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News
& Updates
 LOS
ANGELES (March 3, 2011) – The Community Redevelopment
Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) today obligated $8.4
Million in funding for the Downtown L.A. Streetcar, a
public-private partnership project championed by City
Councilmember José Huizar’s Bringing Back Broadway initiative
and non-profit, L.A. Streetcar Inc. Previous CRA/LA actions
obligated $1.6 Million of the $10 Million pledged by the agency
for the project.
The $8.4 Million CRA/LA action comes on the heels of Los Angeles
City Council’s action last week to allocate $1 Million to the
project from Measure R Local Return. The combined actions will
provide remaining funding necessary to complete state and federal
environmental documentation underway at METRO, as well as complete
conceptual, preliminary and final engineering and design for the
streetcar.
“The CRA and City actions will get us through the technical
steps necessary to make us ready for shovels to build the Downtown
L.A. Streetcar,” said City Councilmember José Huizar.
“Thousands of jobs, millions in annual tourism and revenue and
an additional billion dollars in development will be a tremendous
driver of revitalization that will positively affect our entire
city and region.”
Today’s actions will also allow CRA/LA to contract with L.A.
Streetcar Inc. for the establishment of a Community Facilities
District, which will allow local registered voters the opportunity
to approve a property assessment in order to raise private-sector
funding. Private sector funding is the last piece of the puzzle
before federal funding can be sought. A blend of private and
public funds is necessary to achieve full funding for construction
of the streetcar project. Source- press release
October
2010- LA Streetcar has just completed a successful fundraising
event for the proposed Downtown streetcar. This October
4 post on LA.Streetsblog gives the details and includes LA
Streetcar's excellent new video. The video includes some nice
simulations of the streetcar in action in Downtown LA. This October
1 opinion piece in Downtown News also weighed in on funding of
the project.
June
2010- LA Streetcar Inc. has released refined versions of
the two major options for the proposed new Downtown
streetcar route, check out the LASI
website for details. LASI has also announced a major
fundraiser to take place on September 30, co-hosted by José
Huizar, Eli
Broad, Rick
Caruso, and Tim
Leiweke. Event information can be found here,
with sponsorship and ticket information to be released in the
coming weeks.
May
2010- Another step forward for the proposed downtown
streetcar took place in February when Metro agreed to procure an
environmental consultant for the project. This follows the
Downtown L.A. Streetcar Project’s submission of a $25 million
federal grant application, which will enable LASI to secure
environmental clearances in 2010. Assistance from Metro will be
paid for by the CRA/LA and LASI’s federal funds that have
already been obligated. The RFQ/P process will be initiated
shortly following Metro’s solicitation procedures.
Click
here for an April 30 LA Downtown News story on the progress of
the Bringing Back Broadway initiative and the streetcar project.
April
2010- Downtown's famous funicular, Angel's
Flight, has once again returned to service. The historic cars
of "The World's Shortest Railway" are once again
traversing Bunker Hill. Click
here for an article from Downtown News.
February
2010- Los
Angeles Streetcar, Inc. has applied
for $25M in federal funding under the Urban Circulator program. More
information about this latest development was reported on the
Blogdowntown website.
December
2009- Los
Angeles Streetcar, Inc. and
Councilman Jose Huizar last week announced $250,000 in
Congressional funding, but the project's sights are set on bigger
dollar amounts. Executive Director Dennis Allen said that the
project plans to apply for $25 million out of a $280 million grant
fund just created for "urban circulator projects."
Until
now, the project had been unsure whether it would be going for
federal money to cover part of its estimated $90 - $100 million
construction cost. "If you go for the federal funding, it
just extends your timeline," said Allen. Funds from the new
grant program, announced on December 1 by U.S. Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood, come with drastically reduced requirements,
allowing them to be put to use much quicker.
Projects
from around the country are expected to apply for the money, but
Allen thinks
Los Angeles
has a good chance of being picked. "We think that we'll have
as competitive of an application as any streetcar out there,"
he said.
The
$250,000, championed by Congressmember Lucille Roybal-Allard, is
part of the House’s 2010’s Omnibus Appropriations Measure. It
would help fund the environmental analysis the project will be
doing in 2010.
Council
is scheduled to consider the grant request on Wednesday. The
Department of Transportation would submit the application in
coordination with the streetcar non-profit and the Community
Redevelopment Agency.
Source:
Eric
Richardson, BlogDowntown
November
2009- In October, LASI released RFQ's for two projects.
