olong
@olong.bsky.social
@olongnolo on Twitter. Transportation engineer, interested in transit and housing. Los Angeles (SGV/South Bay).
Anyways. Both projects will be done by the Olympics supposedly. Not sure when the Garvey project will have an alternative chosen
November 11, 2025 at 4:11 AM
Anyways. Both projects will be done by the Olympics supposedly. Not sure when the Garvey project will have an alternative chosen
And regardless of what alternative is ultimately chosen, the fact that regional agencies (SGVCOG and Metro) have to rely on a patchwork of cities to approve is not a recipe for an integrated bus network. The benefits are diffuse, but the costs, the costs are concentrated and, well, mostly illusory
November 11, 2025 at 4:11 AM
And regardless of what alternative is ultimately chosen, the fact that regional agencies (SGVCOG and Metro) have to rely on a patchwork of cities to approve is not a recipe for an integrated bus network. The benefits are diffuse, but the costs, the costs are concentrated and, well, mostly illusory
I just hope that when this goes to city council(?) that parking and traffic concerns are evaluated in the light of actual impacts (of which there are few), and not a religious attachment to lanes and parking spots themselves.
November 11, 2025 at 4:11 AM
I just hope that when this goes to city council(?) that parking and traffic concerns are evaluated in the light of actual impacts (of which there are few), and not a religious attachment to lanes and parking spots themselves.
The opinions of my fellow hoi polloi overheard varied - obviously lots of reflexive anti-change grumbling, but a good amount of bike and transit support imo. Many parking complaints but like come on there's infinite parking along Garvey... city's even considering building a parking structure
November 11, 2025 at 4:11 AM
The opinions of my fellow hoi polloi overheard varied - obviously lots of reflexive anti-change grumbling, but a good amount of bike and transit support imo. Many parking complaints but like come on there's infinite parking along Garvey... city's even considering building a parking structure
There was also one representative each from SGVCOG and their consultant. There are 6 segments in SGV Forward and this was just for the section of Garvey in MPK. Besides dedicated bus lanes, TSP and amenity improvements will be implemented either way for the project.
November 11, 2025 at 4:11 AM
There was also one representative each from SGVCOG and their consultant. There are 6 segments in SGV Forward and this was just for the section of Garvey in MPK. Besides dedicated bus lanes, TSP and amenity improvements will be implemented either way for the project.
Unfortunately the lead on the consultant team was saying the "BRT" alternative was receiving the least support in survey responses (he is most in favor of the bike lane alternative personally I think). However the traffic counts are low enough to support 1 car lane per direction.
November 11, 2025 at 4:11 AM
Unfortunately the lead on the consultant team was saying the "BRT" alternative was receiving the least support in survey responses (he is most in favor of the bike lane alternative personally I think). However the traffic counts are low enough to support 1 car lane per direction.
The city consultant has developed 3 alternative concept designs since the last meeting (no pictures, oops). All of them include curb extensions and sidewalk widening. The first makes no changes otherwise, the second converts the outer car lane to bus, and the third converts parking to a bike lane
November 11, 2025 at 4:11 AM
The city consultant has developed 3 alternative concept designs since the last meeting (no pictures, oops). All of them include curb extensions and sidewalk widening. The first makes no changes otherwise, the second converts the outer car lane to bus, and the third converts parking to a bike lane
(sorry misread your 2nd paragraph so my last sentence is a non sequitur...)
November 8, 2025 at 5:08 AM
(sorry misread your 2nd paragraph so my last sentence is a non sequitur...)
