LA's newest light rail line ignores the pedestrian

This past week, I was in Los Angeles and rode the Expo Light Rail Line for the first time, from end to end. I've written about the line before, and taken pictures of its construction, but had never been on board since it opened last April. The line runs from downtown LA to Culver City, with an under-construction extension to Santa Monica scheduled to open in 2016.

One thing I'd observed during the construction phase was the seeming lack of attention to how riders actually get to the line. A transit line cannot only focus on the immediate tracks and stations - people need to arrive safely and comfortably. And because we're talking about rail transit within a city, many passengers will arrive on foot or by bike. Ignoring them doesn't just depress ridership, but it can be dangerous too.

Sadly, the final version of the Expo line did not correct the mistakes apparent during construction.

One of the biggest failings of the line is that fact that even at-grade stations were built with only one entrance and exit.

The 23rd street station is particularly bad.

Here I've marked the station in aqua blue (the line color). Note that while it's located between two streets, the only way out is north. If you're heading south, you need to walk two minutes north so you can cross the street and turn-around. Again, because the station is at grade, the costs to build a second exit were minimal.


Even worse, a southern exit exists - but is emergency only. No legal way out.


The above map images don't show it, but the line has already spurred development - a major apartment building was under construction next door.




The next station is the exact opposite - the only real exit is south. If you live or work between the two, you'll always have to backtrack, for no real reason.


Once again, an exit actually exists - but it's emergency only. Instead of painting a crosswalk, Metro decided it would be no problem to send people on a 5 minute walk, just because. 


Other stations are in the middle of a major avenue. Passengers are dumped into the middle of an intersection when they leave the train - not even a tiny pedestrian island with a life-saving bollard apparently could fit into the budget. Would you feel comfortable waiting in that crosswalk, which turning vehicles use to cut across?


When I rode, I did notice some bright orange flex posts had been added - but they provide no actual protection from an out-of-control SUV.

Essentially, the system seems to have been designed for trains, and not the actual riders. That is, the system itself was built to operate trains smoothly, but the actual customers were an after-thought.

The poor headways don't help that impression. 12 minutes during peak hours and an astonishingly poor frequency of twenty minutes as early as 7pm probably scares away many riders.


I did take a walk around the current last station while I was waiting for a friend. Unlike the previously discussed station, Culver City has an elevated station, and there are indeed two exit points, one at each end of the platform.

View from the top. Progress on phase 2 is obvious



The area under the station was very nice as well - ample seating, good lighting, and nice landscaping. Signage was plentiful, but not always useful. One very nice sign advises you of the last departure, but there were no train schedules to be found.

However, like the ground-level stations, there were plenty of signs that no actual transit rider was ever consulted.

For one, the station is quite high up, and no escalators were built. Elevators exist, but nobody likes riding transit elevators as they tend to smell.

Pardon the poor quality, but you can tell this is quite the climb. Now imagine your train is about to leave, and the next one isn't for twenty minutes...

 

At first I was impressed by the way-finding and bike facilities.



But as mentioned previously, all amenities transit riders need end as soon as you walk away. I followed the bike trail signs to this intersection, which offers absolutely no clue as to where the bike path actually is.



Walking back towards the station, you can see some of those way-finding signs. Where they exist, they're great.....but aren't they sort of important at the actual intersection?

Also note the narrow sidewalks and complete lack of trees



The designers of the Expo Line apparently decided that ample free parking was more important than a sidewalk. You can see the sidewalk narrow to provide for an extra parking space.



The sidewalk narrows yet again as you near the station. And remember, apparently this sidewalk is part of a bike trail, yet it appears to be the federal minimum of 4 feet wide.



Up ahead you see a large crowd waiting for a bus, with no comfortable place to wait.


Another disturbing aspect was the timing of the traffic signals. With my friend, we crossed Venice Ave. A button was required to get the walk signal, and the the timer began almost immediately. We are both quick walkers, and the timer reached zero as we finished crossing - in clear violation of federal standards which require the timing be set to accommodate seniors and those with disabilities.That's not just bad policy, it's an easy lawsuit the city can find itself on the losing end of.

I enjoyed my ride on Expo, it was quick, and was within a block of both my origin and destination. I just wish the people designing the line, and those approving the designs actually bothered to ride their system for once. Maybe then they'd see the need to look at the larger picture. One can only hope that Phase 2 will be better, but considering light rail has existed in LA for over 20 years, and this is considered acceptable, I don't have much hope.

