It’s been more than a half-century since streetcars have rolled through Downtown L.A., but the revival of a repeatedly delayed 3.8-mile loop of track-bound vehicles is getting closer to reality.
The City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works’ Bureau of Engineering has released an environmental assessment of the proposed Downtown streetcar and is asking the public to comment on it between now and August 21. You can dig through the pages upon pages of findings and plans, but quick and not-so-dirty version of the report is that the electric railway could help curb airborne pollutants with no projected adverse impacts on traffic and at most moderate noise concerns (with special considerations taken near the Walt Disney Concert Hall). Pavement markings and signage would be put in place for cyclists’ safety.
The plans call for 23 sidewalk stations, with a potential 24th for a Grand Avenue extension that would include a platform in the middle of the street directly in front of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Other notable stops include Pershing Square, the Theatre at Ace Hotel, Staples Center, L.A. Live, both sides of Grand Central Market and all Metro stops between Civic Center/Grand Park and 7th Street/Metro Center.
Three or four streetcars would operate at a time, with seven minutes between 100-person-capacity vehicles and service until midnight on most evenings and until 2:30am on Fridays and Saturdays. It would take 35 to 40 minutes to ride the entire loop, which runs south down Broadway, west on 11th Street, north on Figueroa Street, east on 7th Street and then north on Hill Street. Expect operating speeds to stick to Downtown’s 25mph speed limit, except on Figueroa where it’ll travel 30mph. The streetcar would follow the same traffic lights as regular automobiles, though the plans call for the approval of traffic signal and transit priority system improvements.
Construction would begin in 2019 and take two years to complete, with the opening currently slated for 2021. It’ll cost an estimated $290.7 million to complete the project, plus an additional $15.6 for the Grand Avenue extension, with annual operating and maintenance costs for each just above $6.6 million. No fare estimates have been given.
If you’d like to give the city your two cents on the streetcar’s environmental assessment, a public meeting meeting will be held at Caltrans’ headquarters (100 S Main St) on Thursday, August 2 at 6pm. Additionally, you can send responses through August 21 to the following:
City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works
Bureau of Engineering
1149 S. Broadway, Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90015-2213
Attention: William Jones
eng.lastreetcarproject@lacity.org