Killing the Expo Line

City Beat reports on the effort to halt the Expo Line:

Damien Goodmon stands on the sidewalk a few feet from the railroad tracks next to Dorsey High School and looks like a prosecutor about to prove his case in court. He stops talking about underpasses and overpasses and environmental racism long enough to soak in the scene. Classes have ended for the day and dozens of students crowd onto the sidewalk, some overflowing into the street. A few rowdy types push one another in the playful chaos that marks the end of the school day. Goodmon believes the daily exodus at the South L.A. school nails his case: It will be impossible to keep students out of the path of the Expo Line light-rail trains when they start running some 50 feet north of the campus in a couple of years.

Comments

[Scott Mercer]

The Expo line will be a boon, not a blight to the hysterical (okay, maybe that adjective is an exaggeration) residents of the area who are protesting this, of whom Mr. Goodmon is only one.

Safety concerns have been addressed. Fences will surround the tracks and a human crossing guard will be on duty during the time that students are there.

Would Mr. Goodmon want trucks and automobiles outlawed because cars have run over young children from time to time? No, he wouldn't, and he shouldn't. These are regrettable accidents.

Once the Expo line is running, people in the neighborhood won't be able to figure out how they ever got along without it.

[Dan W.]

We've seen the power of what one motivated obstructionist can do. And, it seems there are unlimited opportunities for obstructionists, NIMBYs and misguided individuals to delay or sabotage desperately needed and basically safe transit projects for their own selfish and parochial interests.

Imagine what the great silent majority of us could do if we banded together, or took actions as individuals ourselves to make ourselves heard, individually and collectively.

Write or call or e-mail your elected officials today to let them know you want the Expo Line and other lines expedited and that you want them to face down or ignore NIMBYs and gadflys.

When I called Congressman Henry Waxman's office last week, and stated that I was happy to see him push through a repeal of the subway drilling ban he originally supported, and asked that he get out in front and fight for federal money for both the Wilshire Blvd. and Santa Monica Blvd. subway projects, her reaction was, "You're calling FOR the subway?" She was not being critical. She was just clarifying. NIMBYs, gadflys and obstructionists make themselves heard over and over.

Let our elected officials receive your calls and letters of support for the Expo Line being constructed now and support for other rail lines.

Remember, if one obstructionist or gadfly can do so much to obstruct and delay the project, think of the good you can do to advocate for this project.

But don't expect anyone to do your advocacy for you. Our elected officials need to hear from EVERYONE. Write/call your elected officials today if you want these obstructionists marginalized.

[Donald Stanwood]

The irony is that Damien Goodman first became noted in transit circles by creating fantasy maps of a comprehensive Metro system in a Los Angeles maybe thirty years hence, a city that apparently can write a blank check to fulfill its every desire. With such a utopian mind-set, perhaps that's why he can shrug off the difficulties of finding $100 million-plus to "gold plate" the Expo Line.

[Dan W.]

It is arguable that the real "racism" here is that the NIMBYs are arguing that Dorsey High School students aren't as intelligent as high school students attending schools near the Gold and Orange lines.

Where do the overwhelming silent majority of us who support this project and oppose these NIMBYs sign up to stop their efforts to delay and sabotage this project?

Politicians are so used to hearing from the NIMBYs, that they are often surprised when they hear people call and write in favor of transit projects.

It's LONG PAST time for the great silent majority of us to write the Mayor, our County Supervisor, our City Councilman, our state legislators and members of congress and let them know we WANT this project (and others) finished and we want them to start standing up to these NIMBYs on our behalf.

When they hear from the silent majority, it will marginalize these gadflys and prevent them from being able to hold our economic, environmental and transportation future hostage to these selfish and misguided parochial interests.

So write and call your elected officials today. Don't let the NIMBYs, obstructionists and opportunists win this time!

[Gregory]

#1 - instead of tunneling, wouldn't it just be cheaper to move Dorsey High?

#2 - Why is being killed by a train worse than being killed by a bus?- ie, every school in Los Angeles sits adjacent to potentially life-threatening transit right-of-ways. They're called streets. Shouldn't they be put underground, too?

[RB]

The sad thing is that this one man can bring down an entire project that will help more people than it will hurt. There used to be something called civic pride where the entire city, community, neighborhood would rally behind a great public project. Now we've been relegated to having to listen to the small percentage of dissidents who cry loud enough against something that they personally don't like. We live in a big city. We're not all going to get what we want and sometimes we're going to be disappointed. That's life. This city needs mass transit. The expo line is the cheapest alternative we've got for the neighborhood. We can't let this one man derail a project that has been decades in the making. I suggest we teach the young adults that do to school along the expo line to stay off of the tracks and trust that people will watch out for where they're going. We can't protect everyone from themselves.