Who do the city councilors represent?

Last week, the Fresno City Council voted to support a proposal for a new medical college. The problem is, the proposed campus isn't actually in Fresno, or even really near it - it's 20 miles away from downtown, in an area currently used for farming and recreation.

Granville, the housing development company behind the medical college, owns large tracts of land by the lake, and wants to use it to build thousands and thousands of new suburban homes. They plan on using the medical university as an anchor, and what I see as bait to get public opinion to support the plan.

Many in the community have naturally been outraged. The area is home to beautiful natural scenery, and thousands of new cookie-cutter homes will destroy that. Worse, the area will be 100% auto-dependent. There are no services, stores, or jobs there. Meaning every time a home is built, multiple car trips will be added as people drive 10-25 miles to get to jobs in Fresno. Of course, the area already has some of the worst air pollution in the country, and this will just make things much worse.



Putting the medical campus there is even worse than just adding homes. The idea of mixed use is that one can live near where they work. The problem is, this kind of development won't encourage it. The students who will be attending class aren't about to buy some $400,000 McMansion so they can walk to class. No, they will be living in a $600 a month apartment in Fresno, and be forced to drive 20 miles roundtrip every day just to attend class. Perhaps some of the faculty may move up there, but most will already be established in Fresno. And the minimum wage staff? They'll be coming from furthest away, and they're the ones who will less be able to afford spending $10 a day just in gas to commute.

The Lake


Transit? Please. Of course there's no transit there, nor is there any plans for it. Bike accessibility? Technically, yes, but the distance is much too far for the casual user - and it's all uphill.

That, by the way, makes the project very exclusionary. Can't drive?  No medical education or potential job for you. Too broke to drive? Sorry, try applying for a job at Mcdonalds. Oh wait, bus service ends at 9:30pm, good luck getting off your late shift....

Instead of saying "this is madness" that Fresno City Council went out of their way to endorse the campus.

That's right, the representatives of the people of Fresno went out of their way to endorse building homes and jobs 10-20 miles outside of Fresno and their districts. 

The Lake


How does that make sense? They were elected to represent the people of Fresno, but instead, they trip over themselves in a rush to represent a developer that is actively working to move taxpayers and job-generators out of town.

"We don't get to tell them where to locate," Brandau said prior to the council's 6-0 vote in favor of the resolution.
Fresno Bee

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/05/09/3293660/fresno-backs-health-university.html#storylink=cpy

So instead of working to have them build in town, you vote to have them build elsewhere? Note that this is the same company that Fresno lavishes with financial incentives, including evicting businesses and knocking over buildings to give the developer a park. How do they thank the city? By building their next big thing elsewhere.

I'm a huge proponent of regional government, and not running things based on arbitrary lines, but the system we have now is one where the city council deal with matters of the city, and the county supervisors deal with matters of the county. This project is a raw deal for the people of Fresno, the ones who these council members are supposed to represent. Some have argued that they should support the college because it will be a regional benefit - but that's not their job.

The Lake


Take Lee Brand, he represents the district closest to the proposed college (a mere 10 miles away). His district will bare the brunt of negative consequences.

For one, there's one, and only one real road between Fresno and the college (and the proposed homes). It just so happens that this one road is also the main arterial his constituents take when they drive to the shops or their jobs. Anyone who lives in that district knows that Friant and the entrance to 41 backs up every morning, even though they keep widening it. When you filter everyone to one, and only one on-ramp, that's what happens.

And now imagine the project is built. Thousands of new car trips every day down this same Friant Ave, and then onto that same on-ramp. And in the other direction, thousands of new car trips and students, faculty and staff make their way to the school.

Pollution.
Noise.
Congestion.

All in the backyard of Lee Brand's constituents. But he voted yes.

So why is this thing being built in the middle of nowhere?

According to the company:

The Assemis, whose several downtown projects have made them the city's biggest partner in restoring the area, said they tried for more than a year to find a Fresno location for the school.

Nothing was big enough and assembling adjacent properties would take four to five years, Darius Assemi said Thursday.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/05/09/3293660/fresno-backs-health-university.html#storylink=cpy

But that's a lie.

Here you can see the blue line leaving from downtown towards the proposed campus. It keeps going north.



The two red x marks are enormous properties this very same company owns, much closer to downtown. Nothing was big enough?


