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California governor signs legislation supporting San Fernando light rail
Sen. Alan Robbins guilty and served time for racketeering in 1991.
Once again, a site location sketch (map) would improve this story.
This law is needed in Texas to circumvent the constraints to light rail expansion in Houston.
Alan Robbins took bribes.
This ROW was former Pacific Electric and former SP Burbank Branch
https://www.flickr.com/photos/terryviews/sets/72157606457973152/
The MTA turned it into a busway after the legislation was passed to ban rail. They were talking about builiding a cut and cover subway extension to the MTA Red Line at the time. Here is an MTA Orange Line Map
http://media.metro.net/riding_metro/bus_overview/images/901.pdf
The Orange Line now has 30,000 riders a day, with buses often full, etc.
It’s about time! Alhough Gov. jerry Brown sign a bill lifting the Robbins ban on above ground railways in the San Fernando Valley, There isn’t any money for the conversion to light rail as of yet. Paul Krekorian, an L.A. city councilman and a Metro board member wants to get a feasibility study underway in regards to converting the busway into a light rail line. Is I figured, the Orange Line busway wasn’t going to cut it and sure enough, it doesn’t
Being the co-founder of Southern California Transit Advocates, and a former Van Nuys resident, we rode the Orange Line when it first opened, and I correctly predicted that this line would be later need to be converted to light rail.The Valley rail line project was a victim of bad politics and NIMBYism. Robbins drew controversy for the project due to his insistence that it be built in subway, which was expensive, serves him right he went to prison for his bribery scandal.
The LA Daily News sensibly supported an option for light rail.
It’s now time for Valley NIMBY’s to either put up or shut up. We can thank them for the cost overrunns on this project and they have no room to complain now about the traffic inconveniences that they will cause for themselves a second time when construction on the conversion begins.
I think a fair punishment for these NIMBYs would be to convert one side Chandler Blvd. and Hollywood Way to a temporary busway line and the section on the other side of the current busway line to two-way street with single lanes and a complete parking ban along the street.