Meeting_Body
SYSTEM SAFETY, SECURITY AND OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
JANUARY 19, 2017
Preamble
Motion by:
Directors Garcetti, Solis, Bonin and Dupont-Walker
January 19, 2017
Downtown Los Angeles Arts District Connectivity
Metro Rail service is intended to serve high-density areas and major trip generators throughout Los Angeles County. Transit service to these types of locations, such as the Wilshire Corridor, the Historic Core, North Hollywood, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Long Beach, and other thriving locations is important to meet the mobility needs of Los Angeles County.
There are several outstanding priorities in and around MTA’s Division 20 rail maintenance facility in the Arts District. MTA must improve Division 20 to service the Purple Line Extension project. Additionally, there is an opportunity to extend rail service to the Arts District.
Combined, the Purple Line Extension Section 1 and Section 2 projects include over $3.6 billion in federal funding and financing. These federal funds are predicated on specific service standards, namely, train service every four minutes.
The federal funding requirements compel MTA to improve the subway turn-back capabilities by constructing a facility at the Division 20 maintenance facility. These improvements must be completed to meet federal service requirements, maintain federal funding agreements, and to start service on the Purple Line Extension. Failure to do so could put over $3.6 billion in federal funding at risk.
In addition, with the passage of Measure M, MTA’s current plans for Division 20 must be revised to accommodate the acceleration of the Purple Line Extension Section 3 to 2024. This will require an expansion of subway vehicle storage, maintenance, and testing infrastructure.
At the same time, MTA has since 2010 studied extending the Red and Purple Lines from Union Station to the Arts District, with possible stations and 1st Street, 3rd Street, and/or 6th Street.
An Arts District Extension is a great opportunity to support the continued development of a transit-oriented community with a rapidly expanding population and a strong desire for transit service. The Arts District has become a widely popular arts, culture, and shopping destination with rapid residential growth. There are over twenty development projects in the Arts District under construction, entitled or in the entitlement process, including 670 Mesquit, 6AM, Row DTLA, 520 Mateo Street, the Ford Motor Factory Building, 950 E. 3rd Street, At Mateo, and others. Additionally, the Arts District is the location of several major infrastructure projects that will improve the public realm, such as the 6th Street Viaduct Replacement project and MTA’s LA River Waterway & System Bikepath project.
MTA’s first priority for Division 20 must be to support the Purple Line Extension. However, MTA should do everything possible to extend rail service to the Arts District.
Title
CONSIDER Motion by Garcetti, Solis, Bonin and Dupont-Walker that the Board direct the CEO to:
A. Immediately initiate a holistic assessment of MTA’s long-term needs at Division 20 and accommodation of future Arts District station access, including:
1. Turn-back facility improvements,
2. Rail car storage, maintenance facility, and vehicle test track needs required to start service on the Purple Line Extension Section 3 in 2024 per the Measure M ordinance,
3. Rail service expansion to the Arts District with station options at 1st Street, 3rd Street, and/or 6th Street, with connections into the Arts District, to MTA’s LA River Waterway & System Bikepath project, and to the 6th Street Viaduct Replacement project,
4. Consideration of additional property required to meet all the above needs;
FURTHER MOVE that the MTA Board direct the CEO to:
A. Design Division 20 so as to not preclude new stations and necessary track(s) in the future if funding is identified for an Arts District station(s) on the Red/Purple Line.
B. Work with the City of Los Angeles to develop creative strategies to establish innovative funding mechanisms dedicated to off-set the costs of new stations in the Arts District.
C. Provide an initial report back on all the above during the April 2017 Board cycle.