This enormous site (from California to Whitesbridge, between Hughes and Marks)  is right by a brand new highway, a commuter airport, and minutes from downtown.

It's also just north of the veternas home. Two years ago, I wrote about how these veterans were being sent out to nowhere. The home was finished and opened, and it's still nowhere....but wouldn't a medical campus benefit them? Sort of makes sense to have medical students be near potential patients, don't you think? And the addition of the school would make bus transit feasible - something that won't ever happen at the proposed site by the lake.

It's not downtown, but it sure is better.

The Veteran's home



Believe it or not, but the same company owns another enormous parcel within the Fresno city limits. Isolated, but a huge improvement over the lake. 


So what was that about no land being available? They plan on turning this thing into homes around artificial lakes. Yup, in an area where lack of water is always on peoples mind, they want to build fake lakes.

I marked another location on the map, which is Fancher Creek, a planned development that has been in the works for well over a decade, and is still dirt. 



Of course, these sites work to fulfill their dreams of single-story campus sprawl.

What about being efficient and actually building up?

Too expensive?

In the above map, I noted two purple crosses.....existing multi-story hospitals that are essentially abandoned. Sort of makes sense to re-use a hospital as a medical school don't you think?

Old County Hospital


Problem is, the goal isn't really to build a medical school that is convenient. The goal is to justify thousands of new home in the beautiful open land. People tend to be against that, even here. But once you throw in "medical school" who can say no?

Apparently, not even the city council. They voted yes on a project that will bring in zero taxes, but cost money in the form of road "improvements", congestion and noise. In other words, the council voted to represent the developer, and only the developer. The people who actually get to vote? Who cares, it's not like we have money.

The Lake

Amtrak Comet trains now testing in California

Back in September, I posted about Amtrak California buying trains built in 1968 from New Jersey transit to be used in California. The purpose of the move is to bring needed rolling stock to lines that have seen large gains in ridership. Amtrak has an order in for brand new trains, but deliveries take years.

The "new" single -level train-sets will be used exclusively on the San Joaquin line, and two of the existing trains will be broken up and used to add capacity on the Capital Corridor and and Pacific Surfliner. The "new" trains are expected to run on the San Joaquin line early morning and late nights - mid-day trains will continue to see higher-capacity two floor trains.

According to reports, the trains have arrived in California and are being tested. If you ride the San Joaquin or pass by the BNSF tracks, keep an eye out, you might see them. No date has yet been given for when they will enter service.

The trains were fully renovated and are supposed to feature standard Amtrak interiors, but I haven't seen any photos posted yet. However, they are high level trains on a low-level line, so it will be interesting to see if these vehicles cause delays since boarding will take longer. Also, it's unknown how bicycles and wheelchair accessibility will be handled on them.

So far, Amtrak hasn't revealed the long-term plan for the trains, as it's assumed they won't be needed once the new orders begin arriving in two years. Theoretically, they could them be shipped to the proposed "Coast Daylight", a day running version of the "Coast Starlight". That line may be better suited for trains that aren't as quick and easy to board as the San Joaquin, which is a quasi-commuter line.


If you see the train, make sure to take a picture and I'd appreciate it if you shared it.

Fresno to get a couple new bike lanes

Two bike lane projects are going forward this year in Fresno, one of which is a road diet.

The first is the "Shields Ave Bike Lane Improvement" Project which

will infill gaps in existing bike lane paths along Shields Avenue between West Ave. and Chestnut Ave. The Shields Avenue Bike Lane Improvements project will also install parking bays to accommodate on-street parking, therefore providing for a safer bicycle route along a major east/west corridor along Shields Avenue.

 Shields currently has some bike lanes, but the project will apparently make them continuous. It was scheduled for this spring, but due to a problem with a contractor, it's been delayed a few months. In all, its a 4.5 mile project.

Project length:


Existing bike lanes. As you can see, there's no continuous east-west route.


The second project is in conjunction with the county, to put Fruit on a diet. Between Shaw and Herndon, Fruit will go from four lanes to three, with two added bike lanes. It will help fill a north/south gap. Because the majority of Fruit goes through county islands, the county will pay for most of the costs. This is a 2 mile project.

Project:
 

Existing bike lanes:


Current configuration. As you can see, capacity is not an issue.



There's no specific timeline, but I would expect it this fall as well.

