REGIONAL CONNECTOR Subway Construction Update!
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 16 сен 2024
- The regional connector is a relatively small project that will unlock an enormous amount of potential by linking 3 light rail lines and providing a second rail line across downtown LA. At only 1.9 miles or about 3 kilometers in length, the regional connector is by far the shortest light rail line that Metro has built, but as well as connecting the Expo and Gold lines, it’s the final piece of the original Blue line, which opened in 1990.
The regional connector ties into the current terminus of the Blue and Expo lines at 7th and metro center and extends underground to the little tokyo/arts station which is currently served only by the Gold line. The line was originally scheduled to open in 2020, and tunneling has been complete since 2018, but the line is now planned to open in mid 2022.
Footage shown was shot on October 3, 2020.
Music courtesy of the RUclips Audio Library.
Please subscribe to my channel for more updates on this and other projects.
Contact:
Email: thefourfoot8@gmail.com
Twitter: @TheFourFoot
Instagram: @TheFourFoot
#LAMETRO #Regional Connector #Construction
1,810
Fun Fact: When the Regional Transit Connector is complete, the resulting Long Beach to Azusa line will be the longest LRT line in the whole world.
That’s awesome! It makes sense though, it’s a ways from Long Beach to Azusa lol
@@TheFourFoot may not be awesome since there's no express train service...
Unfortunately, yes. I would imagine most people riding the line aren’t going to be traveling from Long Beach to Azusa, however.
Actually, a major advantage of rail transportation in general is that it is amenable to frequent stops. A line with two stations serves just one route A line with three stations serves three routes. Four stations provides six possible routes, and so on.
@@TheFourFoot And Azusa will not be the end. It's going further out past Claremont eventually.
Im so happy to see cities like Los Angeles investing in rapid transit expansion and embracing it like they have, for sooo long these cities were car oriented criss crossed by endless freeways that become parking lots at rush hour so the fact that metro is building a system of light rail and subways as well as metrolink and the union station projects maybe one day soon transit will be just as important there as it is here in the NYC area or other places were transit is the backbone of the city its in
Hopefully, but we’re still a long way from that becoming a reality...
LA probably has it just a tad easier than most other cities because it used to have the most extensive urban rail network in the nation - and much of that ROW was inherited by Metro (though chunks and gaps of it remain in private hands, somewhat frustratingly lol). So for us, it's usually a matter of cost and political will, but for many of the lines already built, there wasn't any extensive property acquisitions that needed to be done. For some of the proposed lines, however, it'll be a bit more difficult, in that we'll have to wait a while for some of them to be completed! But better late than never, haha.
The LA metro area was very agricultural before it was developed post war. The Pacific Electric line that ran between LA and Long Beach ran through fields. There was no built infrastructure to be repurposed like the viaducts that the DLR took over. It was literally just tracks on ballast on dirt with wooden posts to support the electrical wire. Yes, if the PE had been taken over by a public entity it could have been incrementally upgraded to a modern standard (likely at a lower cost than starting from scratch) but it is what it is.
Yes it is good that Metro acquired the rights of way that they did, but construction is nevertheless still very expensive. As you say, it is good that they have deep pockets lol
“Transit maybe, but hardly rapid.
@@TheFourFoot The problem is a lot of that right of way has been actively destroyed. Not just by parking lots but by entire buildings build over the ROW. The biggest obscenity was taking the original LA subway (admittedly short, but still a significant tunnel into downtown) and filling it with concrete so it could never be used again. So much effort was put in to destroying infrastructure.
Another great video. As a resident of Los Angeles, I'm impressed with how well you seem to know the city to get around. So true about L.A. not having any rail 30 years ago and even though you are right about how residents are willing to tax themselves to build this much needed infrastructure, it's not without huge roadblocks too. Our Metro system would be much further along if it wasn't for political cowardice that stopped all subway construction for around 17 years of those last 30 years. The good thing is that we were able to focus on expanding light rail during that time. On the bad side of things, the original heavy rail subway lines to East L.A. were replaced by light rail lines like the Gold line you mention in this video. Originally it was supposed to be a subway line. Though part of the Gold line, including some stations, are built underground because of the difficult geographic topology and narrow roads.
