2. Background
The Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority (Expo Authority) was created by legislation1 for the specific purpose of constructing the Exposition Corridor Light Rail Transit Line (Expo Line), a new 8-½ mile light rail transit
extension line that will run between downtown Los Angeles and Culver City.2 The line will be powered by electricity supplied by overhead catenary lines, double-tracked, and for much of the route will run on an existing (now unused) rail right-of-way in the center median of Exposition Boulevard.
The Expo Line will be turned over to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) for ongoing operations once construction is completed. Expo Authority, MTA and the City of Los Angeles (City) entered into a Master Cooperative Agreement that provides, among many other elements, the concurrence of these agencies regarding the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the subject crossings.
All 10 of the subject applications were protested. In authorizing construction of 36 of the 38 proposed crossings, D.07-12-029: confirmed the consolidation of the 10 subject applications; determined that an evidentiary hearing (EH) was not necessary with respect to the 36 authorized crossings; found that MTA, as the lead agency for environmental review of the Expo Line project, complied with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) with respect to the 36 authorized crossings; found that it was not practicable to grade-separate the 26 at-grade crossings authorized in the decision; and, left the proceeding open to examine further the two remaining crossings, at Farmdale Avenue and Harvard Boulevard.
The Expo Line will run in the center median of Exposition Boulevard at the sites of the proposed crossings at Farmdale Avenue and Harvard Boulevard. Exposition Boulevard is two to three lanes wide in each direction. Any rail crossings at these sites, therefore, must cross the double set of train tracks, and the eastbound and westbound lanes of Exposition Boulevard on each side of the tracks.
At Farmdale Avenue, Expo Authority is requesting authority to construct an at-grade crossing immediately adjacent to Susan Miller Dorsey High School (Dorsey). Dorsey is on Farmdale Avenue at the intersection of Exposition Boulevard (southwest corner).
At Harvard Boulevard, Expo Authority is requesting approval to construct the rail line in the center median of Exposition Boulevard, above an existing pedestrian tunnel. The tunnel is a public facility owned by the City. The tunnel and the rail line will be completely grade-separated. The James A. Foshay Learning Center (Foshay) is located on Harvard at Exposition Boulevard (northwest corner). Harvard does not cross Exposition at street level. The tunnel at Harvard Boulevard does not comply with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and now is in use on a limited basis as an undercrossing of all lanes of traffic and the center median of Exposition Boulevard. Foshay is immediately adjacent to the north entrance of the tunnel.
Dorsey and Foshay are approximately two miles apart. Both schools are under the jurisdiction of the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
1 Senate Bill 504 (Kuehl); 2003. Pub. Util. Code § 132600 et seq.
2 The Los Angeles to Culver City segment of the Expo Line, the portion subject to this proceeding, is Phase I of an overall project. Phase II, a further extension of the line to Santa Monica, is in the planning stages and not subject to this proceeding or today's decision.
