Archive

By Anita Varghese
Staff Writer

October 23 -- The Exposition Construction Authority (Expo Authority) will consider at a November 1 board meeting which alternative alignments and associated design elements to study in the draft environmental impact report (EIR) for a light rail line from downtown Los Angeles to downtown Santa Monica.

City staff will recommend Tuesday night that the Council make a request to the Expo Authority that an at-grade station be allowed for an alternative alignment along Colorado Avenue and that the Olympic Boulevard alternative alignment preserve an existing median island with coral trees.

“The future Exposition light rail line is critically important to Santa Monica and it is crucial that the project serve the community in the best way possible,” wrote Ellen Gelbard, deputy director of special projects, in a City staff report.

“Much of the future land use planning focuses on the Exposition light rail and the incredible opportunity that it presents.”

The Expo Authority will soon complete its screening for alternative alignments suggested during the Exposition Light Rail Phase Two scoping process and begin work on a draft EIR and environmental impact statement.

One proposed Santa Monica alignment runs along the light rail line right-of-way until just west of Cloverfield Boulevard, then the alignment diverges from the right-of-way and follows Olympic Boulevard into downtown Santa Monica.

Staff has developed another alignment along Colorado Avenue for the council and Expo Authority to consider, an alignment that could avoid issues related to a possible 35-feet elevated station and removal of Olympic Boulevard landscaping and trees.

If the Olympic Boulevard alignment were followed as currently scoped, an Olympic Boulevard center median containing landscaping and coral trees would have to be removed.

Also, an elevated station would have to be constructed 35 feet above ground to rise over Lincoln Boulevard and the Santa Monica Freeway on-ramp at Fourth Street.

“This elevated structure at the entrance to downtown could detract significantly from the City’s character, scale and desired pedestrian environment,” Gelbard wrote.

“If this station should ultimately proceed, there will be a need to address the visual impact.”

Expo Authority officials told staff that the downtown Santa Monica light rail station needs to be elevated given the area’s access and topography.

Removing an Olympic Boulevard traffic lane in each direction would bring the light rail line along Olympic Boulevard without destroying the center median or its existing landscaping and trees, City staff said.

An at-grade station could be built if the Expo Authority uses a staff-proposed Colorado Avenue alignment that follows the right-of-way and ends at 17th Street, where the alignment transitions into the center of Colorado Avenue to the downtown station.

The Colorado Avenue alignment will result in the removal of one lane of traffic in each direction, City staff said.

Expo Authority officials said they are willing to discuss alternative alignments and design elements with City officials, but the City’s request will require additional work by Expo Authority staff and consultants.

To avoid delaying the project, City staff will also recommend that the council approve a payment not to exceed $300,000 to the Expo Authority to quickly study the Colorado Avenue alignment.

“It is anticipated that the Colorado Avenue alignment will be significantly less expensive than the proposed Olympic Boulevard aerial alignment,” Gelbard wrote.

“At-grade light rail corridors provide greater opportunities over time for retail businesses, enhanced pedestrian environments and walkable connections to the neighborhoods.”