In your video you mention how we had no Metro light rail or subway, but it's important to mention that many of the buildings you show in your video also didn't exist 30 or even just 10 years ago. DTLA has been going through a renaissance for the last 15 years and it's still going strong. In the video you show the Disney Concert Hall designed by local architect Frank Gehry, and the huge complex being built shown behind and to the right is also designed by Gehry.
Damn dude, cranking out these videos 💯
#PainandGain (sitting at the computer all day gaining pounds lol)
Thanks for the overview of the project, it has galvanized me to go and find out more.
This was so well done and man, oh man is this going to be luxurious experience for commuters. I don't even in LA and I'm excited for this project's completion AND just within a year.
Good overview! Hopefully, Metro has designed these new stations to allow for development above the stations. There’s a significant need for affordable housing that should be built without parking.
This is already playing out at the LIttle Tokyo station and its not looking good lol
I work on this project. Very cool to see the aerial views. So much hard work goes down in the tunnels and stations.
I’m sure! The people of Los Angeles are going to benefit greatly from your hard work!
It there's so much "hard work" going on, why is it taking so long to finish?
Ha ha ha Nathan De Bartolo . We're hiring man! Come join us
@@nathandebartolo8330 These lines are not being built under farm land. Do you realize how much existing infrastructure there is under a downtown area of a city like L.A.? Stuff that needs to be removed or realigned to make way for tunnel machines. Or for cut and cover construction of tunnels, and having to take into consideration the foundation of buildings and possible subsidence, etc.
Awesome overview of the project! The tunnel boring had been done for quite some time, but the cut and cover tunneling on Flower St has been ongoing for quite a while. It should be finishing up soon-ish
@Raymond Cai Yes, but many of those delays are not because of bad behavior. It's due to unforeseen issues like relocating underground utilities at a greater extent than expected or series of lawsuits like in Beverly Hill wanting to stop the extension of the Purple line. Same thing happened with the Expo line in Santa Monica. Delays are not only costly in terms of time, but they cost money too since these contracts have a bunch of contingencies that are activated if contractors are negatively affected and Metro has to pay additional fees.
Really enjoyed the video, especially the drone footage. Keep the good content coming.
Will do!
As a Torontonian, I find the lack of a station between Bunker Hill and 7th Metro to be... odd.
It seems like it will be the longest distance between 2 stations in the regional connector, yet its the section that travels through the densest part of the network. I don't exactly understand the "it will be too close to the other 2 stations" argument because since its the densest part of the city, it means that it will be home to the largest density of commuters coming in from different parts of the region and could do a lot spreading out the traffic away from 7th Metro. The downtown core of a city is typically the part of the city where you stop worrying about stations being too close since you have to serve a lot of people going to a lot of different areas.
Other than that this looks like an amazing project, and something that is long overdue for Los Angeles.
Yeah, it was mainly cut because of the cost. Hopefully they haven’t done anything to preclude its construction as an infill station in the future.
@@TheFourFoot I know it's like 11 months of you commenting this but I'm most likely sure that they will add the Hope/Flower station hopefully soon, if they have enough funds though.
Didn't realize they relocated existing tracks, such a huge project for a small distance in comparison.
Yeah it sure is! And now the station is closed lol.
Indeed, but you have to if you want to keep lines open during construction instead of using buses to connect the closed gaps in the line.
😭 the blue line is so scary... the gold line was relaxing... now my trips to Pasadena will be stressed induced
Scary? Why? Due to safety concerns? I've read that Metro has now hired Long Beach police to police stations in LB instead of using Sheriff officers. And all the Blue stations were upgraded in the last two years with better safety mechanisms like upgraded access, lighting and signage..
