Rail to Rail project nears completion, Dodger Stadium Gondola hits a roadblock, and more

Yamaha Corp. of America has cut the ribbon on its new corporate campus in Buena Park. The Gensler-designed space houses 400 employees, , and is inspired by the company's "musical heritage." Components include indoor and outdoor meeting areas, an instrument evaluation studio, cafe seating, and a multi-use presentation space with seating for more than 200 people.

"For over 50 years, Yamaha has proudly called Buena Park home, and this transformation reflects our unwavering dedication to enhancing the local community,” said Yamaha vice president Kris Paquin. “Our new campus is ‘making waves’ with a modern, innovative space designed to inspire creativity and collaboration and will continue to be our home for the future. Our team has been working closely with Gensler on this project, and we are excited to officially open our doors to our employees and clients.”

Musical flourishes included in the campus include a lobby featuring Yamaha instruments on pedestals, as well as a deconstructed guitar.

LADOT has announced the launch of a new DASH bus route serving the Pacoima community. 

The new service, which launches today, will be served by battery-electric buses, and is free to ride through the end of this month. Buses run every 30 minutes from 6 am to 7 pm on weekdays and from 9 am to 6 pm on weekends. No service is scheduled on major holidays.

You've heard of CicLAvia - now give a shot at CicloIrvine. The Orange County city is holding its second annual open streets event today from 11 am to 4 pm on Campus Drive between University Drive and Culver Drive. 

If you need to park - which almost seems counterintuitive for an open streets event - make use of the Social Sciences Parking Structure at 4502 Campus Drive or  Lot 1, located adjacent to the structure.

New AI software is being deployed to help the City and County of Los Angeles in the ongoing rebuilds from the Eaton and Palisades fires, Governor Newsom announced this week. 

The software, which was created by Archistar, is being provided free of charge to local governments, and checks designs against local zoning and building codes - hopefully allowing property owners to pre-check their plans before submission.

Here's what we're reading this week:

Breaking: House Moves to Rescind $3.1B for Reconnecting Communities Divided by Highways "The House Transportation Committee wants to slash funding for one of America's most critical equity-focused grant programs — unless advocates speak out and get them to reverse course." (Streetsblog USA)

Grand Opening Celebration For the Rail to Rail Project (Metro - Eventbrite)

After disasters, FEMA leases apartments for survivors. But not after the L.A. fires "Federal and state disaster officials have not implemented the program after January’s wildfires in Los Angeles. They say the rental market is sufficiently housing those who lost their homes." (LA Times)

Proposed Dodger Stadium gondola project hits roadblock with California’s court of appeals "Even if the revisions are approved, the delay could jeopardize the potential for the gondola to be up and running by the 2028 Olympic Games, in which baseball will be played at Dodger Stadium." (LA Times)

Officials and advocates warn of more dangerous roads under LA mayor's proposed cuts "The budget proposed by Bass includes a total of 1,647 layoffs across city departments....More than 270 of those layoffs would come from the Department of Transportation." (LAist)

Metro and Caltrans Break Ground on 105 Freeway Expansion '105 Freeway expansion is touted as "leaving a lasting legacy for Angelenos for decades to come" but it might not be the legacy that Metro and Caltrans think it is' (Streetsblog LA)

Amid tariff turmoil, these warehouses are in big demand in L.A. "Some importers who are still receiving shipments are scrambling to rent space in bonded buildings where they hope to buy time for the tariff tensions to ease." (LA Times)

Fenway Capital Pays $126M for Stake In Silicon Beach Trophy Office Equinox is setting up shop at the 405-adjacent property (Commercial Observer)

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