Metro wants to widen the 405….again….
When: Oct. 16 @ 6pm
Where: Carson Event Center
801 E. Carson St
Carson, California 90745
What: Metro Event Title: In-Person Public Scoping Meeting: I-405 from Wilmington Av to Main St Improvements Project
Affects cities of Torrance, Carson, and Wilmington in the South Bay
Metro Project Page: https://www.metro.net/projects/i-405-wilmington/
Metro Project StoryMap
Can’t attend? You can send an email to wilmington@metro.net by no later than October 21!
Hello everyone! Metro is at it again, using “Auxiliary Lanes” as a way to widen freeways, as seen in this Streetsblog article here.
As we all know, widening freeways for any reason is not the way to solve traffic; it just leads to more congestion via induced demand, increasing traffic, pollution, and impacts to disadvantaged communities–a huge waste of money for nothing.
Show up to this event and voice your disapproval for this project and Alternative 2.
You can support:
Alternative 1 (no build; as-is)
OR
Alternative 3 (Construct and implement Complete Street elements and TSM/TDM strategies ONLY)
Here are some talking points:
Auxiliary lanes are a way to skirt environmental regulations to add extra lanes.
More lanes = more driving = more traffic
A waste of $130 million; can better be spend to actual solution to traffic like:
better and faster transit in the South Bay region,
building protected bike lanes parallel to the 405, such as the Dominguez Channel bike path and implementing the LA County, LA Metro, and South Bay Bicycle Master Plans.
The 405 has been widened before in many sections, but as we know by the law of induced demand, widening freeways does not actually solve traffic.
Widening freeways further cements car dependency in LA county; what does that mean for our expanding transit system, including the C Line Extension to Torrance and mobility improvements for disadvantaged communities?
Can’t attend? You can send an email to wilmington@metro.net by no later than October 21!
Use this as a template:
Good evening Metro,
I am writing in on the I-405 Auxiliary Lane Improvements from Wilmington Ave to Main St Project. I am against freeway widening of any kind including the auxiliary lanes proposed in Alternative 2.
In reviewing the Metro project materials, it's clear that the auxiliary lanes will effectively widen the 405 freeway in these sections in Carson and Wilmington. We know from extensive research and data that widening freeways does not solve traffic or reduce collisions. Any minimal improvements are offset by more cars on the road and added pollution, noise, traffic and other impacts to surrounding communities.
I oppose Alternative 2 which would add auxiliary lanes for a projected cost of $130 million. This funding would be better spent on more effective projects that reduce traffic congestion, such as bus lanes in the region, Metro bus service on the 405 itself, and active transportation along parallel routes such as the Dominguez Channel bike path and implementing the LA County, LA Metro, and South Bay Bicycle Master Plans.
The impact of on-ramp and bridge widening will hamper pedestrian connectivity and length of time to walk across intersections. I am afraid this project will make it more difficult to build protected bike lanes along the corridor. For public health and environmental justice reasons, there is no justification for wider freeways. As a constituent of the region, I oppose this project and support Alternatives 1 (no build) or Alternative 3 (Complete Street elements and TSM/TDM strategies ONLY).
Thanks for your time,
[Your name]
[City]