Congratulation! São Paulo - SP - Brasil
Thanks a lot! São Paulo is definitely on my “to go” list!
São Paulo has a nice metro system. I've been there many times. Los Angeles is way behind on this.
Love the level of detail in this. You should be paid by LA Metro for this.
Ha! Thanks!
@@TheFourFoot literally the only good footage of their projects is by small YTs. Shame they aren't good at marketing
I hope this Regional Connector connects with Metrolink. That would be awesome 😎
It does, at LA Union Station.
Thanks very much for putting this video together. I'm interested in the project but unable to make over there to see things in person. This video is very much appreciated!
I’m glad you liked it, thanks!
Having ridden the former "Red" and "Gold" lines to Little Tokyo, and the "Expo" to the science center/Santa Monica, if this works how I think it will, it will be nice. Having to walk half the length of Union Station to change from a Red > Gold was not the most efficient. Not to mention no direct route to the concert hall. No big deal if you enjoy walking but for people like me with crappy knees it sucks. Transfering at 7th metro is pretty simple thankfully.
It would be interesting to compare this transit infrastructure to the transit infrastructure that existed at the height of the LA Pacific Electric and connecting systems, including tunnels and what used to function as subways.
Most of that system was on surface streets. There was only one main terminal tunnel in DTLA, and that got blocked off decades ago when a tower was built on Bunker Hill in the 70s if I'm not mistaken.
I'm also looking forward to the gondolas that take you to Dodger Stadium if they're still planning it.
As a native Angelo and Dodger fan, I hope that comes to fruition too because getting any kind of light rail or subway to the stadium is almost next to impossible and would be very expensive since the stadium is on a hill surrounded by freeways close by.
@@theexmann Yeah gandolas are basically the only possible option.
On "off" days they could offer rides for a fee for sightseeing 🤔
@@MakeItWithCalvin Yes, you would get some great unique aerial views of the city for photos or videos. I'm sure it would be a popular tourist attraction when not used as actual public transit for Dodger stadium.
@@theexmann I have never been to Dodgers Stadium but I know from going to Santa Monica or The Griffith it is fun to go for the attractions but the views are worth the trek alone! One good example is catching the last DASH bus up to the Griffith with a friend, running to the bathroom, and enjoying 15 mins of no crowds 😎.
I was wondering what Metro was doing when they closed Little Tokyo part of the Gold (L) Line. It will be nice not to transfer from the Blue (A) Line to the B or D Line to get the the L Line. Now that I am retired I use the light rail transit more, as I hate LADT traffic, even during the pandemic. It is a lot cheaper; I estimate a cost savings of $9 for each trip from Long Beach to Arcadia.
For sure!
My dream is to tell a tourist wanting to visit the Bradbury Building to take the train there to the Historic Broadway Station!!!
It’s going to be awesome when it’s done!
Indeed. Or, take the train to LACMA (that is new future LACMA) or the new Academy of Motion Pictures Museum on Wilshire.
I miss the old little tokyo arts district station 😢
The new one will be better and underground. Though they had to destroy the brick building caddy corner to it to build it. That brick building at one time housed a very important punk rock/new wave hangout from the 80s called the Atomic Cafe. It was a little hole in the wall but many bands at the time would go there to get their records played in the jukebox. Very cool hangout with people from all over the city. I hung out there many a time along with another place called Gorky's in the Arts District as well. Of course, we didn't call it the Arts District back then. I was in my early 20s back then and there was a great music and art vibe going on because artists could truly live relatively cheaply in that part of town. RIP Atomic Cafe and Gorky's.
New subscriber. Bro thank you for the excellent insight into these infrastructure projects keep up the great work very interesting 😁👍
Thanks a lot! I’m glad you liked it!
And now it’s open!
