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Post by bzcat on Jul 25, 2013 9:21:51 GMT -8
Privately financed entrance to a subway station! I thought I would never live to see the day when this happens in LA.
This is a sure sign that LA is maturing as a transit city.
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Post by andert on Jul 25, 2013 12:37:13 GMT -8
Privately financed entrance to a subway station! I thought I would never live to see the day when this happens in LA. This is a sure sign that LA is maturing as a transit city. I've always wondered -- is there a reason the current entrances to 7th/metro don't have the usual pylons, or at least some clearly visible metro logo? They can be pretty tricky to find for a first-timer if they don't know what they're looking for. The entrance on hope in particular is almost completely unmarked. |
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Post by metrocenter on Jul 25, 2013 12:51:36 GMT -8
I wonder how they plan to connect this to the Metro station.
I'm thinking they would center the Metro portal below the main entrance to Macy's Plaza. This is midblock on the south side of Seventh Street. A new set of stairs/escalators would then lead down toward the east, alongside the southern edge of the station. This would led to a knockout panel at the station's southeast corner, through which passengers would access the station's east ticketing area.
Any other theories?
(My original thought was a connection to the 7th/Flower ticket mezzanine. But then I couldn't figure out how such a connection could be made.)
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Post by bzcat on Jul 26, 2013 10:27:26 GMT -8
We'll probably have to look at the engineering drawings for 7th Metro station to figure where exactly the portal is/are but I'm pretty sure that there are knockout panels to connect to the south side of 7th Street. The Red Line station is directly under 7th Street (I remember the open pit when they were building the station) so my guess is they will connect to the Red line level instead of ticket mezzanine or the Blue line level.
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Post by skater on Oct 13, 2013 12:37:47 GMT -8
"And perhaps the most exciting detail regarding this redevelopment effort by Ratkovich (for an urbanist and transit advocate like myself) is the plan to build a direct pedestrian connection between The Bloc and the very busy 7th/Metro subway station across the street. Since the underground portion of the mall right now is in alignment with the underground metro station, it is entirely possible to provide an easy connection between the two. In fact, the MTA purposefully designed the metro station with “knock out panels” along certain sections of the walls with the very intention that one day, a developer with an urban vision (unlike Jamison Services, Inc), would take advantage of it and allow transit riders to have direct access to the mall akin to what you would experience in great transit-oriented cities like New York or Tokyo." brighamyen.com/2013/06/06/ratkovich-acquires-downtown-la-macys-plaza-will-begin-160-million-upgrade-with-new-access-to-subway-station/Construction on The Bloc will take about 2 years starting in early 2014 and completing in late 2015." so now 7th street gets 4 entrances. I guess this one will be sort of like what you find at the north end of the blue/expo platform. So potentially, how many more entrances can be built? two more on the south side of 7th/hope and 7th/figueroa? What about 7th/grand? would that be a possibility? Or maybe wilshire/flower or 6th/flower? I like multiple entrances, it makes the metro stations have a larger prescence, especially when they are spread out like the pershing square and civic center ones are. |
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 18, 2013 8:58:18 GMT -8
Perhaps finally some TOD at the southeastern corner of Washington and National Boulevards in Culver City:  |
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Post by rajacobs on Oct 18, 2013 10:35:29 GMT -8
We've noticed the fences come down here ...on our frequent walks into the Hayden tract. Decided the owners didn't want to pay the rental fee for the fence since it was guarding nothing!
It would be nice to see TOD begin here. Culver City has been either slow or remiss in getting development moving along the Washington corridor. A walk down that street from Ince to National has been like walking through a rather wide alley ...except for ever-present and insistent sales people at the car uber-dealership.
Then on Washington, from National eastward to La Cienega, ocassional oases of commercial activity, but besides the Helms collection of storefronts and restaurants, really very little. Better that Culver City focus on indigenous enterprise rather than fund and promote 3 big Targets in their city (I've never heard of a city the size of Culver City with three big box stores of the same brand).
Here's hoping for a TOD future with a stronger focus on pedestrians and cyclists...
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Post by bzcat on Oct 18, 2013 10:42:20 GMT -8
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Post by rajacobs on Oct 18, 2013 11:09:52 GMT -8
This picture is of an acute-angled corner. The foliage on streets on the background to the right is nice ..,but I can't imagine where that would be and I don't see a rail line. The angle of the corner confuses me. Is this southward / southwestern facing (in which case it would in fact be of the vacant lot just referenced above)?
