Gold Line Tracks Are Barred at 21 Sites Till Study Is Done

Construction of the light-rail line from downtown Los Angeles to Pasadena suffered a setback Wednesday when the state Public Utilities Commission refused to allow tracks to be laid across 21 intersections before it can finish a review of potential safety issues.

The panel voted 5 to 0 at a meeting in San Francisco not to allow the construction authority to build at the disputed intersections on five miles of right of way in Mt. Washington, Highland Park, South Pasadena and Pasadena.

Commission President Loretta Lynch said the panel may “decide those crossings are safe” and pose no environmental risk, but the commission “can’t make that decision now.”

The intersections require additional review before a final decision can be made.

Lynch wrote a compromise motion that will allow construction to continue at 40 other locations where tracks for the newly named Gold Line will cross city streets. She said, “There’s no benefit to anyone if the commission acts hastily.”

Although Commissioner Richard P. Bilas voted for the compromise, he said the decision burdens the project financially. It will force construction to occur piecemeal, rather than in the sequence planned by the authority. He predicted that this “difficulty will cause an additional burden on taxpayers.”

Although critics of the project’s design rejoiced at the PUC action, construction authority officials sought to downplay the decision’s impact on the 13.7-mile, $732-million project.

“It wasn’t all that bad,” said Rick Thorpe, executive director of the construction authority and a veteran builder of light-rail lines in San Diego and Salt Lake City.

Rather than focus on problems with the disputed intersections, Thorpe stressed that the commission granted final approval to build tracks at the 40 other crossings.

Thorpe said the PUC gave the green light to build from Union Station through Chinatown and Lincoln Heights to near Avenue 45 in the Mt. Washington area.

The state agency, which regulates railroad crossings, also allowed construction to proceed from Old Pasadena to the end of the line near Sierra Madre Villa Avenue in East Pasadena.

The disputed intersections lie in the stretch between Avenue 45 and the Del Mar station in Pasadena. Thorpe said the two ends of the line are fine, with only construction in the middle section contested.

If the issues surrounding the other intersections are not resolved by early March, Thorpe said, the contractor could be delayed and costs could rise well beyond the project’s budget. At worst, he said, the authority would have to find the money to build bridges over or tunnels under the intersections.

Karen Cutts, co-chairwoman of a group opposing construction of the rail route at grade through part of Pasadena, was thrilled by the commission’s decision.

She argues that traffic will come to a halt at key intersections in Pasadena unless the modern trolley trains are separated from vehicles. Emergency vehicles also will have trouble reaching Huntington Memorial Hospital, and pedestrians will face risks crossing the tracks, Cutts contends.

The PUC is examining the Pasadena rail line closely after giving approval more than a decade ago to construction of a light-rail line from Los Angeles to Long Beach. Fifty-nine people have been killed in accidents along the heavily traveled Blue Line route, the worst rail safety record in the state.

Bilas, the commissioner assigned to rail safety issues, had issued an interim order last year allowing the construction authority to proceed with the disputed Gold Line crossings at its own risk. If approval was not granted later, the rail builder could have been forced to tear out track at disputed intersections.

On Wednesday, a divided PUC voted to overturn Bilas’ interim decision on a 3-2 vote. Lynch said Bilas was wrong to allow construction to go ahead without the full commission considering all of the safety and environmental issues.

Commissioner Carl Wood criticized the rail construction authority as “sloppy” for proceeding with work before receiving a PUC go-ahead. “I don’t think it is a good idea for us to set a precedent of allowing entities . . . to proceed with projects before receiving commission approval,” he said.

Lynch predicted that the light-rail project, renamed the Gold Line in November, will be an excellent alternative for commuters. But she said the commission must do its job to ensure safety.

The safety and environmental review of the 21 disputed intersections could be completed as early as May, PUC officials said.