Quote:
Originally Posted by D as in David
If the NC LRT was started first - which I agree was the better option - they still would have to put a significant amount of analysis into how the SE line was going to connect to it. Assuming that making them one line was the ultimate aim.
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I'm a broken record on this, but you raise an interesting time-machine thought experiment to ponder the value of the single line:
If we rewind to 2015 and the Harper Money Fairy is less generous (say $500M instead of $1.5B), then our next project would have been the SE BRT (shovel-ready and affordable). It would be fully built and operational by now. For simplicity, let's say the exact same fully dedicated ROW right up to 4th St SE*, where it goes to a dedicated bus lane loop of DT for all the MAX routes. Which would be awesome, but not turnkey ready for LRT conversion like the rest of the SE route.
Then we'd move on to the North LRT, which would be similarly straight forward except for 16th to the core, which has several options (tunnel and the bridge out of the bluff, at-grade down Centre all the way, or to a new bridge like the latest GL plan, etc). The N-S street chosen doesn't matter that much, but the point is to consider what we'd do from 4th Ave and southward. Would we:
1. at-grade across the car sewers terminating at 7th
2. cut and cover 3-4 blocks and terminate at 8th Ave subway
3. elevated to clear 7th and continue over CP tracks and head west to facilitate the eventual SE LRT conversion and avoid building a separate MSF in the SE
4. deep bore a tunnel like above
You'd analyze a bunch of factors like deadhead savings vs cost of a 2nd MSF vs cost of the crazy tunnel, vs anticipated through ridership, etc. But I don't think you'd be too stubborn on ideas 3 or 4 once the exorbitant costs became apparent. Option 2 sounds nice enough. The SE can find its own route.
So this is a long-winded way of wondering how we'd value the single line connectivity with a ridership data driven outside-in approach, instead of the hard-part-first/inside-out approach. The priorities look completely different when we approach the problem from the other direction without stacking the deck against ourselves.
* In this alternate universe, I think they might decide to take 12 St SE to go under the CP tracks into Inglewood, and then use a dedicated lane on 9th Ave with MAX Purple; similar to options 3 and 4 on the AECOM report. Which may or may not become the ultimate LRT alignment