Avoiding the 60

Heads-up on this full-freeway closure this weekend on the 60:

The eastbound and westbound Pomona (60) Freeway will be closed from 7th Avenue to Hacienda Boulevard in Industry on Sunday from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m., Caltrans announced. The freeway is being closed to allow for construction of a carpool lane between the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway and the Orange (57) Freeway, said Derrick Alatorre of Caltrans. Partial closure of lanes and ramps are also planned for tonight through Friday, Alatorre said. (CNS)

Dreaming on Crenshaw Boulevard

We've told you about the Subway to the Sea and the Gold Line extension from Pasadena to Ontario. Now, LAist has another favorite dream-city rail line. It's the long talked about idea of light rail down Crenshaw Boulevard:

Imagine a day when the Purple Line "subway to the sea" and Expo Line to Culver City (and eventually to Santa Monica) are a reality. Two rail lines running parallel from Downtown to the ocean -- are we mad men or what? But what about traveling north-south? Enter the Crenshaw/Prairie Transit Corridor.

Sepulveda makeover is a go

Despite much community opposition, a major makeover for Sepulveda Boulevard -- including a reversal lane -- is sailing through:

A plan for a reversible traffic lane, bike lanes and other improvements to reduce congestion on Sepulveda Boulevard was given a green light today by two Los Angeles City Council committees. In a joint meeting, members of the Transportation and Public Works committees approved the plan, which will be forwarded to the full council. The city plans to convert the existing southbound center lane on an 1,800-foot segment of Sepulveda Boulevard -- through the tunnel at Mulholland Drive -- into a reversible lane that would allow traffic to operate in the northbound direction between 4-7 p.m. The Department of Public Works also plans to add northbound and southbound right-turn pockets on Wilshire Boulevard; lengthen the northbound left-turn pocket at Moraga Drive; install bike lanes from Skirball Center Drive to Bel Air Crest Road; and add a northbound right-turn lane at Skirball Center Drive. Construction on the $11.3 million project is scheduled to begin next year, and take 12 to 18 months to complete. (CNS)

More bad news for Foothill South

The proposed Foothill South toll road in Orange County keeps being hit from all sides. It got a bad review from the Coastal Commission staff last week. Now the LAT editorial board gives a thumbs down to the road (which runs north-south east of the 5 roughly from the Mission Viejo area to the San Diego County line):

Toll road officials in Orange County chose a particularly troubling route for a new six-lane expressway. The proposed Foothill South Toll Road, which would bisect a private wilderness preserve and traverse the narrow length of an undeveloped coastal canyon, should not be built. The toll road faces a probably hostile hearing before the Coastal Commission next week, after the commission's staff produced a scathing report. The Transportation Corridor Agencies could scarcely have mapped a more environmentally damaging route, the report says, threatening harm to several important endangered species and one of the few healthy coastal creeks in the region. It would cut along the entire length of the pristine canyon that makes up most of San Onofre State Beach, passing within a few hundred feet of its campground. The park is visited by 2.7 million people a year.

"The project is fundamentally inconsistent with the spirit and letter of . . . the Coastal Act," the report says.

New blog helps 'do the right thing'

The Times has a new blog, Emerald City, about going green in L.A. It features some interesting transportation-related postings including:

- How to get to the Hollywood Bowl without a car.

- Efforts to improve pedestrian life in Santa Monica

- Public hearings on extending the subway to Santa Monica.

- Antonio Banderas 'take Metro' video.

Ugly freeway morning

The 210 was closed for hours in Pasadena because of a fatal big rig crash (it's now partially opened):

A man was killed Wednesday in a fiery collision that involved two big rigs and prompted the closure of the westbound 210 Freeway in Pasadena, authorities said. The crash was reported about 5:50 a.m. near Arroyo Boulevard, said California Highway Patrol Officer John Seumanutafa. The man was found dead in a big rig that caught fire, according to the CHP. (CNS)

Meanwhile, this on the 5: "A big rig overturned on the southbound Golden State (5) Freeway in Sylmar early Wednesday, spilling 50,000 pounds of watermelon and prompting the closure of two lanes and an offramp, authorities said."

A wet commute

Here's someone who really takes alternative commuting serious. She's doing her commute from San Pedro to Long Beach -- by swimming!

Not many San Pedro residents can say they've swum to class in Long Beach. But that's precisely what graduate student Sierra Brown did Monday morning, swimming 11 miles from Ports O' Call Village to Long Beach as part of an eight-week project for her thesis. Each week, the 28-year-old will commute to her Monday night art critique class at California State University, Long Beach, using a different mode of human-powered transportation. (Daily Breeze)

Bad day on the 605

Full freeway closure this morning on the 605 in Industry:

At least four people were injured today in a crash involving several vehicles on the southbound San Gabriel River (605) Freeway in the Industry area, authorities said. All southbound lanes of the 605 Freeway were blocked following the 7:50 a.m. crash just north of the interchange with the Pomona (60) Freeway, said California Highway Patrol Officer Francisco Villalobos. One person was trapped in the wreckage of an overturned vehicle, according to the county fire department. The cause of the crash was under investigation. The conditions of the injured were not immediately known. (CNS)

Not the gold standard

The Times' Steve Hymon raises a really smart point today about the new Gold Line extension from East L.A. to downtown. Or as Steve points out, kinda near downtown:

The new rail line, in a way, is cruel. Imagine boarding the train in Boyle Heights and then rolling down 1st Street directly toward the heart of downtown. "Toward" is the operative word there. Just when the train hits the outskirts of the business district, it turns north on Alameda Street toward Union Station. If the heart of downtown is your destination, you must switch to the subway at Union Station and go back to where you were heading in the first place. What's the big deal about that? If you believe that mass transit should take you where you want to go -- not kind of near where you want to go, then it's dumb. It also violates the first rule of commuting in Los Angeles: Always head toward your destination.

Purple Line planning

The MTA is holding a series of meetings in the Westside to gather comments about the idea of extending the Purple Line to Santa Monica. MTA officials are not passing around the hat (they don't have money for the $6 billion project). Details and dates below:

Not counting traffic

The Times' Sharon Bernstein reports that L.A. throws away a lot of useful traffic data:

Because the information is discarded, it cannot be used to determine over time where traffic is increasing -- or by how much. In fact, city officials said they don't have traffic counts for some of the city's busiest intersections -- and can't say how much congestion has increased over the years. The lack of traffic data is becoming more of a vexing issue at City Hall and in L.A. neighborhoods, especially in the midst of a building boom that has increased both residential and office development.

Two bad crashes

One now developing in the Big Bear area:

Highway 18 is closed in both directions between Running Springs and Big Bear Lake after a U.S. Forest Service truck plunged over a cliff west of Big Bear Lake, according to the California Highway Patrol. Emergency crews will land helicopters on the highway to rescue six people in the truck who went 150 feet off the side of Highway 18. The highway will be closed for an undetermined amount of time while several fire crews perform the rescue. (Press-Enterprise)

Then this closer to home:

Four children and two adults were hit by a vehicle while crossing a street in South Los Angeles tonight, a fire official said. The pedestrians were struck at Vernon Avenue and Wall Street around 8:25 p.m., said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Ron Myers. The victims were treated at the scene and taken to area hospitals, Myers said. No other information was immediately available. (CNN)