Two recently released documents — an audit by the State Auditor and an environmental report produced by the High Speed Rail Authority — both project significant cost overruns for the statewide rail project. The audit found that although the authority has secured and identified funding of over $28 billion to complete initial segments that funding will not be enough to connect those segments, or finish the rest of the system, which may cost over $77 billion. The audit notes that the initial segments have gone over-budget and that everything from land costs to poor contract management to the exhaustion of many previously available cost-cutting measures implies that future work is destined to go over-budget. The audit also notes that HSR intends share infrastructure with other agencies; this will cut some costs but may hinder the system’s performance. New estimates in environmental reports presented to the High Speed Rail Authority’s board found the cost of constructing theSouthern California section of the bullet train could jump by as much as $11billion over estimates released earlier this year. However, rail authority officials caution that their new numbers assume a more expansive design than is likely to be built. The new numbers cover the cost of building the three segments from Palmdale to Anaheim, which include the difficulty passages through the San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles, and the crowded rail corridor to Anaheim. The Palmdale-to-Burbank section could hit $20.33 billion, and increase from the $14.87 billion in estimates prepared for the 2018 business plan.
Los Angeles Light Rail Extension Cut
The Gold Line Construction Authority board voted 5-0 to build only half the Glendora-to-Montclair extension east of downtown Los Angeles, saying runaway construction costs could prevent building out to Montclair. The unanimous vote authorized the staff recommendation that the 12.3-mile extension be built in two phases due to costs rising 38 percent. The Authority had broken ground on utility replacement work and was about to award a design-build contract when all four bidders said their costs would be way above the agency’s estimated price tag. In order not to halt the entire project, the Authority would build the first eight miles and new stations in Glendora, San Dimas, andLa Verne two years earlier than planned, by 2024. The increased construction costs come from tariffs on imported steel, tariffs on 10 percent of $200 billion of Chinese imports “many of which are used in construction”, immigration policies, and future tariffs scheduled to increase to 25 percent on January 1.
L.A. Metro Considers Plan to Fund Projects in 710 Freeway ‘Gap'
In 2017, Metro board rejected the $6 billion 710 Freeway North tunnel project but approved a motion that directed staff to work with the 710 corridor cities to carve up the $780 million left in the project budget. Last week, the Metro staff recommended approved disbursement of those funds to Pasadena, South Pasadena, Alhambra, La Cañada Flintridge, and the LA neighborhood of El Sereno. The projects should “promote smart and functional land use, reduce automobile dependency, encourage multi-modal trips, improve traffic operations,and maximize the use of the latest available technologies to enhance performance of the existing transportation system”, as well as prioritize funding for multi-modal and safety enhancement projects. Many of the projects supported by cities focused on cars including street widening, intersection capacity expansion, freeway ramp reconfiguration, signal synchronization, and parking structures. Other projects included complete streets, BRT, shuttles, bikeways,bike-share, and student transit passes. The projects recommended by staff include 13 projects to widen and increase car capacity on roads, six projects to increase car capacity in intersections, 13 signal synchronization/upgrade projects, and one parking project. None of the non-vehicle projects were moved forward. The full board vote will take place Dec. 6.
Report Analyzes Out-Migration from Bay Area
BuildZoom and the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley published a brief that documents the tendencies of those leaving the San Francisco Bay Area to pursue different destinations depending on their income. For instance, high-income people leaving the Bay Area head to large metro areas around the county while low-income movers head to more affordable places within the state. Now, the two groups released a new brief that evaluates the effects on the Los Angeles region. The study found in the LA region, the discrepancy between in-and out-migrant earning was less pronounced than in the Bay Area. Roughly a third of the households leaving the LA region stay in the state, and the destination vary by income. Those moving to San Diego and Sacramento appear to draw a similar number from each income category while those moving to the Bay Area are primarily in the highest income category.
Quick Hits & Updates
The Sacramento Kings said they are filing an application with the City of Sacramento to rezone the 183-acre largely unused Sleep Train Arena site for a variety of potential uses including a zoo. The application does not offer specific details but includes zoning for the possibility of up to 1.2 million square-feet of commercial and retail, as well as office and up to 2,000 housing units. The team is hoping to conduct a year long environmental review process and have the land ready for development next year.
The National League of Cities announced its appointment of League of California Cities Executive Director Carolyn Coleman to the Task Force on Housing. The national task force addresses “how communities can better respond to the growing challenge of housing availability, affordability, investment, and quality”. The task force includes 18 local leaders and elected officials from throughout the country. Libby Schaaf, mayor of the City of Oakland, is the only other California representative.
The Prop. HHH citizens oversight committee is challenging Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and city staff to find innovative ways to complete 1,000 units in the next 24 months. The citizens committee oversees the city’s $1.2billion bond program. The group approved an 11-point plan calling for more relaxed rules and other incentives to fast-track the 1,000 units as well as declaring a state of emergency and setting up a “red team” to keep the pilot program on track.
Officials with Orange County’s Transportation Corridor Agencies (which oversees the toll roads in the county) committed $5 million to further evaluate options for the extension of the 241 toll road or other projects to improve traffic in south county.
Lime and Spin, two shared bicycle and scooter companies, announced a new data-sharing agreement with LA Department of Transportation. According to the announcement Mobility Data Specification is ““a data standard and set of vocabulary to help cities enforce, evaluate, and manage mobility providers who operate in the public right of way.” The companies and LADOT will use San Francisco-based Remix to manage the data that is shared through the agreement. (See prior CP&DR coverage.)
The American Planning Association Foundation announced its 2018 Grantees for the Community Planning Assistance Teams that helps support programs that help economically challenged and disaster-devastated communities. Of the seven grant recipients, Santa Rosa was the lone California recipient. The award went to the Burbank Housing Development Corporation for a California Chapter wildfire recovery CPAT “to redevelop a low-income seniors’ community through multifamily housing.” During the fires last year, 116 of the 160 homes at Journey’s End Mobile Home Park were destroyed.
BART will present its latest plans to build a second Transbay Tube connecting San Francisco to the East Bay, and perhaps start 24-hour service. If everything goes according to plan, BART could begin construction in 10 years. In the 15-page presentation, BART officials project more people will want to cross the bay by 2040 than can be accommodated by the existing system.
Los Angeles Metro released new documents for the proposed light rail between Artesia and Downtown LA. The West Santa Ana Branch would cost an estimated $6.6 billion, would run 18 miles, and end in either Union Station or the Downtown Financial District. Current plans call for the corridor to be completed in two phases between 2022 and 2041, although the project has been identified as one of the 28 projects to be completed by Metro before 2028. A staff report released last week recommends a refined project definition which would cut two alignment options from consideration, remove several proposed stations, and add new grade separations at key points along the corridor.
