To the editor: While it is great that Los Angeles is finally planning for light rail lines, elevated rail lines along the most congested corridors are the quickest and cheapest ways to address a number of problems (“This rail line would get you to the Grove, the Beverly Center and Cedars-Sinai. Is it L.A.’s ‘missing link’?,” March 24). The K Line extension with a projected completed date of 2047 or later does nothing to address the immediate transportation and housing crises we face.
An elevated K Line could be done in a reasonable time frame, not 20 years. An elevated rail line along Route 66, from Glendale to West Los Angeles, would take many cars off the road and permit building of more residential units without causing unbearable congestion.
Cities like Bangkok and Chicago have elevated lines that carry thousands of people daily through the densest areas. Building housing without transportation will cause as many problems as it solves. Let’s put in the transportation infrastructure quickly to allow a better, more livable, Los Angeles for all.
Harlan Levinson, Los Angeles
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To the editor: West Hollywood is currently facing a “perfect storm” that threatens its 1984 founding principles of housing equity for seniors, the disabled, low-income residents and the LGBTQ+ community. Senate Bill 79 will override the city’s laws so developers won’t have to build parking for many new developments in this 1.9-square-mile city. This development fever is actively demolishing existing rent-stabilized properties and replacing them with multi-story luxury projects sometimes on single-family zoned parcels — all with no parking.
By the time the train finally arrives (2047? 2050?), we will have irreparably destroyed our affordable housing to benefit developers. We are prioritizing “transit-oriented” density for a transit system that doesn’t yet exist, leaving anyone but the wealthiest with nowhere to live and nowhere to park.
This shift ignores a stark reality: Measure M funding for the K Line expansion won’t even be available until 2041. Where is West Hollywood going to get $112,000 per resident to pay its 25% share of the $15.9-billion construction bill?
Carolyn Campbell, West Hollywood
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To the editor: I think the K Line extension is a good step in the right direction. But more needs to be done to make it a viable alternative to driving a car.
It needs police on every train and station platform making sure people obey the rules; no loud music, no open drinks on trains. I don’t know how many times I got on the Blue Line and found someone had spilled soda pop all over a few seats.
A dynamic mass transit network needs to attract more than just the low-income. Riding the Metro needs to be less annoying to attract a more diverse clientele. Look at places like New York City and Tokyo, where executives in business suits routinely ride the subway to work.
Murray Zichlinsky, Long Beach