These sort of ones (which I guess are the ornamental ones you mean), as opposed to the ~20 cm diameter ones with a stronger foundation that make sense where the goal is to absorb kinetic energy to protect pedestrians or for access control. Vegetation btw sidewalk and parking is also nice yeah
November 8, 2025 at 5:06 AM
These sort of ones (which I guess are the ornamental ones you mean), as opposed to the ~20 cm diameter ones with a stronger foundation that make sense where the goal is to absorb kinetic energy to protect pedestrians or for access control. Vegetation btw sidewalk and parking is also nice yeah
And bollards I guess, but the thin weak style popular along sidewalks in Western Europe esp France
November 8, 2025 at 4:03 AM
And bollards I guess, but the thin weak style popular along sidewalks in Western Europe esp France
Yes that's true, one of the few advantages of high curbs and part of the reason sidewalk parking is common in eg New York and Philadelphia and much of Europe but not "newer" US cities. The ideal treatment is imo intermediate level pkg w a diff pavement treatment and sidewalk-level tree wells between
November 8, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Yes that's true, one of the few advantages of high curbs and part of the reason sidewalk parking is common in eg New York and Philadelphia and much of Europe but not "newer" US cities. The ideal treatment is imo intermediate level pkg w a diff pavement treatment and sidewalk-level tree wells between
An American city implementing the International Best Practices Corner Accessibility Solution of full corner depression ("blended transition", hated and reviled by lesser engineers in the US) + bollards is rare and commendable. You also have very low curbs.
November 8, 2025 at 2:32 AM
An American city implementing the International Best Practices Corner Accessibility Solution of full corner depression ("blended transition", hated and reviled by lesser engineers in the US) + bollards is rare and commendable. You also have very low curbs.
Reposted by olong
Starting to appreciate that most of our streets in Alameda are highest at the intersection(unusual!) so there is often no grade change required for corner curb ramps.
November 8, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Starting to appreciate that most of our streets in Alameda are highest at the intersection(unusual!) so there is often no grade change required for corner curb ramps.
The main LA case was Willits vs City of LA and this did involve the creation of some sort of program. I don't really know how individual sites are prioritized, apparently there's an ADA reporting system so maybe that plays into it
investinginplace.org/wp-content/u...
cao.lacity.gov/sidewalks/Wi...
investinginplace.org/wp-content/u...
cao.lacity.gov/sidewalks/Wi...
investinginplace.org
November 8, 2025 at 2:23 AM
The main LA case was Willits vs City of LA and this did involve the creation of some sort of program. I don't really know how individual sites are prioritized, apparently there's an ADA reporting system so maybe that plays into it
investinginplace.org/wp-content/u...
cao.lacity.gov/sidewalks/Wi...
investinginplace.org/wp-content/u...
cao.lacity.gov/sidewalks/Wi...
were on the losing side of a class action suit which mandated some level of ADA-targeted investment & which is the main driving force behind the "tear curb ramps up on a regular basis if they're 0.1% deficient" trend
November 8, 2025 at 2:03 AM
were on the losing side of a class action suit which mandated some level of ADA-targeted investment & which is the main driving force behind the "tear curb ramps up on a regular basis if they're 0.1% deficient" trend
Well no one ever said engineers have even a vague understanding of the law. But my LA-centric understanding is that the city of LA, and some other cities in the region (and implicit assumption Oakland too though I really have no idea), ...
November 8, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Well no one ever said engineers have even a vague understanding of the law. But my LA-centric understanding is that the city of LA, and some other cities in the region (and implicit assumption Oakland too though I really have no idea), ...
Yeah I don't think that's the case, I don't see any trenching and even then no reason to reconstruct the whole ramp unless it's some ADA deficiency
November 8, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Yeah I don't think that's the case, I don't see any trenching and even then no reason to reconstruct the whole ramp unless it's some ADA deficiency
Many people are saying that reducing curb height during street reconstruction would save countless engineer hours and public dollars.
bsky.app/profile/olon...
bsky.app/profile/olon...
Attentive streetviewers may have noticed that the average curb in the US is 2-3x higher than elsewhere. (The reasons for this historically were probably historically... stormwater? horse poop? but as w/ all US pecularities, other countries seem to get by and the reason now is because that's the std)
November 8, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Many people are saying that reducing curb height during street reconstruction would save countless engineer hours and public dollars.
bsky.app/profile/olon...
bsky.app/profile/olon...
I see my fellow early~mid career transpo engrs talking about proficiency in ADA ramp design all the time and just think "this is not something that should in an ideal world be worth noting!"
November 8, 2025 at 1:44 AM
I see my fellow early~mid career transpo engrs talking about proficiency in ADA ramp design all the time and just think "this is not something that should in an ideal world be worth noting!"