In+Motion_Spring 2021

A PUBLICATION BY LEA+ELLIOTT TRANSPORTATION CONSULTANTS

SPRING 2021

Inglewood Transit Connector moving forward at a rapid pace

Market Street Plaza Image credit: City of Inglewood

CITY OF INGLEWOOD, CA – The City of Inglewood is developing the Inglewood Transit Connector (ITC), planned to begin passenger service well before the start of the 2028 Olympics. As introduced in the last issue of In+Motion , the ITC will be a 1.6-mile-long, elevated, state-of-the-art automated transit system within the City of Inglewood. The Forum, SoFi Stadium, future Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment District (LASED) development, and the Inglewood Basketball and Entertainment Center (IBEC) are all located within the City of Inglewood. With the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers playing home games in the newly built SoFi Stadium, the City will be home to three professional sports teams when the Los Angeles Clippers relocate to the IBEC from Los Angeles for the 2024-2025 NBA season. In addition to providing service for event attendees, the ITC will also support the City’s residents and businesses. The City’s project manager, Lisa Trifiletti, principal of Trifiletti Consulting, noted that “while the ITC will be important on event days, it will

The ITC’s Market Street/Florence Avenue Station will provide direct connectivity to LA Metro’s Downtown Inglewood Station on the Crenshaw Line via a pedestrian bridge across Florence Avenue. The ITC will move passengers between the Market Street Station and two stations serving the event and entertainment venues within Inglewood, and is planned to continued on p 3

In this issue...

Inglewood Transit Connector moving forward In+Progress President’s Column Meet the staff

also offer a new transit connection to Downtown Inglewood, new transit oriented developments near [LA Metro’s] Crenshaw/LAX Line, and the City’s major employment, housing, and entertainment district.”

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SBCTA Emerging Technology Tunnel to ONT ONTARIO, CA – The San Bernardino County

Transportation Authority (SBCTA) is embarking on an emerging technology mobility solution to connect Ontario International Airport (ONT) to the Rancho Cucamonga Metrolink Station. The project will include a 4-mile-long tunnel connection with stations at the Airport and Rancho Cucamonga. In addition to the Metrolink Station, Rancho Cucamonga is the future terminus of the Brightline West high-speed rail line to Las Vegas. SBCTA plans to procure this unique transportation system utilizing a design-build-operate-maintain (DBOM) methodology. The DBOM contract encompasses all aspects of the project including preliminary engineering, environmental compliance, detailed design, right-of-way acquisition, utility work, construction, testing/commissioning, and operations and maintenance (O&M) of the system. SBCTA has selected a Project Management/Construction Management (PCM) team to procure, select, and oversee the DBOM Developer. Lea+Elliott is part of this PCM team led by HNTB. Lea+Elliott’s services include safety certification, operational analysis, and O&M requirements for the autonomous vehicle (AV) technology envisioned for the project. Through an RFQ process, the SBCTA Board selected The Boring Company as the lone qualified firm. The PCM team is currently developing the Contract Technical Provisions to be included in the RFP. Once complete, the RFP will be issued to The Boring Company. The project is expected to take about four years to complete once it gets underway later this year. Dulles Rail Yard on track for LEED Certification WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of the Dulles Metrorail Silver Line Extension Phase 2 project, the Dulles Rail Yard is on its way to becoming LEED Silver-certified. The three major buildings at the rail yard–Service and Inspection (SIB), Maintenance of Way (MWB) and Transportation Police (TPB) buildings–are required to achieve over 50 LEED site and building credits. The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system provides a framework for highly efficient, healthy, and cost-saving green buildings. The Package B Contractor, Hensel Phelps (HP), registered for LEED certification Jul. 1, 2015, while site civil work was under construction. HP submitted their design and construction credits for review Sep. 4, 2020, five years later. They were awarded LEED Silver for all three buildings with a combination of site and building-related conservation measures. The groups of LEED credits received include:

Image credit: San Bernardino County Transportation Authority

• Sustainable Sites • Water Efficiency

• Energy and Atmosphere • Materials and Resources • Indoor Environmental Quality • Innovation and Design

Future LEED certifications will have tighter requirements with each LEED revision, as the market evolves to meet LEED requirements. As a subconsultant, Lea+Elliott is managing the oversight of the systems and real estate aspects of the Dulles Yard design that includes two train control rooms, two traction power substations, and one stinger substation. We are also supporting safety, environmental, and facilities design development. Lea+Elliott’s activities have included permitting, FTA compliance and reporting, and developing Project Management Plans. MWAA is managing the 23-mile extension of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) rapid transit system, to and beyond Washington Dulles International Airport. Phase 1, which included 11.7 miles and five stations, opened for service July 2014. For Phase 1 of the project, Lea+Elliott was a key member of the program management team, and led the systems engineering, planning management, and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) coordination areas. For more information on LEED, visit www.usgbc.org/leed.

