Meeting_Body
PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE
NOVEMBER 20, 2019
Subject
SUBJECT: LONE HILL TO WHITE DOUBLE TRACK
Action
ACTION: APPROVE PROGRAMMING OF FUNDS FOR FINAL DESIGN
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
CONSIDER:
A. APPROVING the programming of $7.5 million in Measure R 3% commuter rail funds for final design including third party costs of the Lone Hill to White (LHW) Double Track Project; and
B. AUTHORIZING the Chief Executive Officer to negotiate and execute all agreements for the LHW final design.
Issue
ISSUE
In June 2019, the Metro Board approved staff to file the Notice of Exemption (NOE) with the Los Angeles County Clerk for the Lone Hill to White (LHW) Double Track Project. The CEQA environmental process is complete and was certified on July 29, 2019. The Southern California Regional Rail Authority (also known as Metrolink) and the cities of San Dimas and La Verne have requested that the LHW Double Track Project proceed to final design. Staff is requesting programming authority of $7.5 million for final design including third party costs for the LHW Double Track Project.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
The LHW Double Track Project is located along the Metrolink San Bernardino Line (MSBL), in the cities of San Dimas and La Verne (Attachment A). The MSBL is the busiest Metrolink commuter rail line with approximately a total of 11,000 passengers on 38 weekday trains. The existing rail infrastructure on the MSBL is 67 percent single track, which creates a bottleneck and significant operational challenges. In order to improve reliability and on-time performance, more of the MSBL needs to be double tracked.
Completion of the LHW Double Track Project will provide an additional 3.9 miles of continuous double track to further reduce the single track bottleneck on the MSBL, minimize delays due to trains waiting on a siding for another train to pass, and provide operational flexibility to recover from delays.
Preliminary Engineering Phase
In June 2017, environmental studies and 30% preliminary engineering design was completed for the LHW Double Track Project. The main components of the project include the following:
1. New 3.9 miles of second mainline track between Lone Hill Avenue and Control Point (CP) White.
2. Extension of the existing platform at the Pomona Fairgrounds Station to provide more platform capacity for seasonal and special event service.
3. Ten new railroad turnouts and relocation of one industrial track and modification to one industrial track.
4. New control point at Lone Hill Avenue with a new train control signal and communication infrastructure to support the LHW Double Track Project configuration.
5. Twelve at-grade crossings to be modified with Quiet Zone ready improvements.
Quiet Zone Opportunity
As part of the LHW Double Track Project, twelve existing at-grade street crossings, five in the City of San Dimas and seven in the City of La Verne, will be designed for Quiet Zone ready improvements. Quiet Zone ready improvements are additional supplemental safety measures (SSM) that mitigate the need for trains to sound their horns. These SSMs include improvements such as flashing lights, quad gates, center medians, etc., to enhance vehicular and pedestrian safety at the crossing.
Once the SSMs are constructed, trains passing through these 12 at-grade street crossings would no longer be required to blow their horns. A Quiet Zone in the LHW corridor would significantly improve quality of life for residents of San Dimas and La Verne since there is more service on the MSBL, including late night service, than any other line.
During the preliminary engineering design phase, diagnostic meetings were held with California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) staff and SSMs were identified that will meet the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) approval of future Quiet Zones at these at-grade crossings, should the cities of San Dimas and La Verne wish to file the Notice of Intent (NOI) for Quiet Zones. The cites of San Dimas and La Verne have jurisdictional authority over these twelve at-grade crossings.
Community Meetings
During the 30% preliminary engineering phase, community meetings were held with the cities of San Dimas and La Verne in November 2016 and May 2017. Approximately 200 people attended the four combined meetings. The LHW Double Track Project was generally well received, with 64 neutral or positive comments towards the project and 13 expressing concerns having to do with noise and vibration or their desire to implement Quiet Zones. In July 2019, staff presented to the city councils of both the City of San Dimas and the City of La Verne. Both cities provided letters of support for the LHW Double Track Project advancing to final design (See Attachment B and C).
Metrolink SCORE
In 2018 SCRRA received $876 million in funding from the State for the first phase of its Southern California Optimized Rail Expansion (SCORE) program. When fully built out, the $10 billion SCORE program will provide 15 to 30 minute bi-directional service and a major expansion of service by 2028. In SCRRA’s application to the State for SCORE funding, the LHW Double Track Project was identified as a key early completion project, to provide reliability and capacity, leading to 30 minute bi-directional service along the MSBL.
Staff anticipates heavy utilization of the MSBL for the 2028 Olympics. Mountain biking events will be hosted in San Dimas near the MSBL station in Pomona. Additionally, the MSBL will be an important feeder line to enable people in the San Gabriel Valley to easily get to downtown Los Angeles to access the many Olympic venues in the greater Los Angeles area. Staff’s recommended approval of the final design for LHW Double Track Project will make the project shovel ready to increase the opportunity for other local, State and Federal grants.
Determination_Of_Safety_Impact
DETERMINATION OF SAFETY IMPACT
Once constructed, the LHW Double Track Project will reduce the risk of train-on-train collisions. SSMs at the 12 crossings with Quiet Zone ready improvements will benefit cars, trucks, pedestrians and the surrounding communities of San Dimas and La Verne.
Financial_Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The anticipated cash flow of Measure R 3% commuter rail funds for final design and third party costs is as follows:
|
MEASURE R 3% FUNDS FOR LONE HILL TO WHITE FINAL DESIGN & 3RD PARTY COSTS |
|
FY 20 |
FY 21 |
FY 22 |
FY 23 |
|
$500,000 |
$2,500,000 |
$3,000,000 |
$1,500,000 |
There is no impact to the FY 2019-20 Metro Budget as $500,000 is budgeted for the LHW Double Track Final Design in department 2415, Regional Rail, project number 460068. Since this is a multi-year project, the Senior Executive Officer, Regional Rail, will be responsible for budgeting project costs in future fiscal years.
Implementation_of_Strategic_Plan_Goals
IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
Staff’s recommendations A and B support strategic plan goals 1, 3 and 4. These actions support Metro’s partnership with other rail operators to improve service reliability and mobility, provide better transit connections throughout the network and serves to implement the following specific strategic plan goals:
• Goal 1.2: Improve LA County’s overall transit network and assets;
• Goal 3.3: Genuine public and community engagement to achieve better mobility outcomes for the people of LA County; and
• Goal 4.1: Metro will work with partners to build trust and make decisions that support the goals of the Strategic Plan.
Alternatives_Considered
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The alternative would be for the Board to not advance the LHW Double Track Project to final design. This is not recommended since environmental review and preliminary engineering have been completed and the LHW Double Track Project has received broad support from the Cities of San Dimas and La Verne.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
With Board approval of the staff recommendations, staff will issue a task order using the Regional Rail on-call services for the LHW final design. During the final design process, staff will work with the local cities, the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG), elected officials, and SCRRA to seek Federal and State grant funds for construction.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - Map of LHW Double Track Project Corridor
Attachment B - Letter of Support from City of San Dimas
Attachment C - Letter of Support from City of La Verne
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Jay Fuhrman, Manager, Transportation Planning, Regional Rail, (213) 418- 3179
Jeanet Owens, Senior Executive Officer, Regional Rail (213) 418-3189
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Richard Clarke, Chief Program Management Officer, (213) 922-7557
