Call to Action! Do you want a subway on Wilshire? YES!
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ephemerae at 09.26.07 - 8:06 am
Call to Action! Do you want a subway on Wilshire? YES!
Metro is inviting public comment on the Metro Westside Extension Transit Corridor (aka "What the heck are we going to do about Wilshire Boulevard?") Check out this press release at http://www.metro.net/news_info/press/metro_176.htm
If you can't see that, or if you'd rather have a brief summary, here is the important part:
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) will be conducting several meetings in October to obtain public comment on the agency’s Westside Transit Corridor Study, which will analyze various transit alternatives and environmental impacts for the possible extension of the Metro Red Line or Metro Purple Line to West Los Angeles.
Agency consultants will evaluate potential environmental impacts for several transit modes, including Bus Rapid Transit on dedicated lanes, at-grade or aerial Light Rail Transit, subway or aerial heavy rail.
All meetings are from 6-8 p.m. and will be held at the following locations:
Tuesday, October 9, Emerson Middle School, 1650 Selby Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024
Thursday, October 11, Pan Pacific Recreation Center, 7600 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Tuesday, October 16, Wilshire United Methodist Church, 4350 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90005
Wednesday, October 17, Beverly Hills Public Library Auditorium, 444 N. Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Thursday, October 18, Santa Monica Public Library, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90401
I, for one, plan to attend the meeting at the Pan Pacific Rec Center. I don't think I'll be able to get to the one in Beverly Hills due to work, though I wish I could - I'd love to see if the residents of Beverly Hills mobilize once again to attempt to deny any sort of transit coming through their town.
Anyway, I used to work for a public agency, and one of my jobs was setting up and trying to get the public to these meetings, because public comment is a major part of the validation process. The trouble is that normally, *very few* people show up. It's usually the same 10-15 people who show up to all of these sorts of things, and it's ONLY them. So these few crackpots who do show up have a disproportionate weight. If only a few dozen normal people showed up and filled out comment cards saying "yes, we want the Red Line to be continued down Wilshire" I assure you, it would make a *huge* difference.
If you absolutely cannot make it to any of these meetings, please take the time to write a very brief letter stating that you support an extension of the Red Line down Wilshire Boulevard, (NOT dedicated bus lanes, NOT at-grade light rail, and aerial rail only if it's heavy rail and a direct extension of the Red Line.) Send your letter to:
Mr. David Mieger, AICP, Project Manager and Deputy Executive Officer
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro)
Mail Stop: 99-22-5
One Gateway Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90012
If you can't even do that, please comment at the “Contact Us” page of the project web site at www.metro.net/westside, or by phone on the project information line at (213) 922-6932.
Please know, however, that a comment submitted in person is rated more highly than a letter, which is rated more highly than a phone call, which is rated more highly than a comment submitted on a website. So if you can show up to one of those meetings, please do.
But however you do it, make your voice heard! (And hey, if you disagree with me as far as transit on Wilshire is concerned, I *still* invite you to say so. That's the whole point of a democratic republic, right?)
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