LASI is seeking qualified consultants that can, 1) develop a
Public Relations/Media Campaign, and 2) analyze a Special Benefit
District for a Downtown Los Angeles Streetcar.
July
30, 2009- The July 29 streetcar workshop was well attended
and included appearances from both the LA City Council members
representing the project area, Jose Huizar (CD14) and Jan Perry
(CD9). The workshop was held in the historic Bradbury
Building, just a short distance away from the famous Angel's
Flight funicular, which continues to undergo testing prior to
a planned reopening later this summer.
Public
input was sought on three potential alignments, each of which is
about 3.5 miles long and traverse most of Broadway from First
Street moving south. Two of the routes would turn west on Pico and
eventually circle back on Hill. A third option was go only as far
as 11th before returning northbound on Olive Street. All three of
the options thus serve the area with a two-street north-south
"couplet" that spreads out the potential benefits of the
streetcar while still making it functional as a circulator. Click
here for a pdf of the three options.
In
other streetcar news, the LA Business Journal carried a nice article
on the project in its 7/27 edition. The article highlights the
coming work on the creation of a local improvement district to
help fund the project. A current improvement district that was
formed in 1992 to help fund four downtown subway stations expires
in December.
July
2009- LA Streetcar Inc. has launched a new website.
The site details various aspects of the streetcar proposal
including the proposed routes. A streetcar alignment open house is
scheduled for July 29 at the Bradbury Building in Downtown Los
Angeles. Check the website for further details.January
2009- A January 23, News Release from Councilman Jose
Huizar's office announced that Los Angeles Streetcar Inc. had
appointed Dennis Allen as project manager. Allen will manage the
Board of Directors and lead fundraising efforts for the nonprofit.
Click
here for the news release, and click
here for coverage of the appointment on Blogtown.
May
2009- Councilmember Huizar Calls for Los Angeles City Support of Streetcar-Friendly Federal Legislation.
(Bringing Back Broadway email update 5/15/09).
Councilmember Huizar introduced a resolution this week calling for City support of two pieces of federal legislation introduced by Congressmember Earl Blumenauer of Oregon. The Federal Streetcar Revitalization Act of 2009 would revise the federal Small Starts program to increase funding for streetcars and make the project selection process more supportive of streetcar projects, including adding consideration criteria related to streetcars' reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and potential to reduce traffic. The Fast Starts Act of 2009 authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to make grants to assist with the funding of streetcar projects that are also supported with local funding.
A centerpiece of Councilmember Huizar's Bringing Back Broadway revitalization initiative for the Historic Broadway Theatre District is a plan for a modern streetcar transportation system to connect Broadway and other downtown destinations. Modern streetcars are innovative, quiet, environmentally-friendly transportation circulation systems which significantly enhance the pedestrian experience, reduce single occupancy vehicle trips and encourage walking. LA Streetcar Inc is a non-profit which has formed to advance the public-private streetcar effort. The current federal process is considered overly cumbersome and time-consuming, with rules and processes which are not streetcar-friendly, which serves as a strong deterrent to the local effort to seek and pursue federal grants and funding. Councilmember Huizar is proud to lead the City's efforts in supporting this important federal legislation which could allow Los Angeles to access and utilize federal funding and still meet the goal of riding a streetcar in downtown by
2014.
Councilmember
Huizar is also a Board Member of LA Metro. A
pdf copy of the streetcar
resolution can be found here.
July
2008- a design charrette will be held on Thursday August 14
from 10 am to 2:30 pm at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S.
Spring St. Topics
for this interactive workshop include integrating the proposed
streetcar with the new Broadway streetscape design, integration
with other transit services, and other topics of interest to local
stakeholders. The workshop is open to all, click here for the
flyer. Contact Trisha Robbins for more information: Tricia.Robbins@lacity.org
August
2008- About 120 people attended the August 14 streetcar
design charrette at the beautiful Los Angeles Theatre Center. The
event provided local stakeholders with an opportunity to review
concepts for the streetcar's ultimate alignment on Broadway, and
to discuss a variety of other related improvements. More
information on the design charrette can be found on the
blogdowntown website.
Links
LA
Streetcar Inc. website
LA
Times blog post on Downtown LA gentrification 8/8/10
Blogdowntown
website
Streetcar
Desire, LA Business Journal 7/27/09
Resurrecting
the Red Car, Downtown News article
Bringing
Back Broadway website
Los
Angeles Central City Association
LA
Times article on Bringing Back Broadway 1/28/08
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