Expo E-News Keeping Our Community Informed Winter 2014 Santa Monica s Getting Ready for Expo! Phase 2 Update Page 2 In this Issue : Page 4: Construction Update Page 6: Artist Profiles For more information about the Expo Line, visit our website at BuildExpo.org or call 213.922.EXPO
Phase 2 Update Santa Monica s Getting Ready for Expo! The City of Santa Monica is excited about the Expo Line and is working hard to maximize the benefit of this new transit option for residents, businesses and visitors to the beachside city when it opens for revenue service. According to David Martin, Director of Planning and Community Development, the City of Santa Monica made the Expo Line a main focus of its 2010 Land Use & Circulation Element (LUCE), which will guide planning in the city for the next 20 years. The LUCE focuses on different modes of transportation and reflects a broader view of how people get around, including bike and pedestrian mobility. As part of this effort, the city is undertaking specific planning processes around each station. The Bergamot Area Plan is already complete and was adopted by the City Council last year, while the Downtown Area Plan is underway and the Memorial Park Area Plan process will start soon. Martin noted that a key aspect of the Bergamot Area Plan is to have housing as part of those developments. Rendering of the downtown Santa Monica station and Esplanade connecting to the Santa Monica Pier Page 2
Phase 2 Santa Monica s Getting Ready for Expo! At the downtown station, the city has invested $8.9 million in betterments to improve the station. The City is also developing an Esplanade that extends from 4th and Colorado all the way to the Pier. The Esplanade will connect the station to the Pier with a 40-foot wide sidewalk on the south side of Colorado Avenue and a dedicated bi-directional bike lane. In addition, several mixed use projects, such as 401 S. Broadway, have been approved downtown and are already under construction. Two more were approved last year and will go into construction soon, along with two hotels that have been approved at 5th and Colorado right across from the downtown station. Martin emphasized that the city is looking forward to Expo s arrival and achieving the goal of connecting Santa Monica to the rest of the region via light rail. He noted, It s been in the Rendering of two new hotels approved at the corner of 5th and Colorado Ave in downtown Santa Monica HAMPTON INN & SUITES, COURTYARD by MARRIOTT EXPO LINE ELEVATION 6-23-13 works for a long time and it s exciting to finally see the progress! Upcoming Construction Activities in Santa Monica Rail Crossing Installations: 17th Street: Saturday, March 22 to Wednesday, April 2 (11 Days) Lincoln Boulevard: Monday, April 21 to Monday, April 28 (8 Days) Please visit our website at www.buildexpo.org for detour information Page 3
Phase 2 Construction Update As we kick off another year of work on the Expo Line, we wanted to take a quick look back at everything that s been done since major construction started in 2012. The contractor, Skanska Rados Joint Venture (SRJV), made great strides on the project in 2013, with the start of rail installation, the completion of over 80% of the utility relocations and major progress on all of the bridges along the alignment. They accomplished all this while staying focused on safety and achieving 1 million hours of no lost time due to injury. Check out these cool facts about the work to date! Utilities: Bridges: SRJV has relocated approximately 80 utilities throughout the Cities of Los Angeles and Santa Monica. These include potable water, sewer, storm drain, power connections and communication lines, such as cable and internet. In fact, more than eight miles of utilities have been relocated between the two cities and approximately 30,000 man hours have been expended to complete these relocations. To build the bridges, retaining walls, and other structures along the guideway SRJV has poured more than 43,000 cubic yards of concrete. That s twice as much concrete as is needed for the foundation for the new Wilshire Grand project in Downtown Los Angeles! And beneath all that concrete, approximately 8.5 million pounds of rebar have been installed throughout the alignment, 70% of which is being used in the bridges. Rail Installation: More than three miles of rail have already been installed along the Expo ROW, including four of the 15 at-grade rail crossings (Overland Ave, Westwood Blvd, 5th St and 11th Street). As part of the intricate process of rail installation, 8,000 cubic yards of ballast rock, the coarse gravel used to form the railroad bed, has already been used. As construction progress continues, we will update these numbers in future newsletters. Page 4
Phase 2 Construction Update... Work Crews Augering for Ductbank Utility Painting Existing Palms Bridge Bundy Bridge Deck Concrete Pour Track Installation in Cheviot Hills Pico Bridge Rebar Work Pico Bridge Concrete Pour 5th Street Rail Installation Sepulveda Parking Structure Progress Page 5
Artist Updates Station Art: Artist Profiles 26th Street/Bergamot Constance Mallinson s vision for the station includes a local landscape overlaid with a wide variety of colorful objects collected on extensive walks around Santa Monica to create eye-catching and imaginative evocations of the neighborhoods in the vicinity of the station. 26th Street/Bergamot: Art concept proposal by Constance Mallinson 17th Street/Santa Monica College Carmen Argote s vignettes of city life will use clothes to create narratives that are telling of how the public spaces we occupy reflect our lives. Stay tuned as we feature additional artist profiles in upcoming newsletters! 17th Street/Santa Monica College: Art concept proposal by Carmen Argote How to Reach Us Call our project hotline at (213) 922-EXPO (3976) or email us at info@buildexpo.org For questions on Phase 2 of the EXPO line, please contact: Torri D. Hill Skanska-Rados Joint Venture Community Relations (310) 500-1485 Project Website: www.buildexpo.org Sign up on our homepage to be added to the project database and receive notices via email. Social Media: www.facebook.com/expoline www.twitter.com/expoline Page 6