The final nails have been put in the coffin of the I-710 extension, and now communities like Pasadena are getting ideas about how to spend Measure R funding once reserved for the unwanted freeway.
Steve Scauzillo reports that pedestrians and motorists could have an easier time crossing the tracks of the Metro Gold Line in Pasadena.
"A dual underpass-overpass concept at California Boulevard, between Arroyo Seco Boulevard and Raymond Avenue, was green-lighted by a committee of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) earlier this month," reports Scauzillo. "A preliminary design calls for raising the train tracks about 12 feet, while lowering California Boulevard 9 feet."
The Metro board is expected to vote on $105 million in funding fore the project in early December. It's ironic, according to Scauzillo, that funding will come from a pot of money originally included in Measure R to extend the 710 freeway. That project is now fully dead.
According to Scauzillo, the debate over how the light rail line should cross Del Mar Boulevard, California Boulevard, and Glenarm Street has raged in Pasadena since before it opened in 2003. The resulting configuration was the result of a compromise.
FULL STORY: After 15 years of traffic snarls, Pasadena may build California Boulevard overpass at Gold Line train tracks
Feasibility Study Approved for Pasadena, Burbank Airport Light Rail Extension
$1 million in new state funding will study the feasibility of connecting the Gold Line light rail in Pasadena to the Hollywood Burbank Airport in Southern California.
Controversial Bus Rapid Transit Connection Between L.A. and Pasadena Moves Forward
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority recently released a draft environmental impact report for the NoHo to Pasadena Transit Corridor.
Public Outcry Greets Plan to Connect L.A. to Pasadena via Bus Rapid Transit
Voters might have approved transit funding multiple measures by wide margins in Los Angeles County in recent years, but actual project proposals still have trouble appealing at the hyper-local level.
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
New Park Opens in the Santa Clarita Valley
The City of Santa Clarita just celebrated the grand opening of its 38th park, the 10.5-acre Skyline Ranch Park.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
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