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 18, 2013 12:03:05 GMT -8
This picture is of an acute-angled corner. The foliage on streets on the background to the right is nice ..,but I can't imagine where that would be and I don't see a rail line. The angle of the corner confuses me. Is this southward / southwestern facing (in which case it would in fact be of the vacant lot just referenced above)? It would have to be looking at the southeastern corner of the Washington Ave / National Blvd intersection, with the Washington Blvd supposedly showing in the foreground. Yes, they didn't put the elevated tracks (perhaps deliberately not to scare people), which are along National Blvd, which is supposedly on the right side of this picture. |
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 23, 2013 9:34:39 GMT -8
From a different angle:  |
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 25, 2013 11:20:40 GMT -8
The goal of this picture was to capture some relic found while clearing this area:  In this case, the relic was far more benign -- a long piece of rail with spikes and ties. Rail was gone this morning and I didn't manage to frame the ties in the lower right corner:  |
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 26, 2013 11:36:17 GMT -8
Another view, with the removed rail ties barely seen on the left:  |
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 28, 2013 13:54:39 GMT -8
I was finally able to capture the relic:  |
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Post by bzcat on Nov 8, 2013 17:21:09 GMT -8
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Post by Gokhan on Nov 8, 2013 18:05:40 GMT -8
Noticed the construction and too bad that Ralphs is gone. Now, we'll have a Target store by every Expo station.  Although, I believe they've given up on the one at Sepulveda. |
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Post by rajacobs on Nov 9, 2013 11:25:11 GMT -8
I don't like Targets... and I don't shop there unless there's no other choice! Maybe it's the big box mentality or maybe it's because I think that Target, like Walmart, takes away opportunity from the little guy, profit from the small business person, and makes it easier for any of us to end up in dead-end jobs as hourly employees, preferably from such a company's perspective, without healthcare.
When Culver City had the audacity to allow 3 Targets in the city, to borrow an old East Texas expression, "I might could have died!"
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Post by TransportationZ on Nov 9, 2013 11:47:43 GMT -8
I think some investment being put into this community will far better help in the long run than a few random old businesses. As much I like and support local businesses, it's nice to finally see a predominately African American community finally get some development. This is definitely only way I see the Crenshaw district actually advancing in any meaningful way.
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Post by Gokhan on Nov 9, 2013 11:56:12 GMT -8
It will probably be nicer than the mall area it's replacing. I would like to see a grocery store and drug store there as well, as more commuters are interested in grocery and drugstores than Target's.
Target in LA is like Wal-Mart in the rest of the US. There is a Target in every corner in LA and a new one is popping up constantly. LA is as pro Target as it's anti-Wal-Mart. Despite not approving Wal-Mart's many manipulations of employees, customers, not-so-low prices, outsourcing, and hurting smaller markets, I would still like some of these Target's built as Wal-Mart's from a consumer point of view.
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Post by Alexis Kasperavičius on Nov 14, 2013 5:06:27 GMT -8
Here's a video rendering of a new hotel being built right next to the Santa Monica terminus, replacing a few buildings there. Here's a link on the project: Santa Monica Hotel Development Project |
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Post by skater on Nov 14, 2013 9:40:00 GMT -8
^Is the final station really going to have 3 tracks like seen in that video?
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Post by Gokhan on Nov 14, 2013 9:46:04 GMT -8
^Is the final station really going to have 3 tracks like seen in that video? Yes, of course. You need at least three tracks or some other extra tracks for switching the trains around and/or holding too many trains at the end of the line. This is accomplished by the tail tracks at 7th/Metro. With short headways especially, quite often there will be more than two trains at a time at the end of the line. Culver City Station doesn't have any tail tracks or a third track but it's the interim end of the line and the headways are long. Occasionally there are three trains, which causes long delays. |
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Post by skater on Nov 14, 2013 9:52:21 GMT -8
^Is the final station really going to have 3 tracks like seen in that video? Yes, of course. You need at least three tracks or some other extra tracks for switching the trains around and/or holding too many trains at the end of the line. This is accomplished by the tail tracks at 7th/Metro. With short headways especially, quite often there will be more than two trains at a time at the end of the line. Culver City station doesn't have any tail tracks or third track but it's temporary and the headways are long. Occasionally there are three trains, which causes long delays. So they have done this because this will permanently be the end of the line? Sierra Madre Villa and Atlantic where not intended to be the permanent end of the line so they dont have this? or also because of the longer headways on the gold line? The red line in North Hollywood has track that extend beyond the platform far enough to hold a whole subway train, but Wilshire/Western doesn't. |
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Post by bzcat on Nov 14, 2013 11:53:49 GMT -8
Yes, of course. You need at least three tracks or some other extra tracks for switching the trains around and/or holding too many trains at the end of the line. This is accomplished by the tail tracks at 7th/Metro. With short headways especially, quite often there will be more than two trains at a time at the end of the line. Culver City station doesn't have any tail tracks or third track but it's temporary and the headways are long. Occasionally there are three trains, which causes long delays. So they have done this because this will permanently be the end of the line? Sierra Madre Villa and Atlantic where not intended to be the permanent end of the line so they dont have this? or also because of the longer headways on the gold line? The red line in North Hollywood has track that extend beyond the platform far enough to hold a whole subway train, but Wilshire/Western doesn't. I think you answered your own question  Expo terminal at Santa Monica is really going to be the first time we are building a proper terminal (besides Union Station) for our modern rail system. 7th street, Wilshire/Western, North Hollywood, Sierra Madre Villa, Atlantic, Norwalk, and Redondo Beach were all designed to allow the lines to be extended. The tunnel you mentioned in North Hollywood would have continued on to the Orange Line ROW and transition to above ground. Long Beach was designed as a loop so the train can deadhead back to the yard. |
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Post by Gokhan on Nov 14, 2013 12:14:52 GMT -8
That's correct.
