The dude abides on September 17, 2011, at 12:35PM – #1

Not only is Martha Welborne the top planner at Metro, she was the managing director for the grad ave project which will benefit directly from the proposed Bunker Hill alignment at 2nd and grand.

This stinks on back room cronies trying to make a public project benefit their private development. Metro should be very cautious in dealing with this.

Also the way the alignment was drawn on 2nd between olive and grad it would be impossible to put a station there. Both Red Line tunnels and 2nd street tunnel are in the way. Metros. Draft EIR has the line going under both tunnels.

Someone should have done their homework before submitting such a poorly thought out proposal.

on September 17, 2011, at 05:22PM – #2

I like Eli Broad, but there is a much easier way to connect his museum with the Bunker Hill subway station. Escalators, pedestrian walkways, moving sidewalks, tunnel ramps... anything would be cheaper and easier than redesigning the whole system.

Especially when the new proposal would be a lot worse for Little Tokyo.

Brian Tompkins on September 17, 2011, at 09:35PM – #3

Please keep reporting on this one Eric. It would be an injustice if these folks were able to strong-arm such a change. I would hope that those who make a decision here would take the long view on what is best for the public-those who live and work downtown.

Jerard Wright on September 18, 2011, at 11:01AM – #4

What's odd in their analogy is that most of the office towers are on Grand Avenue, which is not true the majority of them are on Hope Street.

In addition due to that same topography it would be easier and more efficient to have a pedestrian bridge connect Upper Grand to the Bunker Hill Station. The design team can do something that compliments and contrasts the texture of the Broad Museum.

Arnold Schwarzzie on September 18, 2011, at 02:32PM – #5

Why the hell is Blue Blood WEL(L)born[e] injecting himself into this issue? Doesn't he reside in the toniest part of the San Gabriel Valley?

Did Gloria Molina, the mayor or Jan Perry request his assistance?

It'd be nice to be able to see a blowup of that map, and read the fine print.

With the LR tunnel presently aligned underneath the second street tunnel, it will be way deep beneath the musuem's parking garage. But still, perhaps Billionaire Broad thinks his edifice might suddenly sink. We wouldn't want to see all of that concrete lattice shattering into a billion pieces. No, not after sitting there for ten years and being all stained to hell and gone.

He had ought to pay for having a futuristic escalator rise directly from the boarding platform, up out of the ground, through the air and all the way to the plaza level of his museum. Then, public funds can be used for stations accessible for denizens of the BOA Tower, the so-called World Trade Center and residents of Bunker Hill Towers.

And if he REALLY wants to do something for Downtown, he can buy the WTC, tear the damn thing down and start over.

downtown vibe on September 18, 2011, at 03:15PM – #6

A suspicious person might think that Eli Broad or Related Development was trying to get Metro to pick up the cost of moving people around the Grand Ave. development site. It's a complicated multilevel site thanks to 40 years of CRA projects. Maybe Metro could pay for escalators and elevators that the developer would otherwise have to pay for.

The problem is, I don't think the average taxpayer has access to the developers project estimates.

You notice how you can give taxpayer money away without actually saying I'm "giving" it away! It takes a well connected politician and a team of little helpers to make something like that happen!

I'm glad to see people asking questions!

Brian Tompkins on September 18, 2011, at 08:55PM – #7

I looked at this again today, and there are a couple of things that do have merit. 1)The letter mentions that the location of the currently planned portals in the 2nd/Hope/Kosciuszco area is basically in the middle of nowhere ("no there, there.") This is kind of true. If you don't know the area, just use google streetview...there is nothing there. That said. The portal at Kosciuszco and Hope could be great if the Museum development on one side, and the planned residential tower on the other side (with plaza in between), both incorporate ground floor retail (restaurant, etc. along Hope, which would create a sense of place for that corridor and tie it in with the BOA tower and other towers to the South. Also, escalators need to be incorporated to get people up to Grand. I also point out that the Wells Fargo building one block down on Hope does have accessible escalators that can easily get people up to Grand. As does the BOA building to get people from Flower up to Hope. 2) The Letter suggests putting a station on 2nd, East of Grand. This does make sense in that it would provide easy access to all the entertainment stuff up there, the government buildings, that park that they are working on, the museums, as well as whatever developments fill in the empty lots just south of the proposed station. It would also be a quick walk through the Colburn School's plaza to get to California Plaza, Wells Fargo Plaza, and all the other office buildings down there. So I see the value in this 2nd street station. However, the 1st and Broadway station seems less useful than 2nd and Spring. It is to close to the proposed 2nd St Station and the underground passage to the Civic Center Station seems redundant as it wouldn't be any more efficient than making that transfer at Union or 7th St.

Arnold Schwarzzie on September 18, 2011, at 09:30PM – #8

The Community Connector Coalition's mindset, along with that of respondent Tomkins are both much like that of the typical fat-assed suburbanoid shopper at his/her/he-she's regional mall. After finding a parking spot, waddling expectantly to the nearest entrance and then all over hell and gone back and forth and up and down collecting trinkets in their favorite indoor fantasy land, they emerge from said entrance, glance towards their parking spot and instantly begin to moan and groan that they then have to walk all the way across the parking lot to their car.

No wonder San Franciscans and East Coasters laugh at L.A.

Where in the hell were these people two years ago? This is nothing more than a late-minute game, an attempt to enhance financial prospects for The Grand. Any and all costs caused by a delay as wrought by the Coalition's proposal should be born by The Related Companies and if Federal Dollars are lost, then Billionaire Broad should cough up the dough, make up the difference. And if he's so obsessed over filling out the empty blocks atop the hill, he should provide a construction loan to The Related Companies himself.

Thomas K Nagano on September 19, 2011, at 04:55PM – #9

"While the merits of a 1st Street vs. 2nd Street routing are certainly debatable, at this stage in the process any serious changes to the scope would require months of repeated environmental work and potential delays that could make the project's federal funding situation much more cloudy."

Agreed, this is what caused the costs to rise on the Red Line and the construction of Community College, even construction is Iraq. It's always the change orders. Even the State Wide Superior Court Computer Program. The change orders. -

Thomas "TK" Nagano

Arnold Schwarzzie on September 24, 2011, at 07:24AM – #10

And The Lemon of The Year Award goes to.....