Lausd Position Statement

BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA In the Matter of the Application of the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority for an order authorizing the construction of a two-track at-grade crossing for the Exposition Boulevard Corridor Light Rail Transit Line across Jefferson Boulevard, Adams Boulevard, and 23rd Street, all three crossings located along Flower Street in the City of Los Angeles, County of Los Angeles, California.

And Related Matters.

Application 06-12-005 (Filed December 6, 2006) Application 06-12-020 (Filed December 19, 2006) Application 07-01-004 (Filed January 2, 2007) Application 07-01-017 (Filed January 8, 2007) Application 07-01-044 (Filed January 24, 2007) Application 07-02-007 (Filed February 7, 2007) Application 07-02-017 (Filed February 16, 2007) Application 07-03-004 (Filed March 5, 2007) Application 07-05-012 (Filed May 8, 2007) Application 07-05-013 (Filed May 8, 2007)

POSITION STATEMENT OF THE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

December 17, 2007

MICHAEL J. STRUMWASSER (SBN 58413) FREDRIC D. WOOCHER (SBN 96689) ZAHIRAH WASHINGTON (SBN 222140) STRUMWASSER & WOOCHER LLP 100 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1900 Santa Monica, California 90401 Telephone: (310) 576-1233 Facsimile: (310) 319-0156 e-mail: [email protected] Attorneys for the Los Angeles Unified School District

POSITION STATEMENT OF THE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT I.

Introduction The Los Angeles Unified School District (“LAUSD” or “the District”) serves

approximately 700,000 students and employs over 70,000 teachers and staff — it is the largest school district in the Western United States, and the second largest school district in the nation. The District works to protect the health and safety of these hundreds of thousands of people and to minimize disruptions to the valuable learning environment that has brought them all together. As currently planned, the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority’s (“Expo Authority”) proposed rail line will adversely impact many of the District’s existing and proposed schools. (See Nov. 28, 2005, letter from the District to the Expo Authority [Exh. A], pp. 1-2 .) These impacts may concern, inter alia, pedestrian and traffic safety, noise and vibration, derailment, and air quality. The Expo Authority’s proposed rail line will, therefore, have an enormous impact on the health and safety and on the learning environment of those whom the District is working to protect. The District is particularly interested in the instant proceeding as it involves the pedestrian and traffic safety concerns surrounding the Expo Authority’s request for authorization to construct a “four-quadrant two-track at-grade crossing at Farmdale Avenue, in the City of Los Angeles . . . adjacent to Dorsey High School.” (Oct. 16, 2007, California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC” or “Commission”), Scoping Memo and Ruling, p. 6 [emphasis supplied].) As the District understands it, the Expo Authority’s proposed rail line will locate a moving train at the same grade level as “high volumes . . . of vehicular traffic” 1

and thousands of adolescent-aged students. (Ibid.) As the operator of the existing school that is adjacent to the proposed crossing, and as the future operator of a planned school that will also be adjacent to the crossing, the District has a number of concerns with this proposal. Currently, some of the factual disputes in this proceeding are “high traffic volumes, the types of crossing warning devices, the special needs of student populations, and the necessity and practicability of a grade separation at Farmdale Avenue.” (Ibid.) The District is in a unique position to shed light on these factual issues. It believes, as it will discuss in this document and show at the evidentiary hearing on this matter, that a grade-separated crossing is the only solution that will adequately reduce the risks of the proposed rail line on those located a mere stone’s throw away from the proposed project.1 Likewise, the District believes that an adequate grade-separated crossing must be one that separates both pedestrians and vehicles from the proposed rail line, but that does not segment or adversely impact2 the local community in achieving this result. II.

Safety Concerns The safety of students during the construction and operation of the Expo Authority’s

proposed rail line is the District’s primary concern regarding the proposed project. With a 50-foot distance between it and the proposed project, the Dorsey High School campus is one

The District has previously analyzed and raised many of these issues in the context of pedestrian and traffic safety, noise and vibration, derailment, and air quality, in its various comments to the Expo Authority and to the Commission. Some of these comments are attached to this document as Exhibits A through F. 1

Some adverse impacts that should be avoided in any design are design features that limit the access of emergency vehicles, that harm the economic vitality of the community, and that restrict the flow traffic to, through, and from the community. 2

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of at least three District properties that is fewer than 100 feet from the proposed rail line.3 (See Nov. 6, 2006, letter from the District to the Expo Authority [Exh. C], p. 1; Exh. B, p. 1.) As planned, shortly after the construction of the rail line is proposed to begin, the District will open a second school on the Dorsey site.4 Any risks associated with an at-grade crossing at Farmdale Avenue will only be compounded, including the risk of problems resulting from increased traffic, the frequent interaction of trains with pedestrians, and the unexpected possibility of a train derailment, as the number of facilities on the campus increases. Because of the close proximity of the proposed rail line to this campus that houses thousands of students, teachers, and staff, and that will soon be expanded to house more, the only acceptable solution to any potential pedestrian-train conflicts at Farmdale Avenue is a grade-separated crossing. (See also Oct. 11, 2007, letter from the District to the Hon. Kenneth L. Koss, Administrative Law Judge, CPUC [Exh. D], p. 1.) Before discussing specific safety concerns, it may help to give some context of the existing traffic in the area. Even without a rail line, the activity around Dorsey High School