Unfortunately they didn't design the Downtown Santa Monica Station with future extensions in mind. Back in the days, Expo Line (named Air Line then) used to continue along Main Street to the other Downtown Santa Monica (Main St commercial section in South Santa Monica), Ocean Park, Venice, Marina Del Rey, and Inglewood, to connect with the Crenshaw Line (BNSF/ATSF tracks).
Of course, in even older days, there used to be a branch going as far as past the Santa Monica Canyon (Roadhouse Bar and Grill) to the Long Wharf / Port Los Angeles, which is now replaced by a Lifeguard station.
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Post by culvercitylocke on Nov 14, 2013 13:01:23 GMT -8
Major excavation at the National/Washington site today. A backhoe was in and they were carting out tons of trucks of earth.
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Adrian Auer-Hudson
Junior Member
Supporter of "Expo Light Rail - Enabler for the Digital Coast".
Posts: 65 
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Post by Adrian Auer-Hudson on Nov 14, 2013 13:15:33 GMT -8
Of course, in even older days, there used to be a branch going as far as past the Santa Monica Canyon (Roadhouse Bar and Grill) to the Long Wharf / Port Los Angeles, which is now replaced by a Lifeguard station. IMHO, Long Wharf would have been an excellent terminus for the new Expo Line. Every morning cars back up for miles on PCH. Most are waiting to access I10 for destinations east. A multi-story parking garage with a frequent light rail service along the I10 corridor (AKA Expo Line) would tempt many a driver. |
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Post by Philip on Nov 14, 2013 15:06:04 GMT -8
So they have done this because this will permanently be the end of the line? Sierra Madre Villa and Atlantic where not intended to be the permanent end of the line so they dont have this? or also because of the longer headways on the gold line? The red line in North Hollywood has track that extend beyond the platform far enough to hold a whole subway train, but Wilshire/Western doesn't. I think you answered your own question Expo terminal at Santa Monica is really going to be the first time we are building a proper terminal (besides Union Station) for our modern rail system. 7th street, Wilshire/Western, North Hollywood, Sierra Madre Villa, Atlantic, Norwalk, and Redondo Beach were all designed to allow the lines to be extended. The tunnel you mentioned in North Hollywood would have continued on to the Orange Line ROW and transition to above ground. Long Beach was designed as a loop so the train can deadhead back to the yard. What's amazing is that even Union Station wasn't intended as a permanent terminal, as extensions of the Red Line to East L.A. were on the table (pre-dating the eventual Gold Line route), but without funding. Downtown Santa Monica and Downtown Long Beach are (for now) the only real terminals station in the system, though they may still connect with other lines in the future (for example, Expo could connect with an extended Green Line via Lincoln or an extended Purple Line from the east). |
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Post by rajacobs on Nov 14, 2013 15:30:17 GMT -8
Though extending the Expo Line northward from 4th & Colorado, along the beach, may be impractical engineering-wise. A trolley from the station northward to Long Wharf may not be. ...Perhaps this is something for Santa Monica to look at, if not Metro.
Though the Santa Monica station was planned as the Expo terminus, the angled and seemingly elevated station platform leaves me thinking that rail could be built to the southwest, over the Santa Monica Freeway and the south.
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Post by masonite on Nov 14, 2013 18:41:10 GMT -8
I think you answered your own question Expo terminal at Santa Monica is really going to be the first time we are building a proper terminal (besides Union Station) for our modern rail system. 7th street, Wilshire/Western, North Hollywood, Sierra Madre Villa, Atlantic, Norwalk, and Redondo Beach were all designed to allow the lines to be extended. The tunnel you mentioned in North Hollywood would have continued on to the Orange Line ROW and transition to above ground. Long Beach was designed as a loop so the train can deadhead back to the yard. What's amazing is that even Union Station wasn't intended as a permanent terminal, as extensions of the Red Line to East L.A. were on the table (pre-dating the eventual Gold Line route), but without funding. Downtown Santa Monica and Downtown Long Beach are (for now) the only real terminals station in the system, though they may still connect with other lines in the future (for example, Expo could connect with an extended Green Line via Lincoln or an extended Purple Line from the east). Yep, some work even started on the Eastside Red Line. It wasn't just some plan. Union Station will be limited in handling more frequency from the Purple Line Extension. One idea that I like is to create a terminal station on the tracks between Union Station and its maintenance yard. The tracks are already there. It is just a matter of creating an a station. It would be the only above ground heavy rail station in the system. Ridership probably wouldn't be huge in this part of Downtown, but certainly would beat Farmdale, and it wouldn't cost too much since the tracks are already there. Haven't heard much about this for a few years. |
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Although, I believe they've given up on the one at Sepulveda.
Expo terminal at Santa Monica is really going to be the first time we are building a proper terminal (besides Union Station) for our modern rail system. 
