By Jonathan Friedman
Associate Editor

November 25, 2014 -- An approximately $8 million project City officials say will make visiting the future 4th Street/Colorado Avenue light rail station easier for some people through “optimum transit transfer access” will be presented to the City Council on Tuesday.

The project is proposed for a City-owned location within the vicinity of the light rail station that will be the western-most point of the service connecting Downtown Los Angeles and Downtown Santa Monica.

This transfer station will meet the “priority need to provide bus transfer service within 500 feet of the station site,” Planning Director David Martin wrote in a report to the council. 

Among the features proposed for the site are six bus bays, two nearby bus stops, an area for cars to drop passengers off, a bikeshare location and a redesigned parking lot to accommodate shuttles to the light rail station, as well as a new access road and pedestrian pathways. 

“The site provides an important opportunity for first- and last-mile access to light rail, bus transfers and long-term circulation improvements for multiple modes of travel,” Martin wrote.  

So-called public amenities are also planned. 

These would include “restrooms and carts to activate the public space and maintain a well-lit, comfortable pedestrian zone that provides some commercial activity to support the benefits of social interaction and eyes on the street,’” Martin wrote. 

“The transit transfer zone is designed to provide the opportunity for flexible programming of temporary commercial uses to enliven this area,”  he added.
If the council approves the concept design presented on Tuesday, the process can move forward and construction could begin next fall.  

While the light rail station is expected to open no later than January 2016, this transfer facility is not supposed to be completed until January 2017 at the earliest. 
“Due to construction timeframes, it is not possible to construct a bus facility to exactly coincide with the currently anticipated public opening of the light rail,” Martin wrote.

This transfer will not be a permanent fixture, and is expected to exist for four to 10 years. City staff and consultants are analyzing the site for a long-term use to reduce local traffic. 

Among the concepts being considered is the construction of a new 4th Street freeway off-ramp. 

The off-ramp would “realign the existing 4th Street I-10 off-ramp with Olympic Drive, allowing for better access to the site and improved off-ramp operation,” Martin wrote. 

Although one might consider it bad financial policy to spend $8 million on a project with a limited lifetime, Martin wrote that it would not be a total loss. 

“While the majority of the facility would be removed and replaced with the long-term use, the traffic signal, new bus stops, restrooms and pedestrian pathways (a value of approximately $2.6 million) could be maintained once the ultimate long term use is in place.”