These other two schools are the existing Foshay Learning Center and Theodore T. Alexander Jr. Science Center. (See Sept. 28, 2006, letter from District to the Commission [Exh. B], p. 1.) Importantly, the current proposed crossing that is adjacent to Foshay is also a matter of great concern for the District. This crossing is essentially an at-grade crossing, only deemed a grade-separated crossing because there is a tunnel traveling under Exposition Boulevard that is currently utilized for an hour a day, on school days. Foshay serves students as young as five years old. There must be an actual grade-separated crossing at Foshay, similar to the one that the District is suggesting be implemented at Dorsey, if the Expo Authority is to move forward with a rail line that does not endanger students. 3

Locating this second school — Central Region High No. 14 — on the Dorsey campus is necessary to alleviate overcrowding and to achieve other important objectives that are geared to promoting and protecting the District’s vital learning environments. 4

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is quite hectic, especially during the hours when students are dropped-off and picked-up from school. There are hundreds of daily bus and other vehicle trips to Dorsey and to the surrounding area, and thousands of individuals entering and leaving the Dorsey campus. With over 39 buses alone currently serving the area surrounding Dorsey High School (see Jun. 15, 2001, District Comments on Draft Environmental Impact Report [Exh. E], Attach. A, Exh. p. 3), the traffic concerns involve many types of vehicles and many different individuals, most of whom are adolescents. Many of the safety concerns that the District has with an at-grade crossing would be reduced or eliminated if a grade-separated crossing were authorized.5 Some of the specific adverse pedestrian and traffic safety impacts that may result from the operation of an at-grade solution at Farmdale Avenue include the diversion of traffic to the streets surrounding Dorsey High School — adding more cars to the surrounding streets and increasing safety risks;6 the reduction of vehicular lanes to service the project — adversely impacting traffic flow; an increase in the number of intersections (i.e., adding a rail-to-traffic interchange) — increasing the number of potential conflicts for school buses and other drivers; and the changing of traffic patterns, lane adjustments, the

A grade-separated crossing would be the safest crossing solution to potential pedestrian-train conflicts at the Farmdale Avenue, but adoption of this crossing may not mitigate all of the impacts from the rail line on Dorsey High School and the surrounding area. If the Expo Authority were to find a grade-separated crossing at Farmdale feasible, approval of this crossing should not preclude additional mitigation that may be required to fully address the pedestrian and traffic safety, noise and vibration, derailment, and air quality risks. (See Feb. 13, 2007, letter from the District to the Expo Authority [Exh. F].) 5

This risks would only increase if a crossing solution is implemented that would limit the flow of traffic through the community, forcing vehicles, including the many vehicles that serve Dorsey, see infra, to create new traffic patterns and seek access on the streets surrounding Dorsey. 6

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modification of traffic-light patterns, and the alteration of bus stops — adversely impacting school bus passenger safety. Traffic and pedestrian management tools, including adding various crossing warning devices and implementing safe crossing programs geared towards students,7 will not reduce the risks of the proposed project in the same manner as a necessary grade-separated solution and may create problems of their own, such as serving as an attractive nuisance to students, thereby requiring mitigation for the mitigation. The frequent interaction of trains with pedestrians is an obvious safety risk with an at-grade crossing, but this interaction bears unique risks when the pedestrians are students. Some of these unique risks include students wandering near or on rail lines that have become part of the neighboring landscape; failing to appropriately consider and respond to the dangers of a moving train; failing to appropriately respond to traffic management measures; creating an adverse interaction between trains and other vehicle traffic; and creating an adverse interaction between trains, other vehicles, other pedestrians, and themselves. Again, management tools will not reduce the risks of the proposed project in the same manner as a necessary grade-separated solution. Furthermore, one of the most potentially devastating safety risks that the District fears with an at-grade crossing is the risk of train derailment. Incredible harm could result if a moving train derails 50 feet from thousands of students, as is possible with the proposed project. The District is very concerned about this risk and is troubled that the expertise necessary to propose ways to manage and mitigate this risk has not even been brought to bear

The District listed a great number of these mitigation measures in its comments to the draft Environmental Impact Report. (See Exh. E.) 7

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on the proposed project. Yet, with the information and mitigation measures that are currently available (though not necessarily incorporated into the Expo Authority’s plans for the proposed project), it is quite clear that any crossing that intends to protect the safety of students, teachers, and staff must be a grade-separated crossing. III.

Conclusion The District maintains that a grade-separated crossing is required if the Expo

Authority intends to move forward with its proposed rail line that is within 50 feet of students. A grade-separated crossing that separates both pedestrians and vehicles is the safest solution, and is the only solution that will adequately reduce the risks of the proposed rail line on generations of students. Such a grade-separated crossing must also allow the surrounding community to function as a community, and not segment it or adversely impact traffic flow. Dated: December 17, 2007

Respectfully submitted, By

/s/

Zahirah Washington Michael J. Strumwasser Fredric D. Woocher Zahirah Washington STRUMWASSER & WOOCHER LLP 100 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1900 Santa Monica, California 90401 Telephone: (310) 576-1233 Facsimile: (310) 319-0156 e-mail: [email protected] Attorneys for the Los Angeles Unified School District

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