[Bob Zwolinski]

We so desperately need the Expo line to be built ASAP, no matter what color you are, no matter where you live along the line. Mid-City and Westside areas are in total gridlock in morning and evening rush-hours. We finally have a project that will give us needed relief and now another group is trying to sabotage it. Just what we need!
Is there “environmental racism” along the alignment? NO! Why is it that the Eastside extension of the Gold Line is currently being constructed at-grade within 50 feet of Ramona High School and is applauded by the community? But in the mid-city area, it’s tagged as “environmental racism”, being built next to Dorsey High. I don’t get it.
I’ve reviewed the video of Dorsey High students as they leave. Yes, there are throngs of kids bunching up as they leave school and cross the Expo tracks.
I’ve also reviewed the Expo at-grade Farmdale crossing design. With full 4-quadrant semaphores, pedestrian gates and the alignment fully fenced in, the kids are going to have to go way out of their way to get hurt.
I fondly remember growing up in Chicago, where at-grade urban and suburban rail lines run every few miles, immediately adjacent to schools and homes. By age 5, I knew enough to respect the trains, look both ways and stay out of harm’s way.
I would think a 13-year-old high school student would have enough smarts to do the same.

[Eric]

If people have learned how to stay out of streets when oncoming traffic is approaching, they will quickly learn how to stay out of the way of an oncoming train. Simple as that. End of story.
This is the problem with LA. A few NIMBY people are able to ruin 'it' for the benefit of the masses. This is typical of public transportation projects here, and it is pathetic. The Gold line and Blue line are fine the way they are, and so will the Expo line. It is well known that LA needs better public transportation, and people like Mr. Goodmon should not be allowed to ruin it at this stage in the game. If he was really concerned about this, he should have brought this all up years ago during the planning stages of the project!

[Dan W.]

Enough.

Build this project and ram it down the throats of Cheviot Hills already.

It seems that NIMBY's have inexhaustible opportunities to delay the common good for their own selfish parochial interests or granstanding.

Sufficient safety precautions are already built into this plan.

NIMBYs have caused enough delay and damage to Los Angeles' emerging Transit system.

[Tom A.]

I'll take NIMBYism for $200, Alex...

[UrbanMoy]

Light rail lines currently traverse hundreds of miles in many cities across the country. Pedestrian safety statistics show that at-grade rail crossings are no more dangerous than your average intra urban crosswalk. Why doesn’t Goodman puff up and voice his discontent with every road expansion near a school in the south side. I mean some of these roads are massive (8+ lane giving you about 2.3 seconds to reach the other side)

If these High School “children” who can themselves have children, vote, and drive a 5 ton vehicle are not capable of seeing and moving when a lumbering train moving @ 15-20 MPH approaches, then I say good!…we need to thin out the herd anyway. Kidding aside, the expo line is a good thing not just for the immediate residents, but for the region, roads, and environment as a whole.

[manu]

I can honestly say that if the students are dumb enough to stand on the tracks than they have what is coming to them. We spend too much money in this country protecting the un-protectable.

However, the school should not be the issue for raising the tracks, they should be raised for the purpose of speed. It is ridiculous to have a train that will travel slow due to pedestrian traffic, there might as well run a bus in that case. If the money is going to be spent on building a train, it should be built to its fullest potential. An what Angelino’s don’t want is to have to waste time commuting. So the faster the train is the more people it will attract. Thus if the current design stands to run at grown level through Dorsey high commuters should keep driving on the 10 freeway. We already have a perfect example of this mistake on the Pasadena Gold line, where it runs at ground level through a residential area in Highland Park at a very low speed for safety reasons. For this very same reason, the Gold line is struggling to meet forecasted passenger ridership. If the same mistake is made on the Expo Line it will be a very long trip from Santa Monica to Downtown.

[AimlessDriver]

Come on - seriously. People don't give kids enough credit these days. A big fence, plus the threat of oh - i don't know- a TRAIN should be enough to keep the students out of harm's way.

Claims of environmental racism could, I suppose, be argued. It's undeniable that under-resourced parts of the city often abut environmentally hazards. I think this highlights the need for more affordable, high quality, safe, clean housing. It should not be used as grounds for derailing a much needed public works project - NIMBYism by another name....