Tracks: Not Portland Yet, but We Could Be
Portland’s TriMet has been touted as the way for public transportation. Metro is in the preliminary stages of fixing its own brand of Portland-style transit for downtown L.A.’s Historic Core and Little Tokyo, the “Regional Connector.” The Regional Connector will connect the Gold Line with the Blue Line and the upcoming Expo Line.
Portland is a good public transit model. Nobody doesn’t like Portland! The rose gardens, those ever-flowing drinking fountains, the hippies and junkies, and really, a terrific zoo. But can their style of light rail – street-level trains like the Blue Line – work here?
Last month, Metro had a meeting at the Little Tokyo library for the Higgins Loft Homeowner’s Association. “This was a bigger audience than I was expecting to see. We thought it would just be the Higgins Homeowner’s Association. This is great,” said Peter Voorhees, MTA project manager for the Regional Connector.
It’s not surprising that Metro convened a meeting about a project that will affect all of downtown L.A., and was surprised citizens showed up. What was interesting, however, was Metro’s very limited invitation to residents of just one building.
Metro’s surprise most likely has to do with the fact that downtown L.A. has previously shown little interest in public transit. However, this year’s half-cent ballot measure and Bringing Back Broadway’s streetcar initiative has proved there is burgeoning public interest in the way public transit is planned.
“The Regional Connector is one of the most important projects that is on the drawing board for Metro. It really has the possibility of making mass transit in L.A. County really work,” said Ann Curman, from MTA Community Relations.
Portland’s version of the downtown connector is in its Fareless Square, where every boarding is free.
Metro has conceived two options (and neither involves not paying). Both options visualize the connector having one end at the Seventh/Metro rail stop and at the other end a train popping up at some point on Second Street in the heart of Little Tokyo.
But not everyone shares Metro’s enthusiasm of the agency’s options for the area. “This is going to lose the character of Little Tokyo. It’s not acceptable putting anything on Second Street,” said Soonja Viniegra, a longtime Little Tokyo patron and businesswoman. To many in the audience, the idea of light rail does not seem to be an enhancement of the pedestrian-friendly, community-oriented neighborhood of Little Tokyo.
But it could be. In Portland, transit works with urban planning. One of Portland’s TriMet goals is to integrate transportation and land-use goals. In L.A., Metro’s vision is somewhat opaque. Metro needs to define clear goals and work with the surrounding community – one that’s leery of noise, long-term construction messes, and the terrible accident rate exemplified by the Blue Line – if downtown L.A. is to be like Portland.
The preliminary study for the project will go to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority’s board sometime this fall.
Published: 09/10/2008
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