Public meetings for the Subway to the Sea (and other anti-gridlock ideas for the Westside)

Subway to the Sea discussions continue this month, with the next round of community meetings about the "Westside Extension Transit Corridor Study" -- a.k.a., the study to figure out what we're going to do about the horrendous traffic on the Westside.

New to the discussion? You can catch up on the details of the early scoping meetings that took place back in October last year, where the crowd almost unanimously agreed that the Westside needs a subway running down Wilshire all the way to the beach -- and maybe another line down Santa Monica Blvd. as well. Above's the tentative map that was displayed at that meeting.

More recently in January, Metro revealed 19 different alternatives -- depicted in the map above -- for addressing west side traffic woes.

Since then, some of those alternatives have likely been abandoned, and the map redrawn. This new round of meetings will brief the public on a "refined set of alternatives that will continue for further study and the schedule for future steps." The five meetings will happen:

• Mon., May 5, 6-8 p.m., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Terrace Room, 5th Fl., 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles.
• Tues., May 6, 6-8 p.m., Westside Presbyterian Church, 10822 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles.
• Thurs., May 8, 6-8 p.m, Santa Monica Public Library, Multipurpose Room, 2nd Fl., 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica
• Mon., May 12, 6-8 pm, Plummer Park, 7377 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood

Each meeting will start with an "open house" -- which in the past has meant people just hanging about looking at displayed maps and agendas -- with the project update presentation starting at 6:30, followed by a Q&A.

All meeting locations are easily accessible via the Metro lines running on Wilshire (20, 720, 920) and Santa Monica (4, 704) Blvds., as well as some Big Blue Bus lines. Ride the bus -- or fight traffic at the wheel -- and dream about how nice it'd be to have a traffic-hassle-free subway that whisks you from downtown L.A. to the beach in just 35 minutes.

Comments

[Mattapoisett in LA]

Is there anyway we could convince metro to have one of these meetings on a Saturday? It would make it convenient for people who work late or have to take a slow metro bus through traffic to get to the meetings.

I have wanted to go to many of the planning meetings [Expo 1&2, Subway to the Sea, Downtown Connector, Prarie-Crenshaw, and Master Plan] but only 2 of the Crenshaw meetings have been on a Saturday and all the others have been at 6 on a weeknight, Metro is presuming all of LA works weekdays 9-5.

[Siel]

That's a great suggestion. In the past, Metro has indeed added on additional meetings due to public interest, so I encourage all who share Mattapoisett's situation to contact Metro -- 213.922.6934 or WestsideExtension@metro.net -- and ask for a Saturday meeting option.

[Dan Wentzel]

Everyone should show up to these meetings and send their suggestions to WestsideExtension@metro.net

For those of us who support a Santa Monica Blvd. alignment in addition to the Wilshire alignment it is especially important that we make our voices heard, as these numbers do matter.

I've created a social networking site for the Friends of the "Pink" Line (Santa Monica Blvd. alignment) on both Facebook and MySpace. Come and join us.

groups.myspace.com/thepinkline

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=11096618173

While you are on Facebook, join the Metro Westside Extension group and express your support for the Pink Line: - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10040701921

[Siel]

I'd definitely like a line down Santa Monica too -- I'm curious to see if it'll be included in the info unveiled at this next round of meetings --

[Jody Litvak]

Thanks Mattapoisett in LA for your request for Saturday meetings. It's too late for this round of meetings but we'll consider the option for future meetings.

Response to the study has been overwhelming and people seem to want more meetings and get annoyed at us if we don't come to their area. Financial resources, as well as the stamina of staff and consultants, may make it impossible to make everyone happy.

Even if you can't make it to the meetings, we post everything on the study web site (www.metro.net/westside) and you can comment by letter, phone or electronically. We also have a new presence on Face Book with our group "Metro Westside Extension." You can also invite us to make a presentation about the study if your group is having a regular meeting or hosting an event. We do a lot of these too. So, there are lots of ways to follow what's going on and to let us know what you think.