Open Letter to those people who can postpone this one and stop a sendond Carmageddon



A good friend of mine sent this letter:

Dear Leadership of the Hillside Federation,

You are in the enviable position of being empowered to avoid a second full weekend freeway closure through your own efforts and your close relationship with the Mulholland Design Review Board.

Your memo of February 2, 2011 outlining reasons for opposing realignment of the Mulholland Bridge overpass of the 405 somehow reached my desktop via a Google alert prompted this response based on our current knowledge of the full freeway closure situation.

At the time your outline was presented this past February it appeared that opposing METRO’s bridge realignment plan and insisting on the normal EIR process apparently would only effect 8,000 to 9,000 cars daily with very little fiscal impact.

You have been a very good steward and defender of the hillside and its residents’ welfare. One could only imagine the shape and size of the schools and the daily traffic in the corridor near the 405 bridge without your and the Mulholland Design Review Boards constant oversight and strong insistence on enforcement. I myself know that you are the reason cars are not constantly turning left into my path as I drive along Mulholland.

However, we now have been made aware of the previously unknown, yet enormous impact a full freeway closure will have on 500,000 cars, several streets and freeways along with the far reaching fiscal and personal impacts any closure will have.

Who would have thought the LAPD would insist, on closing the 405 all the way down to the 10 freeway. How many of us realized during those meetings that METRO was really talking about two of these full closures back then.

Practicality and strong leadership must now prevail.

Facing these dire problems not once but twice, we must stop METRO's two closure plan. Metro dropped the ball earlier by not incorporating the realignment-two-simultaneous-bridges-but-only-one-freeway-closure scenario originally in the project. You have the power and, many, people feel,the obligation, to mitigate the damages METRO would otherwise be reaping upon the citizens of Los Angeles.

Your reasons for opposition to the re-alignment were an understandable defense of the highway in February when it appeared that only thousands of drivers would be effected. However, it is now apparent that we are facing not one but two full freeway closures effecting hundreds of thousands of drivers and these closures will be more sever and extensive then perviously thought. Those ideas, which appeared to be so innocuous and noble to you in February, now pale in importance when compared to the magnitude of the problems created by opposing METRO’s bridge realignment plan.

You need to greatly modify your position on opposing METRO's plan. Your sane judgement and leadership is now needed. Please take the reins of leadership and convince your colleagues on the Mulholland Design Review Board to also withdraw their objections to a realigned bridge. Contact mike Barbour and have him work with you to fast tract the design, permitting and EIR processes.

This of course this will not prevent the problems inherent to a weekend full freeway closure. However your positive actions on this matter will protect the citizens, the city and the county from the effects of a second full closure. And delay it for two full years. This will be a win-win situation for everyone. The only looser will be the company renting sand to Kiewit.

As you can imagine, time is of the essence, please quickly convey your thoughts on this matter to me



P.S. Think about all of the reasons that you opposed METRO’s realigned bridge proposal then Compare them to all of the problems that two full freeway closures will cause and decide in your own mind which has the higher priority, thank you.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

405 Shut -Down could have been delayed for two years

Traffic congestion caused by using only half of the bridge could have been avoided.

Metro and Caltrans had devised a plan to preserve the Mulholland bridge and all of its lanes during the time a new bridge was being built about 200 yards south of the current bridge. Then, after all of the new bridge with all of its lanes were available to us and the schools in the area and Sepulveda itself widen by an extra lane, the forty-two year old bridge would be removed in 2013.

This would have be the perfect solution to preserving the normal traffic flow that we see now instead of the massive congestion, inconvenience and danger caused by having only one lane in each direction.
However good this would have been for the vast number of valley residents, the plan was rejected by Caltrans and Metro do to threats of legal actions and court delays by four small factions who had irrational reasons and logic for preventing this wonderful solution.
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Saturday, May 14, 2011

405 tie-up could have been delayed for two years

Traffic congestion caused by using only half of the bridge could have been avoided.

Metro and Caltrans had devised a plan to preserve the Mulholland bridge and all of its lanes during the time a new bridge was being built about 200 yards south of the current bridge. Then, after all of the new bridge with all of its lanes were available to us and the schools in the area and Sepulveda itself widen by an extra lane, the forty-two year old bridge would be removed in 2013.

This would have be the perfect solution to preserving the normal traffic flow that we see now instead of the massive congestion, inconvenience and danger caused by having only one lane in each direction.
However good this would have been for the vast number of valley residents, the plan was rejected by Caltrans and Metro do to threats of legal actions and court delays by four small factions who had irrational reasons and logic for preventing this wonderful solution.

I invite commentator to guess at who these groups are. You will be surprised by when you find that may of them are only tangentially associated with your valley.
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