Next GV Urban project revealed

Earlier this year, GV Urban proposed their newest residential project downtown, around the site of the former Met museum. This week they go before the planning commission with their next project, this time on Broadway.

The company has focused almost exclusively on Fulton, so it's nice to see them branch out a block over to Broadway, which has been neglected. For those not familiar with the area, Fulton is the main street, and has Broadway on one side and Van Ness on the other as other major streets in the area. Today, Broadway is mostly auto-focused businesses, and most of them are closed.

Here's a map of the project area.

Red square: New project
Green square: Buildings being knocked down for park
GV1:  Fulton Village
GV2: 1612 Fulton (under construction)
GV3: Proposed Met plan
R: Rainbow Ballroom




The entire area is quickly being dominated by GV. It's great to see that they keep adding new projects, which means there's been sufficient demand for their old projects. One downside is that they've been the recipient of plenty of corporate welfare. While other cities might require GV set aside some space for a park, in Fresno, the city is buying up existing properties and knocking them down to build one for the company. While other cities require developers to fund infrastructure, in Fresno the city is reaching into TOD funds to improve the alleys for GV.

Is the end result worth it? While it's certainly great to see all this construction, I sometimes feel the city is giving in a little too much. On the other hand, no other company has stepped up to build residential units downtown.

Anyway, let's take a look at the plan.

As you can see from the above map, the parcel has two empty halves, with a historic home in the middle. The right side of the property used to be an abandoned business - which the city knocked down on their dime.

 The plan is to build apartments in the empty lots, and restore the existing home. The historic home will have something I've been saying GV has been lacking for years: Amenities for their residents!

You see, every north Fresno apartment offers pools, saunas, party rooms, lounges, etc etc. GV charges higher rents, tries to convince people to take a risk downtown, but offers no amenities. Looks like they're finally trying to fix it. The first floor of the home will offer a billiard table, a lounge area and a community kitchen. The second floor with be for the on-site manager. No pool, but it's a start.

As for the new construction....it's exactly the same as Fulton Village and 1612 Fulton. Multiple three story buildings, two units per building. Balconies, but flat surfaces and identical designs.

I wish they'd add some flair. Their first project, the Iron Bird Lofts had some great design features. Since then, it's been cookie cutter molds. How about some different roof designs? A decorative 6 foot addition? Anything?



Notice how the existing home adds to the project by not making it so uniform. Why not add a sloped roof to one of the new buildings?




The site plan. 

It looks like the rear units actually require use of the alley....a first for the company?



Note the diagonal parking configuration on Broadway. That's part of the new street-scape project I talked about way back in 2011. Supposedly, it's going to happen this summer or fall. Now I sort of understand why they decided to remove the promised bike lanes and build angled parking - it's what GV urban wants. Fulton Street also has angled parking and no bike lanes. I guess what GV urban wants, they get, even if it contradicts the bike master plan.

The street-scape project has not been modified since I posted about it over a year ago. I asked why they're not using back-in parking, and was told it was because that didn't exist in California...

Except that San Francisco is putting it in. Back-in parking is many times safer for cyclists because cars aren't backing into the street blindly.

Also disappointing, it appears that the left corner will get a fake, painted bulbout and not a real concrete one (compare red arrow with green arrow).



Considering streets like this are redone only once every 50 years at best, it's a shame to lock in a poor design for so long.

I'm excited to see this project go through, but like most GV Urban projects, it has its fair share of faults, mostly thanks to value engineering. Expect to see it pop up in 2014.

You can see the entire planning commission document here (warning, large PDF).

Texas mayor: Cyclists endanger motorists

A Texas mayor, Bill Krawietz, yesterday penned a newspaper opinion column claiming that cyclists endanger motorists. Did he trying using stereotypical “arguments” such as claiming that all cyclists run red lights and bike against traffic? Nope, his argument was that cyclists strictly following the law are a menace. In fact, it was the mayor who broke not one but two laws.

Not only did he admit to breaking the law, but he then threatens to use his position of authority to harass cyclists. 

I was sitting in the parking lot of the post office April 15 when suddenly there was a loud and abrupt knock on my truck window. It turns out that a couple of cyclists did not like me passing them between Luke's Chevron and Bulverde Hills Drive.

Traffic was quite heavy at the time. School had just let out, there was a scramble to get income tax checks mailed and the evening rush was beginning. My patience was already worn thin and being stuck behind a couple of slow-moving cyclists riding side-by-side did not help.