It's a bummer it's taking so long, but at least it's near completion. Cool project. I didn't realize LA had so much underutilized land, though. It is the second largest city by population in the country after all. Guess that's partly why there's so many buildings under construction. They got the space for it. If California can get its housing prices under control, imagine what it would do for LA. It'd boom like never before! Hopefully the rail system follows a similar path.
Absolutely!
For clarity, the L.A. downtown central core area was fully built out almost a hundred years ago. It has gone through a number of periods of redevelopment. Knock down an old building, then build a new, larger building. In the 1950s, the downtown area went through a massive redevelopment where the old remaining Victorian-era homes were torn down, hills flattened, and commercial buildings put up. Some of those 50s buildings have subsequently been torn down, as well. Constant change. Not uncommon to see a vacant lot after a tear down of a building, just before the new construction takes place.
@@GSMSfromFVThis time 20 years ago, LA Live was just a very large parking lot that 250,000 people stood in the sun to celebrate the Lakers' third championship in a row and within a few years, it is the entertainment district that is known around the world. Transformation with all of its challenges is what LA does best.
Great video - thanks! I’ve been anxiously waiting for the completion of the Connector. But as a rail enthusiast - it saddens me that the homeless situation below ground is as bad as it is above - my wife refuses to ride it. LA Metro cops have actually told me that they don’t ride it either.
Good Video Man ! I love metro and can’t wait for it to open . Please make another update video please . Wonder how it looks today .
I will, next time I’m in la! I’m hoping to have my Purple line video out in a few days.
Little Tokyo/Arts District Station is coming up soon to the Metro Blue and Expo/Gold Lines about few months away until grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony
Great video.Thanks.
Thank you!
Great video and I really like the music in the begging of the video. LOL
Thanks a lot!
That’s good that LA expanding more… Sooner or later LA gonna be like in New York
Thanks for the great video. Looking forward to the Regional Connector, God willing.
So interesting. Glad you made this. Thank you.
Enjoyed watching this. I'm a retired transit planner/advocate from Los Angeles originally, been following L.A.'s rail renaissance since the beginning. One small suggestion: adding background music is distracting, music is not necessary, in my opinion. Keep up the excellent work!
Thanks a lot!
I’d say I’d prefer the music over silence, especially during periods when there’s no narration. It’s one thing if you’re watching a construction update where you’re literally just watching the workers build the structure, because you can have construction noise as the soundtrack. Dead city streets aren’t as fun to listen to.
These regional connector will balloon ridership
For sure!
This will be a gamechanger once complete! Not sure about the station names tho....🤔"Just take the E line from LATTC/Ortho Institute station and meet me at Grand Ave Arts/Bunker Hill station" that's amouthfull !
Yeah it sure is lol
@Raymond Cai Agreed. As a native Angelo I hate the naming scheme. Even the new letter designations are less relatable to the old color names. Who in the hell can easily remember that the Blue Line is now the A Line? I still refer to them by color or the old name like Expo which is easily relatable since it runs along Exposition Blvd.
Great work, as always!
I really appreciate it!
Great video! I stayed in the Arts district two years ago and remember the construction site from back then. Btw. the city looks so dead in your footage....
Thanks! The footage was shot on a Saturday morning, so yeah, the city was dead lol
I was waiting for someone to mention this! I picture LA roads as packed all the time, much like NYC/Brooklyn streets. Pretty cool they're this deserted on Saturday mornings. I'm sure the pandemic contributes a little to that too.
Absolutely
Thanks for all your work !
Hi everyone I just wanted to say that the Gold line will replaced the Expo Line Colored And The Blue line will run up to Pasadena and Azusa . The expo Line will be gone
Thanks!
Thanks for bringing the good news.
Fully underground tunnel
Thanks for the great update John!
You bet!
I rode the blue line from Long Beach Marriott to Green line. Got the Airport bus. This was 1996. I was in L.A. for a Annual Conference.
Luckily the LAX people mover will eliminate the need for the bus. In 2023, people will finally be able to take the train to their terminal
The green line was pretty new in 1996!
