SAN DIEGO | Boom Rundown, Vol. 2

[kpexpress]

Originally Posted by CoastersBolts

The most obvious expansion/improvement to the trolley would be the mid-coast extension up to UCSD and the Golden Triangle. I was at a SANDAG meeting in which the CEO of MTS testified that there are still plans to move forward with the extension, although I can't remember specifically why it's been held up. Also, an MTS handout showed that there should be vehicular and station upgrades along the Blue and Orange Lines. Some of those old Siemens/Duwag U2's that have been operating since the trolley opened in the early 1980s could sure use some TLC if not complete replacement with the newer Siemens Avanto S70s that have been running on the Green Line. The expansion of the S70 fleet, however, is contingent upon upgrades to existing stations; notably raising the station floors.

I thought that the trolleys that ran on the green line were too big to run the downtown loop. Is this not true? And what about the old street cars that were being refurbished to run downtown only? Any news on these?

[staplesla]

Originally Posted by CoastersBolts

The most obvious expansion/improvement to the trolley would be the mid-coast extension up to UCSD and the Golden Triangle. I was at a SANDAG meeting in which the CEO of MTS testified that there are still plans to move forward with the extension, although I can't remember specifically why it's been held up. Also, an MTS handout showed that there should be vehicular and station upgrades along the Blue and Orange Lines. Some of those old Siemens/Duwag U2's that have been operating since the trolley opened in the early 1980s could sure use some TLC if not complete replacement with the newer Siemens Avanto S70s that have been running on the Green Line. The expansion of the S70 fleet, however, is contingent upon upgrades to existing stations; notably raising the station floors.

According to my meetings yesterday no transit projects in SD county will be "fast-tracked" with Obama's infrastructure investment plan. None apparently have the needed approvals so they weren't in the "ready to go" category when various items were being considered for inclusion in the list.

[bmfarley]

Originally Posted by staplesla

According to my meetings yesterday no transit projects in SD county will be "fast-tracked" with Obama's infrastructure investment plan. None apparently have the needed approvals so they weren't in the "ready to go" category when various items were being considered for inclusion in the list.

Darn. To me it seems like 'ready to go' projects would be only those approved by public agencies. And, those are only approved when all the funding has been identified. What is the plan... substitute current/local funds for infrastructure investment plan funds? Does not seem right.

It seems like replacing buses and trolleys that are end of their useful life could have advanced. Or, at least equipment on buses.... say new compass card equipment to equip entire fleet.

Typically, new equipment or systems on vehicles are introduced when vehicles are replaced. But, when vehicles have a 12 to 30 year life... sometimes vehicles go without new equipment for many years (like radios, fare boxes, gps, automatic fair boxes, annuciations systems, display systems,etc.). Have you noticed that the Siemens U2 Trolleys do not have changeable message displays? People only know where they are going because they did see the front-only destination sign or that those vehicles are typcially, as a standard, only on the Blue Line.

kexpress... the S70's can run downtown, but not in service. The platforms need to be raised. And, they cannot run in configurations longer than 2-cars along C Street because they are too long for the blocks. Of course, if they did run longer... then streets adjacent to stations would be blocked while loading/unloading is going on. Is that palatable?

[kpexpress]

on the topic of trolleys and displays, i wish that the trolley stops would display when the next train will be arriving. they have those displays, but most just display the current time and the name of the trolley stop. seems like a waste if it cannot tell you when the next train will be arriving.

[HurricaneHugo]

Originally Posted by kpexpress

on the topic of trolleys and displays, i wish that the trolley stops would display when the next train will be arriving. they have those displays, but most just display the current time and the name of the trolley stop. seems like a waste if it cannot tell you when the next train will be arriving.

meh, trolleys are usually always on time so i just look at the schedule

[mello]

Are any of you guys just a tad bit envious of LA's new Ritz Carlton residences? I mean 54 floors and clean glassy lines... Look at Las Vegas getting a nice tall Mandarin Oriental as well. Why can't San Diego attract the high end hotel companies downtown?

Has anyone heard about who might want to build a striking stucture at the proposed mega Marriot site next to the Ballpark. Is there any way to get a Ritz, St. Regis, Mandarin etc. to come there. What did Ritz see in downtown LA that it doesn't in downtown SD??

[kpexpress]

Pics from Gaslamp's 1st Annual Pet Parade.

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[kpexpress]

Originally Posted by HurricaneHugo

meh, trolleys are usually always on time so i just look at the schedule

They may always be on time, but don't you think if we already have electronic signs and displays it's a waste not to show when the next train is coming? I think it it would help vindicate our status as a "Major" US City. We are the 8th largest in the US, we need to act like it and this is just one of many things that we need to do.

