Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Study Shows Limited Ridership Loss if No Crenshaw Station

Metro staff reports that they and their experts have concluded that there would be limited ridership loss to the Metro system if no subway station is built on Wilshire Boulevard between Bronson Avenue and Lorraine Boulevard, immediately adjoining the communities of Windsor Square, Wilshire Park, and Windsor Village. The news about ridership was presented during the April series of five public meetings held to update communities along the route of the proposed Purple Line Subway Extension from Western Avenue to Westwood and beyond.  In a slide shown at the meetings and available online here, Metro presented seven bullet points that reemphasized conclusions first revealed in a March 2010 community meeting held at Wilshire Methodist Church:

• Public divided on need for station
• Station spacing issue
• Limited density around station
• Crenshaw LRT not planned to extend north of Expo LRT
• Even without station, construction staging to occur on Metro owned property
• Limited ridership loss without the station

At the March 17 community meeting–and again in April–Metro predicted that, 25 years from now (in 2035), there would be 1300 fewer riders on the entire Metro Rail system if an additional station is NOT built at Crenshaw. Metro said that the cost to add a station to serve these 1300 people would be approximately $153,000,000.

The Windsor Square Association board of directors has regularly reviewed the idea of adding such a subway station ever since politicians (not transit planners) initiated the surprise concept in 1983. Our Association’s repeated conclusion—that adding such an extra station in a NON-Center so close to Western Avenue is inappropriate—has been substantiated by the passage of time. In recent years, it has become generally accepted that any future light rail extension of the Crenshaw Line now planned with a northern terminus at Crenshaw and Exposition should be further west, and NOT come to Wilshire and Crenshaw.

The WSA recognizes that, even with Measure R taxes for which we County residents have voted, funds to improve public transit are scarce. Those scarce funds are best utilized to keep extending the Purple Line as far west as possible. It would be a waste of money to build an extra, unneeded station at Crenshaw and Wilshire.

On January 4, 2009 the Los Angeles Police Department Olympic station opened. Now Windsor Square is served by two police stations, the Olympic and Wilshire stations. Residents west of the center line of Plymouth Boulevard continue to be served by the Wilshire station. Residents east of the center line of Plymouth Boulevard are now served by the Olympic station.

The following is updated information about the Olympic and Wilshire stations:

Olympic Community Police Station
1130 South Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 382-9102

Olympic station Senior Lead Officer (”SLO”) assigned as liaison to Windsor Square:
Senior Lead Officer Joseph Pelayo
(213) 485-5950
31762@lapd.lacity.org

Wilshire Community Police Station
4861 West Venice Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90019
(213) 473-0476

Wilshire station Senior Lead Officer assigned as liaison to Windsor Square:
Senior Lead Officer David Cordova
(213) 793-0650
31646@lapd.lacity.org

Please direct any questions you may have to security@windsorsquare.org

LOS ANGELES - With snowpack levels in the Sierra Nevada at 50% of normal and drought conditions continuing throughout California, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) urges customers to shut off sprinklers over the next several days during periods of rain.

Under the city’s Water Conservation Ordinance, it is illegal to water outdoors when it’s raining. Violators are subject to citation and fines under the municipal code. Enforcement is handled by the department’s 15-member Water Conservation Team who patrol the city investigating water waste and issuing citations.

“Our water supplies have been cut and our snow pack in the Eastern Sierra is precariously low,” said David Nahai, CEO and general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. “We are now in a situation where all of Los Angeles must be in a water conservation mode 24 hours a day, seven days a week, year-round. Let the storm water soak your yards while saving our precious fresh water for drinking, showering and other necessities of life.”

Customers should shut off irrigation systems for a week or more following rain without affecting the health of grass, plants and other foliage. LADWP conservation experts estimate the average residential customer would save about 800 gallons by not watering outdoors for a week, which also results in savings on water bills. Additionally, customers can take advantage of the Department’s rebate program by installing weather-based “smart irrigation” controls that automatically gauge whether watering is necessary. The rebate is available to all LADWP customers. For more information, call 1-888-376-3314 or log on to www.bewaterwise.com.

To date, the Water Conservation Team has issued 1,100 citations to water wasters. The first violation is a warning. Subsequent violations are subject to fines ranging from $100 to $600 depending upon the number of citations issued and severity of the waste.

The LADWP encourages customers to report water waste by calling 1-800-DIAL DWP (1-800-342-5397) 24 hours a day or or sending an e-mail to the water conservation team at waterconservationteam@ladwp.com