That "torn up roadway" are concrete plates on steel beams. Metro tears up a road, and adds this construction to let traffic flow while there are excavators operating underneath you. At some points during the construction you can be driving over a 100ft deep void without even noticing it. The plates show roughly the size and position of the station tracks. When construction is finished, the road is been closed again, steel and conctrete ripped out and the road repaved. You can even spot them on google maps, e.g. on top of the new purple line stations
The completion of middle this year.
AVG DAILY BLUE LINE RIDERSHIP = 50,000
AVG DAILY WAIT AND HASSLE to XFR TO RED LINE via 7th Metro = 20 minutes
50K*20/60= 16,700 Person-Hours/Day = 6 million hours saved per year, or 120 million hours over a 20 year lifetime. Probably a gross underestimate.
Very interesting when you put it like that! It will be a huge time saver for sure!
my man really went straight through a red at 8:31 😅
anyway great video as always
“Video doesn’t prove anything”
Thanks a lot!
downtown LA was intimidating 20 years ago. Now it's just indifferent even after huge public spending. I guess it was worth it.
Very well done! Thanks!
Thank you!
Having watched all of your videos on the South Beltway in Lincoln I have started watching more and more of your videos. FANTASTIC presentations for people who know nothing about the projects! Thank you very much!! This may not be the proper place to ask but what are your thoughts about The Boring Company and Elon limiting some of his strategies to electric vehicles only? I don't see this as some "groundbreaking" milestone....
Thanks Again!!!!!
Hey Jeff! I have lots of thoughts on the musk lol. I know he’s not really involved with the various hyperloop schemes that are being “developed” but the fact that the boring company’s tunnels and the hyperloop concepts are talked about interchangeably highlights the lack of understanding that mainstream news publications have surrounding public transport. Rest assured, I will devote at least an entire video about the two systems in the future but the short answer (in my opinion) is that the hyperloop is literal scam and the boring company is a tax write-off that can’t meet Hawthorne city fire codes. I’m saying this not as an enemy of Elon Musk (I would love to own a Tesla and I’m sure that EV’s are going to be as ubiquitous as ICE vehicles in 10 years) but as an advocate for high speed rail and public transit. America has industrialized around the internal combustion engine car. It’s going to be a cold day on Venus before American infrastructure spending disenfranchises the private gas powered automobile. America built a nationwide interstate highway system that has no special user fees, which is somewhat unique in the world. China has built a nationwide high speed rail system that definitely does have user fees, after they built an extensive (largely tolled) freeway system. I believe the future of the us will be largely similar to today, but with more conventional high speed rail systems linking major urban corridors. I don’t believe that the US will have a nationwide high speed rail system any time soon. There may be a maglev system or two in day the northeast, but by the time it’s built I’m sure the hyperloop/boring company will be as distant a memory as the fan powered subway in New York City. Sorry if that was too long lol
Once this happens, they really need more express trains. It takes Way too long to go from one end to the other
And how would they do that?
@@ES-hr6vg have certain trains that dont stop at all the stations. Its a thing in most rail lines around the world
Running express trains on a 2-track system is difficult, since you need to coordinate express and local trains to pass at specific points at specific times, which makes it difficult to run either service at nearly as high frequencies as running just local.
@@ciello___8307 and how would they pass other trains? We don’t have that kind of system. As the other responder stated we only have a two track system. This isn’t the UK. Does the tube have an express? I think you are thinking of regional trains.
@@ES-hr6vg i think he meant it like the nyc subway
Fantastic
Thanks!
Can you do a Video on the New DART Silver Line and DART D2 subway in Downtown Dallas?
Hey man, ive asked before in the fly over video of the factory, but where'd you get that music i really liked a track before
You should do a video on the Green Line Extention in Boston!
I should lol
When will you do another update on LA rail construction? Looking forward to them!
