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Light Rail for Cheviot is Cheviot Hills Homeowners advocating use of the existing “Exposition Right of Way” south of Northvale Road at the edge of our neighborhood

10. Has Metro Chosen to cross Overland at Grade?

Not yet; Expo Construction Authority is building Expo Phase I and is studying options as it prepares a Draft Environmental Impact Report/Review (EIR/S) for Expo Phase II. The study will apparently say that Metro’s Grade Separation Policy does not require grade separation on much of Phase II. Once the Draft EIR/S issues, the public, elected officials, and governmental agencies will have a chance to comment. Even if the Final EIR/S is approved and construction begins, it remains for the State Public Utilities Commission to approve (or disapprove) the nature of grade crossing.

In light of the Construction Authority’s report, Light Rail for Cheviot circulated this statement:

We in Light-Rail for Cheviot are pleased with the progress of the project and we are looking forward to seeing Phase 2 built on the existing Right of Way alongside Cheviot Hills in the near future.

While we fully support the equitable application of the Authority's grade-crossing policy, we have concerns about the additional lanes proposed to bring several Westside streets into compliance with that policy. Adding north-south lanes on these streets may produce unmitigatable impacts not clearly addressed in your study. Traffic impacts on Pico Boulevard, the 10 Freeway entrances, and smaller neighborhood “cut-through” streets should be studied further.

We had advocated grade-separation, especially at Overland where the traffic volume was comparable to that at La Brea and La Cienega and the configuration of the tracks, the Ashby street light, and the school could support a case for grade-separation. We think it wise to keep grade-separation as a design option for at least Overland Avenue and possibly other crossings along Phase 2 in the draft EIS/EIR.

We are concerned that the at-grade crossing mitigations proposed may have significantly unmitigatable environmental impacts. We want to preserve the quality of life in our neighborhood, including existing green corridors and parkways. Replacing curb parking and landscaped parkways with a third traffic lane and sidewalk without parkway will have a negative impact on both pedestrians and adjacent residences.

There are other issues: We support the transit-parkway concept with pedestrian and bicycle trails alongside the tracks, built in a continuous, easily accessible manner throughout the Expo corridor, and we also support the continued effort to implement as fully as possible the "green corridor" concept - see its new website:

http://expogreenway.org/. The parking lots proposed north and south of the Expo line west of Overland threaten this concept and they require much further study.

Our chief concern at this point, however, is to keep at least some grade-separation options in the draft EIS/EIR, and we request you to do that. Leaving the door open to potential grade-separations in the draft document would save time should the Authority's proposals be rejected or changed fundamentally.

Light Rail for Cheviot