signal priority they are willing to provide. I like the Colorado Ave option because it keeps the spirit of the old Santa Monica Air Line and the train is more visible. I have faith that Santa Monica will do it right and give Expo signal priority (or even preemption). They asked for street running so they better make it work. Santa Monica is reconfiguring Colorado from downtown to 17th street and giving it a road diet, so all signs point to them making the Expo line as the primarily vehicle traffic on Colorado. Cars will be primarily funneled towards Olympic. Hopefully that means Expo will receive preemption on all the crossings on Colorado.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 24, 2013 15:46:18 GMT -8
Presentation from last night's Santa Monica meeting is up. At-grade crossings in Santa Monica will be installed in December and early next year.
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Post by skater on Oct 24, 2013 17:59:19 GMT -8
From the look look of the presentation, the street running won't be that bad. I still think the line would have been just as visible elevated, that isn't a good reason for street running. Reduced cost should be the reason to build street running, and itseems the money was there or could have been aquired. Either way, speed should be more important than visibility. At least this doesn't look like it will be another flower st, because the left turns will be restricted and there are no freeway ramps nearby.
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Oct 24, 2013 21:28:58 GMT -8
From the look look of the presentation, the street running won't be that bad. I still think the line would have been just as visible elevated, that isn't a good reason for street running. Reduced cost should be the reason to build street running, and itseems the money was there or could have been aquired. Either way, speed should be more important than visibility. At least this doesn't look like it will be another flower st, because the left turns will be restricted and there are no freeway ramps nearby.
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Oct 24, 2013 21:30:00 GMT -8
From the look look of the presentation, the street running won't be that bad. I still think the line would have been just as visible elevated, that isn't a good reason for street running. Reduced cost should be the reason to build street running, and itseems the money was there or could have been aquired. Either way, speed should be more important than visibility. At least this doesn't look like it will be another flower st, because the left turns will be restricted and there are no freeway ramps nearby. I'm not worried about it being a Flower Street, more like another Long Beach Blue Line situation where the lights are prioritized for car traffic and not the light rail.
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