UNION STATION & High Speed Rail
The area around Union Station and the new LA State Historic Park has many facets of long range planning by our Department of City Planning (DCP).
LA-Planning-Alliance-Futures-2510.0-1Union Station, Piper Tech, LINK, William Mead Homes, DWP, Cornfields Arroyo Seco Plan (CASP), LA Historic State Park, the Lincoln Heights Jail, UPS, the new Main Street Bridge for High Speed Rail (HSR), Piggyback Yards, well that is all part of a very big plan for this area around Union Station.
The massive $25B LINK US project has been underway to raise the existing Amtrak platform 25 feet in the air. The reason is to allow trains (that would otherwise be sitting spewing diesel exhaust) to instead circle the station. Plans including a new bridge over the 101 and the River. This enormous undertaking will take a while, but here is the overview.
LA-Planning-Alliance-Futures-2510.1LINK US: A formal presentation circulated in 2018 by the Southern California HSR Regional Director “Connecting and Transforming California”
The raised platform at Union Station means a long rail ramp to get the Metro Gold Line and Amtrak High Speed Rail lines back to ground level. Behind William Mead Homes there will be a new 40 foot tall wall separating and further isolating their community.
New large mixed-use projects have already popped up to take advantage of former industrial land, and the adjacency to the new Park. One aspect that concerns many is that little or no affordable housing has been offered, yet you couldn’t find a more transportation oriented location in Los Angeles.
LA-Planning-Alliance-Futures-2511-2The nearby Los Angeles Historic State Park is viewed as the core element of the neighborhoods lining the LA River, Chinatown, the local Arts District community along with Solano Canyon… and large developers looking at Broadway and Spring too. There is the $125M Gondola crossing overhead, a new controversial aspect to this infusion of culture to our cityscape.
Let’s consider the opportunities that all this investment using public funds will create. We see College Station, and North Broadway developments, all near the park, a short distance from Dodger Stadium and the LA River. Will this link everything along the river? Will this be coordinated by DCP?
LA-Planning-Alliance-Futures-2512Many of these plans should consider infrastructure, parking, affordable housing, and displacement. The Arts District has changed in the last few years, and more challenges are to come for this historic area near the River.
Once the location of arriving trains, elements that once supported the growth of an emerging City of Los Angeles, now there are plans to support this area with commercial and entertainment entities. How will people get there? Where will they park cars, or bicycles?
LA-Planning-Alliance-Futures-2513-1This area will certainly become a destination. While the LA State Historic Park will continue to host events, will the area support it’s intended purpose?
LA-Planning-Alliance-Futures.2510.3