Posted by Fix Expo Team On November - 29 - 2007ADD COMMENTS
FIX EXPO STATEMENT AT THE MTA BOARD MEETING
November 29, 2007
Delivered By Damien Goodmon, Coordinator
The Fix Expo group has come together to support changing your Expo Line design through majority-minority South LA from the Exposition Park trench at Figueroa to the La Brea overpass to below grade in trench, cut-and-cover or bored tunnel.
We speak during public comment to mention the two people your Blue Line killed just this week – as I see there is no mention of their deaths on your long agenda.
This brings the total of Blue Line deaths to at least 90 – at least 29 of them in the past 5 years, which along with your 800 accidents in 17 years is multiples more than any other light rail line in the country in the same 17 year span of time.
Some claim we’ve gotten too emotional about this issue. I ask, how can one not?
How can one not feel deeply about the betrayal and abandonment by those elected to represent us on an issue as important as environmental racism, death and injury.
Indeed there are few things elected officials can do to ensure near absolute safety and investing in grade separation is one of them.
To this end we will fight and pursue all legal and political avenues to ensure our children won’t be added to your unnamed unacknowledged list of at-grade light rail victims.
Posted by Fix Expo Team On November - 2 - 2007ADD COMMENTS
Any evaluation of the design of the Expo Line shows that MTA is guilty of environmental racism.
The Disparate Impact
In 1995, knowing MTA was planning the Expo Line, the City Council of Culver City adopted a measure in their General Plan prohibiting at-grade crossings within their city boundaries. Shortly thereafter, in 2001 MTA published their Draft Environmental Impact Report/Statement for the Expo Line that had ALL at-grade crossings in Culver City. Culver City backed up their initial no at-grade crossings position with another measure in 2001, this time adding no elevated crossings next to residential areas.
Two years later, Metro adopted their Grade Crossing Policy, which is more of a political document to explain why MTA doesn’t have to grade separate, than an evaluation of the hazards to determine where grade separation is required (see pg. 7 to 17 of the Reply Brief). The MTA Grade Crossing Policy, establishes an arbitrarily high vehicle count per lane per hour threshold that must be met for a street to receive grade separation. Even with the Grade Crossing Policy, MTA determined that both intersections in Culver City (Washington/National and Jefferson/National) wouldn’t meet their threshold to require grade separation. They were to be built at-grade. Shortly thereafter, Culver City threatened to not sign-off on the project unless there were no at-grade crossings in their city.
The end result of the negotiation between MTA and Culver City was a decision by MTA to:
a) extend the Jefferson/La Cienega overpass 1,000 feet so it would cross Jefferson/National elevated, and
b) essentially “move the goal posts” to force a grade separation at Washington/National, by pushing the future Venice/Robertson station a few hundred feet east.
Both streets have less vehicular traffic than streets left at-grade in South LA. Crossings in South LA directly adjacent to parks where children play. Crossings in South LA directly adjacent to schools.
MTA chose not to apply the high standard they’re using in Culver City throughout the entire line and the result is a disparate design where the bulk of the safety risks are placed in South LA, while comparatively Culver City assumes no risk.
The Fix Expo campaign supports the efforts of Culver City to fight for grade separations that eliminate the safety hazards and other adverse environmental impacts of Phase 1 of the Expo Line. But if grade separations are to be given to Culver City they must be given to South LA too.
The Solution
MTA is building a 1/2-mile trench at Figueroa by USC. Fix Expo believes the environmental justice issues that currently exist on Expo Phase 1 can be addressed by extending the trench 4 miles to La Brea.
Posted by Fix Expo Team On November - 2 - 2007ADD COMMENTS
Apparently, the Expo Authority has shifted their strategy from denying they’re building another Blue Line through South LA to promoting the safety record of the Blue Line, which remains the most accident-prone and deadly light rail line in the country. The overwhelming majority of the accidents have occurred in the segment designed exactly like the Expo Line from Downtown LA to Arlington.
At the Expo Authority board meeting, just minutes after they unanimously approved a measure to study what they’ve already studied (costs to grade separate Farmdale), Bernard Parks gave a 5 minute speech promoting the safety of the Blue Line and efforts of MTA. In his speech Bernie get the facts wrong. There have been 172 accidents and 28 deaths on the Blue in the past 5 years, and over 796 accidents and 88 deaths in the 17 years of operation. The low over that span of time was 27 in 2005, and the high was 40 in 2004. (SOURCE: MTA’s own Summary of Blue Line Train/Vehicle and Train/Pedestrian Accidents)
And last December, here is the collision with the fire truck at a crossing exactly designed as the Expo Blvd portion from just west of Figueroa to just east of Arlington, where purportedly according to Parks and the MTA all the safety enhancement that can be implemented for an at-grade crossing has been implemented.
Here are pictures of the victims (passengers on the Blue Line) of MTA’s mistake to not grade separate the crossing (courtesy the LAFD):
At-grade crossings with trains that are scheduled to operate 240 times a day at speeds between 35-55 mph are accidents waiting to happen. MTA knows it, Councilman Parks knows it, and they’re willing to accept it near our schools, parks and in our communities.
Call Councilman Parks and ask him why he refuses to stand up for the safety of the children, pedestrians and motorists of Los Angeles:
City Hall 200 North Spring Street Room 460 Los Angeles, CA 90012 213-473-7008 (Phone) 213-485-7683 (Fax)
District Office 3847 S. Crenshaw Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90008 323-293-9467 (Phone) 323-293-3696 (Fax)
UPDATE: Waiting to hear back from the USDOT as to whether they consider the widely recognized Guidance on Traffic Control Devices at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings and definition of life cycle cost “dated,” along with information on their secret government transit funding program called “Fresh Starts.”
Here is the initial letter requesting Thorpe defend his constant use of the Gold Line analogy: Clarifying Expo Line Comparisons (70K pdf).
Nonetheless, Bernie seems to have forgotten that when presented the Thorpe reply openly during the public comment period at the August Expo board meeting, Yvonne Burke directed Thorpe to actually answer the questions.
What an utterly desperate attempt to reply to the political blow back of his refusal to stand up for the safety of the children and people in his district.
Join us at our first community update and organizing meeting in the new decade as we discuss the on-going Farmdale controversy and Crenshaw subway effort.
A comprehensive response to the spin, red herrings, and half-truths delivered by MTA/Expo, complete with agency memos, testimony, studies, pictures, videos and all.
Compare the design of the Expo Line Phase 1 west of La Cienega to that in majority-minority South LA and it’s clear that Expo Phase 1 is textbook environmental racism.