So I gave a brief tap on the horn. The cyclists changed formation to single file. Then a break in traffic gave me the opportunity to accelerate and pass on a stretch of road that has a double-yellow center stripe which you can't cross.
Column

The two laws he broke were using a horn in a non-emergency situation, and crossing a double-yellow line to pass. He also later admits to “unleashing on the pair”  - something that sounds like a case  of road rage.

He ends his column with a thinly veiled threat

The last thing we want to do is to start ramping up citations for the littlest infractions to get you to notice.

The mayor is from the town of Bulverde, a suburb of San Antonio. It is unacceptable that any public official would take to a newspaper to argue against legal behavior while describing his own scofflaw activities. However, it’s extremely unlikely his actions will be questioned by those in positions above him.

Sadly, his attitude is common in the area north of Fresno, were cyclists must share narrow and winding foothill roads with motorists. Last year, one cyclist, which happened to be a sheriff deputy, was shot in the back for having the audacity to ride. Hopefully that behavior does not become more common now that the mayor has displayed his opinion on the matter.

Renovating a historic downtown building

The Bee ran an article the other day about some great renovation work going on in a 90 year old building on the Fulton Mall. With a 72% office lease rate, which is actually good for Fresno, this story proves that businesses aren't scared to locate downtown - as long as the building isn't falling apart.I believe the ground floor retail is fully occupied.

Over the last two decades, a Fresno financial adviser and his family have poured nearly $3 million into repairing and renovating the historic T.W. Patterson Building on the Fulton Mall hoping to attract more businesses to the city's central core.

Rick Roush of Roush Investment Group has updated the decades-old air conditioning system, replaced old lights, repaired the elevators and built office suites. After doing so much work over the years around the rest of the building, Roush over the last few months finally has renovated his own office.

Bee article with gallery

The building is in the south side of the mall, near the stadium, and will be just a block away from the new high speed rail train station. Once that opens, any vacancy should be a thing of the past.


(The SUV that appears to be heading onto the pedestrian mall is probably a maintenance vehicle) 


The inside looks great.



The link above from the Bee has the rest of their pictures.

Unlike other developers, this appears to have been done without financial gifts from the city.  Unfortunately, many other beautiful buildings downtown remain empty and abandoned. I just hope that the arrival of the high speed rail station on their doorsteps spurs this same kind of work. 

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/04/20/3266977/roush-family-renovates-historic.html#storylink=cpy

 

 

 

Chipping away at the Clovis trail system – again.

A few years ago, Clovis developed master plans for future residential areas of the city, namely the Harlan Ranch and Loma Vista areas. Both of these master plans required that all new development include a new trail system, and provide the necessary connections so that cyclists and pedestrians can use the trails for recreation and commuting. 

Most developers comply with the requirements and build the trails. They realize that it’s an important asset that will increase the value of their property and make their new homes easier to sell. Residents who move in expect that the planned trails will materialize.

Some developers, however, disagree. They care only about the shortest of terms, and request that the trail requirement be removed so that they can fit in one extra lot, or a larger backyard somewhere.

Sadly, the city is usually quick to agree to these changes, even when the developer wants to block existing trail connections with a masonry wall.. 

This month, another developer is at it again, and is requesting that their new subdivision not include any trail at all. Like usual, the city is ok with it, even though once these homes are built, the missing trail will be all but impossible to build in the future.This type of policy not only hurts future residents, but current residents who bought their homes with expectations that the master plan will be followed. 

Map showing the proposed trail link being eliminated, in the red bubble

Image showing the existing trail was planned to continue straight....now it will just end. Existing homes to the north will lose a planned amenity.

That's not all - in the master plan, this property was zoned for high density residential (15.1-25 units per acre) and the developer asked for the city to change the zoning to medium density (4.1-7 units per acre). Of course, they got that change. So the developer wants to build suburban housing instead of apartments, AND they want to eliminate the path requirement? 

The item being discussed (PDF) goes before the planning commission on April 25th, which is open to the public if you want to speak against the change.

Incidentally, if you look at the previous image, notice something....even though everything you see here, the roads, houses, sidewalks etc were all built within the past 8 years, it was done wrong. The crosswalks don't connect. Three curb ramps point diagonally and one only points in one direction. In all cases, pedestrians and cyclists must leave the crosswalk and enter the center of the intersection to cross the road.