July 2007 Archives

WASHINGTON, DC - It was a frightening sight for some commuters in the nation's capital, after a pest control company hired to kill pigeons around city subway entrances did not follow policy and left the dead birds behind, the Associated Press reports.

Dozens of bird carcasses were reported after the poison was left at about noon on Sunday, leading the FBI and local hazardous materials crews to investigate. The scare briefly caused six stations to close, said Washington Area Metropolitan Transit Authority spokeswoman Candace Smith.

Smith said the contractor was supposed to place the poison during late-night or early morning hours, and then wait to do the cleanup before moving to the next station. A commercial pest poison was quickly pinpointed as the cause. No human injuries were reported.

Dixon’s Pest Control did not immediately return a call Monday from The Associated Press. The contract with Dixon’s is on hold while the agency investigates, Smith said.

After more than eight years of debate and study, a city panel Monday recommended going ahead with a scaled back $11.3 million project to create a reversible lane during rush hours through the Mulholland Tunnel on Sepulveda Boulevard.

Despite strong opposition from residents and a bicycle advocate, the Board of Public Works approved an environmental review of the project that includes creating a northbound bike lane on Sepulveda from Wilshire Boulevard to the tunnel. The proposal will now go to the City Council for approval. Get the story HERE.

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Build monorails. Forget monorails. Double-deck the freeways. Get rid of car-pool lanes.

From Santa Clarita to Studio City, commuters around the region have resoundingly spoken out about what drives them crazy getting around Los Angeles - and how to make it better.

The ideas on how to ease the Southland's persistent bottlenecks come even as a recent state report projects California's population will balloon to 60 million by 2050, further straining already jammed freeways and roads.

But while transit officials grapple with funding issues and dwindling space, nearly 100 readers who outlined their transit visions to the Daily News were quick to target two key areas: public transportation and freeways.

Get the story HERE.

Thoughts? What are your ideas to improve getting around L.A? Tell our blog!

SHERMAN OAKS - A mid-morning Orange Line crash Saturday sent five people to hospitals after a woman smacked into a Metroliner bus, authorities reported.

The westbound bus was crossing Sepulveda Boulevard at 9:47 a.m. when a 70-year-old woman driving a Lexus ES 300 smashed into its front, right side, according to reports from the Los Angeles Police Department and Metro. The force of the collision nearly severed her arm and broke her leg, then knocked around the bus driver and three passengers, inflicting minor injuries. Ambulances transported them all to local hospitals.

Investigators have not yet determined who was at fault, but Metro spokesman Dave Sotero reported that closed-circuit television cameras at the scene showed the woman sped through a red light before hitting the bus.

Bus service was delayed for two hours as crews investigated the scene and towed away the damaged Metroliner.

After running a red light, a motorist in Willowbrook on Thursday night crashed into a Metro bus, knocking the bus driver onto the street where he was pinned under the vehicle and later died, authorities said.

Metro bus driver Gregory Bradly died at the scene. The crash happened around 8:44 p.m. at 120th Street and Wilmington Avenue.

Bradly was heading west on 119th street when he was hit by the oncoming car coming north on Wilmington Avenue. Force of the impact threw Bradly out the driver's window, and he was then run over by the rear wheels. The motorist was taken to Saint Francis Medical Center in Lynwood.

-- Source: City News Service

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To keep traffic moving on Orange County freeways, officials there propose opening car-pool lanes to all drivers during nonrush-hour travel times and want the plan to expand statewide.

Making high-occupancy-vehicle lane rules consistent across county lines would speed traffic flows throughout Southern California, transit authorities argued as they presented the plan to Metro's board of directors Thursday.

"There are now more people commuting from Los Angeles to Orange County for work," said Carolyn Cavecche, chairwoman of the Orange County Transportation Authority. "Having a system that is consistent throughout would be a benefit to all of those commuters."

Easing restrictions on car-pool lanes began as a pilot program a few months ago on the 22 Freeway, and Orange County transit officials want to broaden the plan to include the 405, 57 and 91 freeways.

Whether the idea will catch on in Los Angeles remains to be seen. Metro's board on Thursday did not endorse the proposal, but is interested in studying the issue. Read the story HERE.

What do you think? Do carpool lanes work? Tell our blog.

Two public hearings have been scheduled on Metro’s plan to extend the Orange Line busway north from Canoga Park to Chatsworth.

The proposed routes in the environmental impact report take the busway include Canoga Avenue, De Soto Avenue, Topanga Canyon Boulevard and the old Canoga Avenue rail right-of-way. Suggested stops include the Chatsworth Metrolink Station and the Ronald Reagan (118) Freeway, where a park-and-ride lot is also under consideration.

The final report will be presented to Metro’s board in 2008.

Hearings will be 7-9 p.m. Thursday at Chatsworth High School, 10027 Lurline Ave.; and 7-9 p.m. July 30 at New Academy, 21425 Cohasset St., Canoga Park.

If you were caught in traffic this morning around North Hills, it's because police there were on the hunt for a car-theft suspect who led officers on a chase, reports City News Service.

Authorities set up a perimeter near the Nordhoff Street offramp from the southbound San Diego (405) Freeway about 5 a.m., said California Highway Patrol Officer Francisco Villalobos.

The offramp remained closed some four hours later, Villalobos said.

Those interested in actually getting somewhere on the notoriously gridlocked Westside may be interested in a meeting Tuesday, July 17, to support a subway to serve the area.

Residents can learn about the grassroots movement to lobby for a subway from the Purple Line to the ocean at the meeting sponsored by Southern California Transit Advocates, a nonprofit transit group.

This is the second meeting this summer for the group that's looking to build community support for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's vision of a "subway to the sea." The nonprofit is using a $4,000 grant from the American Public Transportation Association to host these meetings and held its first May 22.

It all takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. in the auditorium of the Beverly Hills Public Library, 444 N. Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills.

Caltrans has made changes to the environmental impact report for a $950 million expansion project planned for the 405 Freeway. Just what the changes are, we don't yet know. They are supposed to be released sometime this month.

But because of these changes, the public hearing period has been extended about two more months until Sept 10.

The project includes building a 10-mile northbound carpool lane from the 10 to the 101 Freeway and could involve adding a sixth southbound lane. There could be 37 homes and businesses razed for the freeway widening, depending what plan officials choose this fall.

Questions about the project should be mailed to Ronald Kosinski, deputy district director, division of environmental planning, Caltrans District 7, 100 S. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.

Thoughts about the project? Send them to our blog!

Standing on a cracked and crumbling Eagle Rock street Monday, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said that the city surpassed its goal last year to fix 300,000 potholes and announced a challenge to fill 350,000 more.

“I think we can do better than we did last year,” said Villaraigosa. “We’re kicking our gear into higher gear.”

Public Works employees filled 7,500 more potholes than expected last year under Operation Pothole, a street-repair program that began under Villaraigosa’s administration.

However pothole repairs are mere patchwork for the $1.5 billion overhaul that the city’s rag-tag streets need, said city officials who announced plans for a bond in the works for the November 2008 ballot to fix roads in Los Angeles.

Would you vote for such a measure? What do your streets look like? Tell our blog!