Soon lol. Glad you’re looking forward to em!
Great info. You could boost the volume on your videos a little bit you're currently at -8dB on this one for instance.
Thanks for the tip!
Will you also be doing any updates on the wmata silver line phase 2 extension and the seattle east link projects?
I’m going to take a trip this spring to the east coast...a silver line video sounds like a great idea...hmmm lol
As for Seattle, I’d like to. If I can get up there, I will!
Great video!! nice info!
Thanks a lot!
I wonder if rapid transit construction is as expensive in LA as it is in NYC. The most recent expansion of the NYC Subway, Phase 1 of the Second Ave Subway, cost a total of $4.5 billion and consisted of just 3 new stations and modification to a few others. Phase 1 of the Second Ave Subway opened in 2017.
No, subway construction isn’t quite as expensive in la as it is as New York City lol
Plans are for a monorail that will go from LAX to the valley , we have to see if this goes through
Can you make an update about Biden’s American Relief Plan and how it would affect CAHSR☺️
I definitely will!
I miss the Four Foot...
does anyone know why the Metro has to clear out a gigantic plaza just to build a subway entrance? it seems like a huge waste of space.
Do you know anything about the modern streetcar that they were thinking about putting in?? Not sure if that still in the planning stages or just not going to happen. I stopped following up on it a few years ago.
I remember hearing about it too, but kind of forgot about it. Apparently it’s got $390m earmarked for it, but it doesn’t sound like it’s going to be built anytime soon.
11:38 7th Street opened in 1991 ,not 1990.
I'm a little confused...is the expo line going to change color to gold? And will the L Line designation not exist in Metro's network anymore?
Yes, the Expo/E line officially changed colors, cyan to now gold.
And yes, the L line's designation will not exist after the connector project is completely done.
Is this still going to open 2021? That deadline is only 9 months away and the Crenshaw website is still claiming it. However those stations and track does not look close to done in some sections. It seems like 2022 is more likely.
It’s now scheduled to open in 2022.
@@TheFourFoot Thanks for that update and quick response! That makes a lot more sense!
Good video.
Thank you!
And quick question at around 3:00 on the left side of the tracks theres a 3rd portal does anyone know what that portal is for ?
I assume it may become a shaft/access portal. On the Crenshaw/LAX Line, each of the subway stations had access shafts that will be covered over. I may be wrong though.
I can't believe they are squandering so much space on the stations rather than using the expensive real estate efficiently adding useful amenities...
They’ll probably be stores, and a station is much better than a parking lot
I just wish the trains were faster and wider
Just a quick criticism
Its not a subway lol
Dude what’s up with the soundtrack? 😎
Hell of a way to eradicate the smog and traffic jam problems plaguing the L.A. area freeways, including Interstates 5, 10, 105, 110 (also SR 110), 210 & 405 and U.S. 101 since Ronald Reagan became president, maybe even back in 1970s.
Freeways have been plaguing LA since FDR, although a major expansion happened when Eisenhower created the Interstate system
@@AVeryRandomPerson Yes, but at least the city/county is doing something about it, right?
@@AVeryRandomPerson Yes, but at least the city/county is doing something about it, right?
the rail system in LA is slow, takes to long to get places. why is there not a direct line from Hollywood to LAX. this is where tourist go. LA is decades behind in their thinking of rail routes
La uses cut and cover, much better and faster than deep bore.
Well, that's just wrong. The regional connector and all subway lines are bored, only the stations are made with cut and cover
@@Bauer-ke6lp what about purple line extention
@Raymond Cai ohhh
Stay tuned, a purple line video is coming shortly! Lol
What the fuck is this? Why would they make a project like this so complicated? How are people supposed to navigate all this?
Very cool video. Wow I hate LA.
Interesting. Thats some of the worst urban design I've ever seen, but at least LA is trying.
Bhh
More like slow speed rail
That’s good that LA expanding more… Sooner or later LA gonna be like in New York