Meeting_Body
SYSTEM SAFETY, SECURITY AND OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
AUGUST 18, 2016
Subject/Action
SUBJECT: SAFETY AND SECURITY FOR BLUE LINE WARDLOW STATION
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE STATUS REPORT ON INVESTIGATIONS AT THE WARDLOW BLUE LINE STATION
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE status report on investigations at the Wardlow Blue Line Station.
Issue
ISSUE
At the May 26 2016 Metro Board meeting, by Motion of Directors Garcetti, Knabe, DuBois and Dupont-Walker and related to Item 30 of the Board agenda (Attachment A), the Board directed the CEO to provide a June update with regard to capital projects (Item A of attachment A) at the Wardlow Station and to report back in August 2016 with regard to items B through E shown on Attachment A). This report responds to the Board direction.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
The items of the Board motion to be addressed in this report are as follows:
Item B. Initiate a feasibility study to improve safety and security for the Blue Line Wardlow Station and a pilot fare gate program at 4 (four) downtown Long Beach stations.
• Safety: A review of the safety of the Wardlow grade crossing will be performed. We will compare the numbers of incidents (pedestrian or vehicle) at the crossing and compare it to all other MBL crossings thus obtaining an objective ranking of the crossing from a safety standpoint. Note that the MBL Pedestrian Gates project in construction at this time will have completed the two crossings in the City of Long Beach, Spring St. and Wardlow Rd., by Mid October 2016, resulting in better protection and a reduction of the likelihood of a pedestrian accident at these two crossings.
• Traffic Impacts: Perform a review of the impacts on the roadway traffic at the crossing, including the impact of the close proximity of the I-405 ramps: We will review and analyze any traffic back up at the crossing, which might be occurring, in particular during peak hours.
• Metro Grade Separation Policy: Rate the Wardlow at-grade crossing based on Metro’s adopted grade separation policy in comparison to other MBL stations at-grade crossings.
• Feasibility: Evaluate the feasibility from an Engineering standpoint. Develop alternative designs for improvement of the crossing including conceptual designs for grade separation that will consider the two options: underpass or overpass: Challenges to be technically reviewed include:
o Avoiding interference by the new structure with I-405 Freeway, as this will add a high complexity and cost to the project,
o Developing a concept that leaves the new structure within our ROW to avoid any new ROW acquisitions,
o Minimizing the disruptions to Operations during construction: Developing a design which will leave room to build a temporary shoe- fly to be able to continue normal operations during construction, thus avoiding the need of bussing our patrons
o Performing utilities investigations to determine the extent of utilities relocations or protections that might be needed for the project
o Evaluating if the new structure impacts the existing Park & Ride lot which might require a temporary Park & Ride.
• Security: The MBL stations enhancements project, which construction was completed in November 2015, has improved the security at all MBL stations , including the Wardlow station: New CCTV have been added and new LED fixtures have substantially improved the stations’ lighting
• Gating Feasibility of Gating five (5) Blue Line Stations: Metro’s gating team has developed a plan to study gate feasibility for five Long Beach Blue Line stations: Wardlow, 5th Street, 1st Street, Downtown Long Beach, and Pacific stations. The first step is to conduct a detailed engineering analysis and results are expected by mid Sept 2016. Once the analysis is complete we will review the results and develop engineering plans and cost estimates for those stations that can be gated.
Item C. Prioritize the Wardlow Grade Separation project to receive new funding and/or grants and assign this project to be included in MTA’s State of Good Repair, Safety Improvements, and Aging Infrastructure program.
Establishing a priority for funding of a grade separation will be considered as part of the capital budgeting process as well as in the identification of projects for grant application consideration. Once the project is better defined through the studies described above it will be included in the State of Good Repair, Safety Improvements, and Aging Infrastructure program.
Item D. Include the Wardlow Station as part of MTA’s “Transit Oriented Communities” pilot projects.
Pending the results of a scheduled meeting with the City of Long Beach Development Services staff regarding opportunities for collaboration between Metro and the City, the Wardlow Station Area will be added to the Metro TOC Pilot program.
Item E. Identify Transit Oriented Development and other land use and development opportunities to maximize the use of Wardlow Station.
Metro Joint Development staff has performed a preliminary assessment in preparation for the meeting with City Development Services staff. Additional analysis will be conducted based upon the results of that meeting.
Financial_Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Adoption of the recommendation to receive and file this report will not create a financial impact to the agency.
Impact to Budget
The technical and engineering feasibility study will be prepared in house by Metro Engineering. However should this result in a project, an LOP will be developed and submitted to the Board approval for all phases of the project including Planning, Environmental Clearance, Preliminary Engineering (PE) Development and Construction.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
With receipt of this report by the Board, staff will pursue the activities as described above. Completion of the feasibility study described in B above is anticipated to occur by March 2017. The other activities are on-going and the status will be reported periodically.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - May 26, 2016 Motion (File #:2016-0487)
Attachment B - June 29, 2016 Board Box regarding Blue Line Art Installations
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Calvin Hollis, Executive Officer, Countywide Planning, (213) 922-7319
Sam Mayman, Executive Officer, Engineering Mgmt. (213) 922-7289
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Therese W. McMillan, Chief Planning Officer, (213) 922-7077
