Brandon Wise A POSSIBLE NEW PATH: Exposition Light Rail Line will look at the possibility of having trains travel down Colorado Avenue rather than the median of Olympic Boulevard. Expo Line could take a new route
MID-CITY The construction authority overseeing the Exposition Light Rail Line will look at the possibility of having trains travel down Colorado Avenue rather than the median of Olympic Boulevard after the City Council raised concerns about that alignment, which would result in a downtown station being elevated 35 feet above Fourth Street.
The council also wants to protect the landscaped median and dozens of coral trees on Olympic and will contribute $300,000 to pay for Metro to study the Colorado route as well as an alternate Olympic alignment, which city officials believe will be less intrusive to the pedestrian-friendly environment residents are trying to create in Mid-City.
“Running at grade, more like a street car, would work better and the hope is that it will create better places and spaces in Santa Monica,” said Councilmember Pam O’Connor, who is also on the board of directors for the Expo Construction Authority, which voted Thursday to study alternatives when the rail line comes to Santa Monica.
“We also believe that having it go down Colorado would be better because of the median and the street trees,” O’Connor said. “That is a very significant attribute to that street and it’s important that we preserve that. If the light rail does end up going down Colorado, we can make significant improvements to green that street.”
The proposed alignment in Santa Monica utilizes the Exposition Right-of-Way (ROW) until just west of Cloverfield Boulevard, where the light rail alignment diverges from Exposition and would follow Olympic into downtown Santa Monica. That rail alignment would require the removal of the center median with its landscaping and coral trees.
The Expo Authority has stated that it intends to add landscaping in the corridor wherever possible.
The downtown station being proposed would be located just north of Olympic Drive and the Santa Monica Freeway and parallel to Fourth Street.
However, the alignment is assumed to be in an aerial configuration some 35 feet in the air — about three stories — to clear Lincoln Boulevard and the Fourth Street on-ramp. The elevated section would extend approximately half a mile and, depending on the location, would range in height from 23 to 35 feet. The proposed station along Fourth at Colorado is also shown to be 35 feet above the sidewalk.
City staff fears the elevated stations, which are supported by concrete columns, would detract significantly from the character and scale of downtown and are not in line with the desired pedestrian environment.
There may be a way to have the trains go down Olympic and still preserve the median and the trees. To do so, a traffic lane in each direction would have to be removed and that could have a significant impact on automobile traffic, which needs to be studied.
As for Colorado Avenue, city planners believe an at-grade alignment would have the potential for stimulating and revitalizing the traditional industrial neighborhood between 17th and Fourth Streets, since street-level light rail corridors have shown they can provide great opportunities over time for retail businesses and walkable connections to neighborhoods.
“We need to study these next steps, but I do believe it has a lot of potential,” O’Connor said of the Colorado alignment. “The key is to make sure there is a placemaking component or else, frankly, it becomes just another transit parkway.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 8, 2007. Read the original PDF.