Pacific Surfliner back in action, RIP Richard Riordan, and more

After emergency work to stabilize a crumbling coastal bluff in Orange County, full service resumed on April 17 for both Metrolink and Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner lines through San Clemente.

“This emergency work has posed an unprecedented challenge, especially with the heavy rainfall this season, and we’re very pleased to announce that passenger service can safely resume on this key stretch of Southern California rail,” said OCTA chairman and Yorba Linda mayor Gene Hernandez in a statement. “We greatly appreciate the public’s patience and their understanding that ensuring passenger safety is always the first priority.”

The LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency, which manages the right-of-way, has been operating weekend service after completing an initial round of work to stabilize the tracks in February. However, a permanent fix for the endangered coastal tracks will take longer. Transportation officials are looking to relocate both services into a new rail tunnel which could cost $4 billion.

Media giant Condé Nast is relocating its Los Angeles office to a new spot at Row DTLA, JLL announced this week.

Per JLL, ROW DTLA has secured more than 300,000 square feet of office leases since January 2022. The 32-acre complex has more than 1.4 million square feet of space.

JLL’s Jaclyn Ward, Cassie Trosclair and Sarah Hancock oversee office leasing at ROW DTLA, while Brian Niehaus and Lalo Diaz of JLL represented Condé Nast.

Here's what we're reading this week:

Covina to Build Skate Park Designed by Local Skaters… Using Clay "The final design is very close to the model built by employees of downtown’s stalwart Pawnshop Skate Co." (Streetsblog LA)

The last overnight train between L.A. and S.F. ran in 1968. A startup wants to bring it back "The idea for the privately run night train would function as an almost railway red-eye, but with comfortable accommodations so people could get a full night’s sleep before waking up at their destination, said Dreamstar CEO Jake Vollebregt. If the small company’s plan moves forward, he said the new trains could be running by the summer of 2024." (LA Times)

This exclusive island town might be California’s biggest violator of affordable housing law "Some live in Mexico, waking up at 3 a.m. to cross the border in time for an 8:30 a.m. shift. Others board multiple buses for hours-long commutes. Those with cars idle bumper to bumper along a two-mile, softly sloping bridge...Not one of the nearly 200 housekeepers at the Hotel del Coronado, a sprawling beach resort with a storied history, lives in Coronado, according to the union representing them." (LA Times)

It Will Soon Get Hot, But Only A Quarter Of LA County's Bus Stops Have Shade Structures "The nonprofit Climate Resolve identified 32 bus stops across L.A. County that have the highest surface and air temperatures in summer, as well as the most riders. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena analyzed the temperature data" (LAist)

Freeways, Redlining & Racism A History of Pasadena and Its Freeways in the 20th Century (UCLA ITS)

Judge rejects L.A. County’s revamped homeless settlement "It was the second time in recent months county leaders have appeared in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge David O. Carter with an agreement they hoped would put to rest a years-long legal battle with the Los Angeles Alliance for Human Rights, a coalition of downtown residents and business groups that sued the city and county at the start of the pandemic arguing they had failed the region’s homeless population." (LA Times)

Bike path connecting DTLB to International Gateway Bridge to (finally) open May 20 in conjunction with Beach Streets "To put it roughly into map terms, the Bixby Memorial stretch of trail ends when, riding the south side of the DTLB exit from the International Gateway Bridge, it bends west of the river in order to meet with Pico Avenue." (Longbeachize)

Mayor Karen Bass unveils $13B proposed city budget, highlighting LA's homeless crisis "The mayor's proposed spending plan projects short-term stability, but at a slower than historical growth rate in the city's tax revenues of only 2.4%. The overall general fund budget will grow by 5.6%. in part due to a $115 million transfer from the reserve fund. Bass' budget proposal includes reserves of 10.03%, just above the 10% target set in the city's financial policies." (Fox 11)

Richard Riordan, former Los Angeles mayor, dies at 92 "Riordan was mayor from 1993-2001 and was the last Republican to hold the office. A moderate, he was reelected in 1997 with more than 60% of the vote. Term limits prevented him from running a third time." (CNN)

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