The Northeastern Lines: A Viable Alternative to the Foothill "Sprawl Line"

I’ve been unusually busy lately, so I have not had time for more regular posting. Hopefully I’ll be able to post some of my thoughts on last Monday’s Westside Extension meeting at LACMA. But first, here are some more thoughts on the proposed Gold Line Foothill Extension.

I’ve made no secret of my low regard for the Gold Line Foothill Extension, or the “Sprawl Line” as a friend of mine recently referred to it. The line amounts to little more than a pork barrel project to prop up the San Gabriel Valley’s collapsing housing market. It's also being used by County Supervisor Mike Antonovich as a vehicle to exact a chunk of flesh from transit funding for his district. To that end, he is using his approval of the Purple Line extension to extort funding for what promises to be a white elephant. Have we learned nothing from the planning debacle of the Green line?



So far I’ve been disappointed by most of the reactions in transit circles to this situation. Even though most people seem to agree this line is a terrible idea, they all seem resigned to the fact that it will eventually be built because of the organization of Foothill cities and the clout of Antonovich, a suburban warrior who is openly hostile towards public transportation, the central city, and urban issues in general. However, this line is worse than just a waste of transit funding. It is destructive towards the goal of containing and reversing LA's uncontrolled growth. To justify the investment in this line, LA County would need to recommit to unsustainable fringe development while continuing to starve the central city of criminally overdue infrastructural improvements. Furthermore, the amount of development required to justify the Foothill Sprawl Line would amount to the building an entirely new city from scratch. Honestly, can we really afford that?

An Alternate Strategy



Funding for Antonovich’s 24 mile equivalent of the “Bridge to Nowhere” would be better spent on construction of the two “Northeastern LRT Lines”, one from Downtown to Glendale and a second from Downtown to Eagle Rock. The Northeast neighborhoods are LA’s original suburbs, nestled beneath Griffith and Elysian Parks and Mount Washington. They form an urban fabric hugging the banks of the LA river. Transit would weave this fabric tighter together by building upon LA’s existing urban assets. Transit would also allow development of more affordable housing with easy accessibility to job centers like Downtown, Glendale, and Pasadena.

The Glendale line would branch off of the Gold Line track right after crossing the LA river and extend 6.6 miles through Cyprus Park, Atwater Village, and Glendale to the intersection of Brand and Glenoaks just north of the Ventura Freeway. The Eagle Rock spur would branch off of the Glendale line after it passes through Cyprus Park and extend up Eagle Rock Boulevard for 3.2 Miles to the intersection of Colorado and Eagle Rock.

In the place of the Foothill LRT Extension, Metro and/or Foothill Transit could create a new BRT line similar to the San Fernando Valley’s Orange Line. Given the vast sprawl, non-centralization, and low-density of the San Gabriel Valley, light rail would constitute an extravagant waste of resources for this region. BRT would provide more bang for the buck by giving San Gabriel Valley residents transit access to more places.

Instead of heading into Downtown at its western end, this new BRT line would travel along Colorado Blvd through Pasadena and Eagle Rock before connecting to the Brand/Broadway LRT station in Glendale. This alignment (identical to that of the current 780 Metro Rapid) would directly connect Foothill cities to Glendale, Pasadena, and Northeast LA. It would also connect the ends of the three Northeastern LRT lines. Finally, a BRT line would be flexible enough to allow extension to Burbank and Burbank airport before meeting up with the Red and the Orange lines at North Hollywood.

Political Coalitions



County Supervisors

Glendale and Pasadena (as well as Burbank) lie in District 5 and are represented by Mike Antonovich. Residents of these cities would benefit greatly from the improved connectivity that the Northeast LRTs and the Foothill BRT would bring. Considering the Glendale line’s shorter length, BRT’s lower cost, and these cities’ higher concentrations of jobs and people, the Glendale-Downtown LRT line and the BRT configuration of the Foothill line would be much more cost-effective uses of the $2 billion advocates of the Sprawl Line are requesting. Antonovich himself has said, “To solve our regional transportation crisis, we need cost-effective solutions given the limited amount of transportation dollars available.” I’m sure he would agree that building the Foothill line as an LRT isn’t the most cost-effective use of our limited transit dollars. I’m also sure his fellow Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, "the driving force behind the Orange Line bus way across the San Fernando Valley which opened in 2005 to record ridership (22,000 daily boardings)", can vouch for BRT’s effectiveness for a comparable transit route.

Gloria Molina represents the Northeast LA neighborhoods that would be served by the Northeastern Lines. These are relatively high-density neighborhoods with large minority and transit-dependent populations who would benefit from improved access to Downtown, Glendale, Burbank, and Pasadena.

Congessional Representatives

Congressman Adam Schiff (CA-29) has already come out in favor of the Foothill Extension, even appearing in a promotional video for it. However, he also represents the residents of Glendale and Burbank. Congressman Xavier Becerra (CA-31) represents the Los Angeles portion of the area that would be served by these lines.

Los Angeles City Council

Northeast LA lies at the convergence of 3 city council districts. District 1 is represented by Ed Reyes, who affectionately refers to the neighborhoods like Glassell Park, Cyprus Park, and Atwater Village as LA’s “original suburbs”. From his bio:

As Chair of the City Council's Planning and Land Use Management committee, Councilmember Reyes has expanded the City's affordable housing stock. He has pushed for Adaptive Reuse, or the conversion of abandoned buildings into housing, and Residential and Accessory Services, which permits residential development in commercial zones. As chair of the Metro Gold Line Authority the Councilmember also helped ensure that the $750 million Gold Line project be completed on time and on budget.

He is also the creator of the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan. The Northeastern lines’ potential for connecting both sides of the river would fit perfectly within the goals of the Reye’s river plan. From Wiki:

As chair of the Los Angeles River Ad Hoc Committee, Reyes has brought a renewed focus to the once-neglected L.A. River. He secured more than $3 million to create the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan, a neighborhood-driven plan that includes enhancing water quality, environmental protection, increasing open space and improving flood control. To complement the Master Plan, Reyes has spearheaded the rejuvenation of Taylor Yard, an old rail yard that is being transformed into a 40-acre city-state park. He has also been instrumental in the creation of a park at the 32-acre Cornfield, which is adjacent to Chinatown. Reyes has galvanized the Plastic Bag Initiative Task Force to reduce the plastic litter that clogs the City's waterways. He has also shepherded the rehabilitation and replacement of many of the River bridges in the City's more than $300 million bridge program.

Councilmember Eric Garcetti represents district 13, which includes Atwater village. From Wiki:

As a City Councilman, he has made housing and economic development, the environment, community engagement, neighborhood beautification, and international diplomacy his main issues. As chair and member of the Housing, Community, and Economic Development Committee, he was instrumental in creating a 100 million dollar housing trust fund... He was a primary author of Proposition O, which works to clean the city's waterways, has doubled the amount of parks in his district, and has helped to found the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust... He has used the idea of engaging citizens to increase neighborhood beautification. A prime example is his successful UNTAG program, Uniting Neighborhoods to Abolish Graffiti, a volunteer program which has reduced graffiti in his district over 50 percent in its first year.

Councilmember Jose Huizar represents district 14, which includes Eagle Rock. From his bio:

His priorities include enhancing public safety, strengthening education and youth programs, building more affordable housing and public transportation, and revitalizing major corridors in the 14th Council District. He is especially interested in the Historic Broadway District downtown.

State Assembly

Kevin De Leon (45)
Paul Krekorkian (43)
Anthony Portantino (44)

State Senate

Gilbert Cedillo (22)
Jack Scott (21)