While the proposed Expo and Purple lines will improve regional access to and from the Westside, they will be less effective in improving circulation within that subregion. Therefore, they should be supplemented with improvements the mass transit network that can provide the vital final link to destinations throughout the Westside. Automobile traffic currently remains the dominant mode of transit on the Westside and the crush of commuters arriving by car swamps the road network on a daily basis. Inter-regional automotive traffic arrives from the north and south via the 405 freeway, which also serves as the primary conduit for through traffic between the South Bay and the San Fernando Valley. The 10 freeway carries car traffic into the Westside from Downtown and points eastward. Local cross town thoroughfares are Wilshire, Santa Monica, Olympic, Pico, National, Palms, and Venice. Local north-south thoroughfares are Overland, Westwood, Sepulveda, and Sawtelle.
While rail make senses for carrying traffic to and from the east, it is impractical for addressing the internal circulation problems of this still relatively decentralized and low density subregion. Rail is expensive enough when built at grade and a comprehensive rail network would conflict with the existing road network. Below grade construction raises costs to prohibitive and unjustifiable levels.
Reducing travel times and increasing the connectivity of the existing bus network is currently the best option for improving mobility on the Westside. Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus service already provides a comprehensive web of bus routes that reach all the major office, commercial, and residential areas on the Westside. The problem is that these buses must compete at street level with automobile traffic. Increasing road capacity and creating grade separated right of ways at strategic locations would free this bus network from the traffic morass, allowing it to effectively compete with automobile traffic.
The Westwood Bus Tunnel
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Lying near the mouth of the Sepulveda Pass and intersecting with four major crosstown routes, the roughly 2.2 mile stretch of Westwood Boulevard between UCLA and Exposition Boulevard is a key corridor on the Westside. Five Big Blue Bus lines currently run at grade along this corridor, radiating outward from UCLA to points south and west. Two more Big Blue Bus lines and three Metro Rapid lines intersect Westwood at Le Conte (Metro 302), Wilshire (Metro 720), Santa Monica (Metro 704), Olympic (BBB 5), and Pico (BBB 7/Super 7). From the north, the Metro 761 Rapid carries commuters from the San Fernando Valley into the Westside.
A bus tunnel running under this corridor would function similarly to San Francisco's Market street subway, carrying seven bus lines (express versions of currently existing routes) serving five stations: LeConte/UCLA, Wilshire, Santa Monica, Olympic, and Pico. By absorbing local and Westside-bound traffic, the Westwood corridor would alleviate congestion on the 405 and the 10, allowing those freeway to better serve through traffic. And by eliminating cross-traffic conflicts on the surface streets, the Bus Tunnel could improve mobility and reduce travel times for buses. Finally, the bus tunnel would be perfectly compliment future BRT lanes on Wilshire Boulevard.
The tunnel would open to the north at Westwood Plaza on the UCLA Campus and to the south along the Exposition right of way between Westwood Blvd. and Overland Ave. Both of these locations avoid major streets, thereby minimizing any interference with existing road traffic. Buses exiting the south portal would turn south on Overland Avenue and continue along their existing routes to either Culver City or downtown Santa Monica via Ocean Park Blvd.
Two underpasses/side entrances would give UCLA-bound buses access to the tunnel from Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevards and provide grade separated crossings for crosstown Metro Rapid buses 720 and 704. To the east, an underpass using the existing right of way along Santa Monica at Wilshire would further improve the flow of bus traffic through this intersections. Examples of urban underpasses like these can be found in many American cities such as Washington, DC.
Intersection of New York Avenue and North Capitol Street, NE Washington, DC (View Larger Map)
Intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA (View Larger Map)
Improvements in mobility and connectivity along the Westwood corridor would also benefit regional bus connections between Westwood, Downtown LA, and the San Fernando Valley. Metro Rapid 761 could be extended southward through the tunnel to Culver City, connecting this trans Sepulveda Pass route with crosstown bus routes as well as the Expo line. And rather than taking the 405 to West LA, the Commuter Express 430 line between Downtown LA and Westwood could instead exit the 10 at Overland and National and enter the Westwood Bus tunnel at Overland & Exposition, again, connecting this regional bus line to local crosstown bus routes.
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