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Inglewood Transit Connector continued from p 1

President’s Column

help economically revitalize Downtown Inglewood. Planning for the Market Street/Florence Avenue Station preserves future opportunities to integrate with commercial, residential and other transit-oriented development planned for the Downtown Inglewood area. The Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the ITC was released in December 2020 and the City is currently on schedule to release the Final EIR by Q3 2021. The Final EIR will respond to the comments received on the Draft EIR and include project refinements. The Lea+Elliott team takes great pride in working with the City and its other consultants to develop station design concepts that integrate pedestrian bridges, plazas, intuitive and effective wayfinding, thoughtful landscaping and welcoming architecture into the ITC. The ITC project will be delivered using a Design-Build-Finance- Operate-Maintain approach which has been informed with industry feedback obtained through Requests for Information as part of the City’s market sounding process. For more information regarding the proposed procurement process, please visit the Project website (www.envisioninglewood.com) and sign up for notifications. Procurement documents are anticipated to be released in Q3 2021. The graphic below illustrates the anticipated project timeline.

New Directions for Moving People

The Las Vegas Convention Center Loop opened for business April 9. Composed of twin 0.8-mile- tunnels, each 12 feet in diameter, the underground system uses Tesla

vehicles to chauffeur visitors throughout the 200-acre complex. The Boring Company completed the project in 18 months at a cost of $52.5 million. The concept was initially met with skepticism; but once it came to fruition, it is now getting attention from other cities, as well as airports and transit system operators. This system currently uses manually driven cars though plans are in the works to transition to high frequency automated vehicles in the future. Today, we are assessing the technologies used for the Las Vegas tunnel and we are participating in a unique project that involves an underground transportation system to connect the Rancho Cucamonga Metrolink station to Ontario (CA) International Airport. We are part of a project management/construction management team performing planning, procurement, implementation oversight and system verification services. Our specific role focuses on safety certification, operational analysis, and operations and maintenance requirements for the emerging technology. In addition, we continue to get many questions from our other clients, and we will continue to watch the technology evolve. I think it offers great potential for Lea+Elliott because of our expertise in managing processes and technologies to move people quickly, efficiently and safely. Perhaps we can bring ideas to the table that will allow for economies of scale as our clients explore their transportation alternatives for the future.

Image credit: City of Inglewood

Jack Norton

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2505 N. State HWY 360, Suite 750 | Grand Prairie, Texas 75050

Editor:

Crystal Oczkowski Dallas/Fort Worth | 972.890.9800 Steve Perliss San Francisco | 415.908.6450 David Little Washington, D.C. | 703.968.7883 Daniel McFadden Miami | 305.500.9390

Advisors:

About Lea+Elliott Lea+Elliott is a transportation consulting firm offering a broad range of planning, engineering, program management, and construction management services for clients worldwide. These services are provided to public transit authorities, airports and private sector owners for new transit systems and the refurbishment of existing systems. We have expertise in all modes of transit, including high-speed and intercity rail, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, automated guideway transit, personal rapid transit, autonomous vehicles, and conventional and advanced technology buses. The firm is especially well known for its creative structuring of procurements for a wide range of delivery options that include DBOM and P3.

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Meet Carissa Cyprien, P.E.

DALLAS/FORT WORTH – From Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand to Abu Dhabi International Airport in the United Arab Emirates to the proposed Anaheim Rapid Connection streetcar line in California, Carissa Cyprien is experienced with train and transit systems. Currently, she serves as the deputy project manager for the Skylink Automatic Train Control (ATC) Replacement project at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, where she provides her engineering expertise for ATC and power distribution systems. She is also managing document reviews of test procedures and reports for Phase 2 of the PHX Sky Train® at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport while also performing traction power analysis and simulations for other projects. Carissa began her career with Lea+Elliott in 2011 as an intern, joining our company full time after her graduation in the fall of 2013. She expresses appreciation for her mentor Aaron Hester, a senior associate with the firm. “Aaron guided me and helped me grow into the role I’m in today,” Carissa says. Carissa finds great satisfaction in helping clients by overseeing their projects and by supporting their testing and commissioning activities. “It’s exciting to watch the initial plans and design and analysis turn into an operational system,” she says. “I see the different teams all work together—installation, construction, airport staff, and engineering. Since we consult every step of the way—from planning to implementation— we see everything come together. I have supported many different projects and it has been rewarding to see how differently they are managed and delivered. Each project is unique.” After over 10 years with Lea+Elliott, Carissa says it’s the place she needs to be. Due to COVID-19, Carissa has been working from home allowing her to save time by not traveling or waiting on meetings, giving her time to focus on work and providing her the time to give back to the community. “I volunteer with my church’s food drives, providing food to families that have been affected by COVID-19. We get fresh food donated, then package and distribute it to families. It’s good to be able to give my time to those in need. Lots of people’s lives changed due to the pandemic and I’m grateful to help meet a need for them,” Carissa says. “I feel that it is very important, especially during these times, to care for one another.”

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