By Hector Gonzalez
Special to The Lookout

December 11, 2015 -- Along with $150,000 for emergency phones and security cameras for the new Expo Bike Path, City Council members this week approved $1.5 million for the construction of a mini-transit hub specifically to serve vehicles dropping off and picking up passengers of the Expo Light Rail Station at 4th Street.

The Council approved both items as part of a package of expenditures on Tuesday's consent calendar.

Img.:City of Santa Monica

Scheduled to start in January, the temporary use transit oriented development site project includes construction of a new shuttle bus and vehicle drop-off and pick-up area at the station, as well as two new bus stops along 5th Street, just north of Colorado Avenue, near the station. The project also calls for rebuilding a two-story City owned parking lot located south of the station, east of 4th Street, west of 5th and north of the Apple and Comma building. The lower lot nearer to 4th would become a drop-off and pick-up spot for shuttle buses and vehicles, staff said. The upper lot nearer to 5th would have metered parking. A timeline for the work sets a tentative May 2016 completion date but allows for a contingency should the rail line open before work on the parking lot is completed. In that event, the upper lot would be temporarily striped as a drop-off and pick-up area until the lower lot is completed, said staff.

“This transportation interface will decrease the tendency for people to drop off and pick up Expo riders along the adjacent roadways, which can be dangerous and cause traffic congestion, staff said.

Three of the Expo Light Rail stations are in Santa Monica and have been the focus of much of the City's active planning since 2007.

In 2009, using a portion of redevelopment funds, the Council ordered a study into the feasibility of building bridge connections and freeway capping to integrate the Expo's terminus at the 4th Street Station with the Civic Center and Downtown, said staff.

Planning for access to the terminus station began in 2012, including the bridging concepts, but the process was put on hold when the state ended the practice of cities using redevelopment funds for capital improvement projects.

In February, the Council approved the interim plan, and this week Council members approved hiring All American Asphalt (AAA) to complete construction of the project. The company was selected from among nine bidders for the work.

AAA also has done similar construction work on the Colorado Esplanade Streetscape project and Santa Monica's Safe Routes to School project, as well as street rehabilitation projects for the cities of Fullerton, Yorba Linda, Beverly Hills and several others, staff said.

Council members this week also approved funding to ensure safety for riders along the 1.3-mile, $2 million Expo Bike Path in Santa Monica, part of a regional bike path that will link the City to Downtown Los Angeles once the rail line is completed.

As part of the rail project, the Expo Light Rail Construction Authority is building an accompanying 4.5-mile bike/walking path through Culver City, which is now substantially completed, staff said.

Under a 2013 agreement, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority agreed to continue the bike path through Santa Monica, while the City agreed to operate and maintain it.

Resembling giant blue flashlights, four emergency phones will be installed along the path, as well as eight closed-circuit security cameras to be operated by the Police Department, staff said.

The phones will be connected directly to Santa Monica's 9-1-1 emergency dispatch lines.

The City is paying for the cost of the equipment and its installation, staff said.