their thoughts and suggestions on the second phase of the light rail project as it’s currently proposed, commenting on station and parking locations, grade crossings and possible alignments.
The workshop was set up as an open house format, held inside of a community room whose walls were covered with renderings and aerial maps demonstrating the various options for the light rail project.
“We wanted to give the public the opportunity to look at what’s been done so far,” Monica Born, the project director for the second phase of Expo, said.
The Expo project is split into two phases, the first one taking the light rail from Downtown Los Angeles to Culver City and the second phase continuing on to Santa Monica. Construction for phase one kicked off last year and the second portion is in its early stages, still undergoing an environmental impact study, which will be available for public comment this fall. Construction for the project is anticipated to commence in 2010, with the line available for service around 2014.
The project’s cost could run anywhere from $1 billion to $2 billion, depending on whether the Westside extension is constructed on the existing Expo right-of-way, which travels along the I-10 Freeway and near the Westside Pavilion, or the pricier alternative, which would take the tracks along Venice/Sepulveda Boulevard, requiring more groundwork and dollars, according to Stephen Polechronis, a consultant to the Exposition Construction Authority.
There are at least two stations planned for Santa Monica — at the Sears auto lot on Fourth Street and Colorado Avenue, and Bergamot Station — and a third proposed option at 17th Street and Olympic Boulevard near the site of the community workshop.
Howard Robinson, a land-use consultant who represents Wayne Blank, the operator of Bergamot Station, said the art complex could see the inclusion of a restaurant and boutique hotel if a light rail stop is added.
The nearly 5.5 acre complex, considered the largest art gallery center in Southern California, was historically called Bergamot Station, a transit stop for the old Pacific Electric Railway. The old train station became a manufacturing facility and then an art gallery complex in the 1990s.
“There is a tremendous opportunity to do something unique and wonderful,”
Robinson said.
The 17th Street station is an ideal location because it would be a straight shot to Santa Monica College and is located near St. John’s Health Center, a major area employer, Polechronis said.
“It’s a nice station to serve the area,”he said. The existing plans show that parking lots will not be constructed for either the proposed 17th Street station or Bergamot, which already has several parking spaces. The reason is because of the high cost of real estate,which would inflate current construction figures, Polechronis said, adding that there could be shared-use opportunities at Bergamot.
There are two alignments proposed for how the light rail will reach Downtown Santa Monica from Bergamot Station — one that will run along Colorado, which would entail taking out two lanes of traffic and more than half of the on-street parking spaces; and one on Olympic Boulevard where the train could travel on the existing median.
Both Velick and a friend, Elan Glasser, said they would like to see the alignment kept on Olympic Boulevard to minimize the traffic impacts. The two Santa Monicans also suggested adding a stop on Lincoln Boulevard near the freeway, one of the busiest intersections in the city. “(Olympic) lies between the commercial on Colorado and the residential south of the freeway,” Glasser said.
There is also a possibility that the Downtown station will be located near the corner of Second Street and Colorado instead of on the Sears auto lot, an option that City Hall asked the Exposition Construction Authority to explore. The scenario would require shutting down part of Main Street and taking out the east-bound lane on Colorado, Polechronis said.
Andy Agle, the housing and economic development director, said if the station is located on Second and Colorado, the Sears auto lot would still be used for transit-related purposes, a use that will be determined through public dialogue.
“Under any circumstances, there will be a great opportunity to utilize the site in a way to really maximize on its proximity to the transit,” Agle said on Tuesday.
A public input session is scheduled tonight from 6:30-8:30 at Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services at 3200 Motor Ave. in Los Angeles.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 3, 2008. Read the original PDF.