Mayor Bass says Metro's E Line ridership is up 10 percent as the 10 Freeway rebuild is underway
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Caltrans representatives provided updates Wednesday morning on the 10 Freeway closure which has left downtown Los Angeles commuters crippled in their entry and exit to and from the metropolitan area.
The 10 Freeway between Alameda Street and Santa Fe Avenue remains closed after it suffered substantial damage following an early Saturday morning pallet fire that raged beneath the roadway. Officials have so far reported that the fire started with "malice intent,"
The closure has affected connectors to I-5 and the U.S. 101 and SR-60 freeways, as crews work around the clock to repair the charred portion of the 10 Freeway the roughly 300,000 commuters who regularly use it are scrambling to figure how how to navigate the situation.
Mayor Bass said after surveying the area by helicopter both Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, she has progress to report.
"Last night during rush hour, surface streets looked like a parking lot. This morning, surface streets were clear, and freeways looked normal with traffic," Bass said. She also reported that Metro's E line which parallels the 10 Freeway, has seen an increase in ridership by 10 percent over the last couple of days, and believes that Angelenos have gotten the message.
Her message is to take public transportation, telecommute and to stay on the freeways and not to take surface streets as the 10 Freeway undergoes repairs for the next three to five weeks.
"So we will see what the evening traffic looks like, but I can tell you the morning traffic looked good, looked normal, looked like Angelinos were paying attention," Bass said.
Representatives from Caltrans said crews have been working around the clock to clear the fire debris, moving on schedule as they shore up the more than 100 columns that were damaged by the fire. Governor Newsom earlier issued a State of Emergency for the area, providing the necessary funds and resources to tackle the situation as quickly as possible.
While the area is heavily commercial, there are a few retail businesses that have been impacted. Bass said the Mayor's Office is reaching out to those businesses, offering very specific relief.
And the issue of land beneath freeways was brought up during the Wednesday morning news conference. Bass said the land beneath freeways is not all leased to private entities, saying the city, county and school district all have properties under freeways.
"So I am going to order all of the general managers from the city, if they have any property they are leasing under the freeways, we want to know the status of that. So we will keep our house in order as we make sure the public/ private sector does as well," Bass said.
Metro trips can be planned on Metro's website, which provides a detailed map of how to get to and from various locations. Travelers can also receive up-to-the-minute information by calling (323) GO-METRO (466-3876).
Commuter Express buses will operate without fares until the end of the year.
Metrolink expanded services on its San Bernardino Line by adding four weekday trains traveling between L.A. and Covina. An additional train will provide roundtrip service between Union Station and Rancho Cucamonga in the evening.