Study Ordered on Building Overpasses for Blue Line

Los Angeles County supervisors mindful of six fatalities in 18 months of operation asked Tuesday for a study on the need and feasibility of raising the Blue Line route above surface street intersections.

Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, whose 2nd District takes in much of the Blue Line route, said flashing lights, warning signs and blaring whistles have been insufficient to deter pedestrians and drivers from getting in the path of the 98-ton trains. Hahn suggested that the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission look into the cost of constructing overpasses on “all surface streets” that intersect the commuter rail route, possibly at the rate of about two streets per year. The board approved Hahn’s motion.

“There have been previous studies done,” LACTC spokeswoman Stephanie Brady said. But such after-the-fact construction, she said, would be “very costly.”