Concerns Raised About Expo Line Crossings

A month after Metro's Expo Line opened, safety questions are being raised about several street crossings along the light-rail route, including an intersection that forms a maze of track, traffic signals and warning signs for the public to navigate, it was reported today.

Najmedin Meshkati, a professor and safety expert at USC's Viterbi School
of Engineering, asserts that precautions at three crossings along the 7.9-
mile route between downtown Los Angeles and the Westside are "woefully
inadequate," the Los Angeles Times reported.

Two of the crossings at Western and Denker avenues bracket the Foshay
Learning Center, which has about 3,400 students in kindergarten through high school. Meshkati, who has studied the Expo project for years, told The Times that Metro needs to add signs at crosswalks specifically designed to warn children of oncoming trains.

He says there are more potential safety problems at Rodeo Road and Exposition Boulevard, where parallel streets cross forming an X, with Expo
trains traveling at 35 to 40 mph cutting through a complex array of traffic
signals, signs and pavement striping.

The mash up of passenger rail, cars, bicyclists and pedestrians makes the intersection one of the most confusing and dangerous in Los Angeles County and one that should be redesigned and simplified, he told The Times.

"It's hard to believe they made this operational," Meshkati said. "The
intersection is complicated, and the design is awkward. All it would take is
a dark, rainy evening and a driver unfamiliar with the intersection."

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the state Public Utilities
Commission, which regulates rail crossings, disagree. Officials told The
Times that Expo trains operate safely along the line, which has been  thoroughly tested and evaluated during design and construction.

As long as people obey traffic signals and warning signs, they will be
safe, they said.