City of Redondo Beach
Planning Commission
Recommendations to City Council for Comments
Metro C Line Extension Draft Environmental Impact Report February 16, 2023
EMERGENCY RESPONSE SERVICES
Metro should not consider the ROW at-grade option. Life threatening delays could occur at the at-grade crossing at 182nd Street due to frequency of the light rail service stopping traffic and emergency response capabilities. In addition to police and fire, McCormick private ambulance service is located on and travels along 182nd Street regularly—this is a major corridor. ROW at-grade traffic stoppage will cause delays. The ability to get across tracks in a timely manner is critical for these life safety services.
Regarding public services and emergency responders, the DEIR does not go deep enough to address deployment practices and the impacts of these delays.
The Planning Commission recommends that the City Council has for review fire and police data and ambulance frequency to see how much these services use the crossing intersections (182nd Street) by their March 21, 2023 meeting.
SOILS
There is a concern with safety with 3 sets of tracks over pipelines where there are unstable soils (including clay soils) along the ROW alignments. There are seemingly unrepairable unstable soils evidenced by a sinkhole in the area, including adjacent to the alignment and spread onto property of Ruxton Place.
The raised elevation route down Hawthorne has the opportunity for engineering over more stable soils where Red Car had been routed for several decades.
AT GRADE CROSSING
The DEIR claims no impact on bicycle safety, yet riding bicycles across rail tracks is a hazard due to tire size and uneven surfaces. At this point there is only one set of tracks to cross at 182nd Street, but the proposed ROW at-grade option would have two additional sets of tracks, compounding the safety hazard.
Was there sufficient analysis of transportation impacts on Inglewood and 182nd Street as a result of the frequency of trains and resulting restriction of traffic in ROW at-grade option?
NOISE AND VIBRATION
The significant unavoidable impacts of ROW options regarding noise will be in perpetuity for operations. Metro should not move forward with those options. And even the Trench Option would only be LTSM if other agencies take action for Quiet Zone, relying on other agencies to do the mitigation. The Planning Commission does not believe the benefits of these ROW project options outweigh the significant unavoidable impacts.
Noise and vibration metrics make no reference to the noise standards in residential districts per the Redondo Beach Municipal Code. The DEIR needs to respect the local municipalities’ regulations.
Considering there are already vibration impacts as a result of the existing freight operations, are the proposed mitigation measures for ROW options proven sufficient for the lifetime of the project?
OTHER COMMENTS
There is a concern about impacts to quality of life and safety/security of more than 1000 residential households along the ROW alignment options (see all categories above).
The “No Project Alternative” shows significant unavoidable impacts in many categories. Where is the significant data to support this? The Hawthorne Option is most environmentally sound option and should be the option pursued if Metro is going to build the project. The Hawthorne Option is the option that does not directly impact adjacent residential uses.
There is no level of service data or analysis. The DEIR mentions in the Land Use section that this is consistent with the local General Plans. However, the Redondo Beach Circulation Element requires this level of service analysis.
The Planning Commission recommends that City Council look at what the mitigation measures are that are necessary to bring to LTSM to see if those measures are sufficient.
The ridership study should be included as a part of the DEIR since “improving mobility within the South Bay and encourage mode shift” is objective of project.
The DEIR notes no wildlife impact, yet there have been observed owls and hawks in the El Nido Park and cemetery vicinity.