[SDCAL]

Originally Posted by kpexpress

They may always be on time, but don't you think if we already have electronic signs and displays it's a waste not to show when the next train is coming? I think it it would help vindicate our status as a "Major" US City. We are the 8th largest in the US, we need to act like it and this is just one of many things that we need to do.

I don't think this would vindicate our status as a major city, but I do agree the displays are needed, I'm surprise dthey don't have them already

[SDCAL]

One thing I have noticed walking around downtown, especially by large condo buildings, is a lot of streets reek of pet urine

It is a pretty bad stench in some areas, kind of embarassing when your walking by stylish, expensive loft buildings and you feel like hurling and getting away as fast as you can because the stench of stale pee is permiating

Does the city do anything to get rid of such a problem? Id just hosing down the sidewalks enough, or is there special cleaners they could use?

I have heard alot of other people complain about this problem dampening their "downtown experiences"

One area it's really bad is in front of the M2i and Fahrenheit buildings, it really makes you not want to go into the coffe/gelato/restaurant places there

[laguna]

I hate to break the news, but the smell on the streets and sidewalks in East Village isnt totally dog pee. It is mainly people pee. In Little Italy, we have an association which employs cleaning crews that pressure wash the place down on a regular basis. This mitigates the smells greatly. The rain yesterday gave us a free cleaning!

[IconRPCV]

Originally Posted by laguna

I hate to break the news, but the smell on the streets and sidewalks in East Village isnt totally dog pee. It is mainly people pee. In Little Italy, we have an association which employs cleaning crews that pressure wash the place down on a regular basis. This mitigates the smells greatly. The rain yesterday gave us a free cleaning!

Dude it is not mostly human piss. It is dog piss. There are more dogs in the east village that humans. The fake grass that they used around the farenheight building doesnt allow the dog urine to be absorbed like real grass and soil does. That is the reason it smells so bad over there.

[Marina_Guy]

Originally Posted by IconRPCV

Dude it is not mostly human piss. It is dog piss. There are more dogs in the east village that humans. The fake grass that they used around the farenheight building doesnt allow the dog urine to be absorbed like real grass and soil does. That is the reason it smells so bad over there.

Call or email Clean and Safe... They should be informed about such things so that can adjust power washing schedules to reflect these conditions.

http://www.sdcleanandsafe.org/

[kpexpress]

You all are retarded to think that this smell comes from piss (human or pet). It is caused by the intense collection of Nitrogen (not all from piss) in the soil in and around the buildings. This is occurrence happens in all densely populated areas where the water (and/or other fluids) are not able to permeate the surface due to concrete/asphalt soil coverings.

NOT PISS.

[kpexpress]

Originally Posted by IconRPCV

Dude it is not mostly human piss. It is dog piss. There are more dogs in the east village that humans. The fake grass that they used around the farenheight building doesnt allow the dog urine to be absorbed like real grass and soil does. That is the reason it smells so bad over there.

The fake grass has drains underneath that ALLOWS it to flow through it. But they did this not because of the pets peeing all over the place, it is because that area doesn't get enough direct sunlight to grow grass there. They need to do the same thing on the south end of that block across from Icon/Sushi and in front of Club Motivate. They have been trying to grow the grass there for more than a year.

[keg92101]

Originally Posted by kpexpress

The fake grass has drains underneath that ALLOWS it to flow through it. But they did this not because of the pets peeing all over the place, it is because that area doesn't get enough direct sunlight to grow grass there. They need to do the same thing on the south end of that block across from Icon/Sushi and in front of Club Motivate. They have been trying to grow the grass there for more than a year.

No, we put that there because one of the ballpark lawsuits stipulates that a permeable surface must go there. Citymark / our HOA wasn't smart enough to do what they did at Legend / DVT (permeable pavers)

And it does stink because of the piss. When Clean & Safe does power wash the fake grass, the smell goes for about 1/2 a day.

[SDCAL]

Originally Posted by kpexpress

You all are retarded to think that this smell comes from piss (human or pet). It is caused by the intense collection of Nitrogen (not all from piss) in the soil in and around the buildings. This is occurrence happens in all densely populated areas where the water (and/or other fluids) are not able to permeate the surface due to concrete/asphalt soil coverings.

NOT PISS.

then why is the smell concentrated in residential buildings that have alot of pets?

I don't notice it in high density commercial areas dt

[kpexpress]

I am sure that the dog piss doesn't help it stay more clean smelling, but in urban areas this effect is caused by other sources (majority) and yes the smell is also predominate in other areas as well. Have you ever walked NYC or any Asian city? Not a lot of dogs and not nearly the homeless population as SD, yet the smell still exists. This is a sustainability issue.

[IconRPCV]

We need a dog park plain and simple. I heard a rumor while at city dog that the CCDC was looking to make a temporary one on one of the blank lots on which a development had fallen through. Anyone else heard of this?

[kpexpress]

Haven't heard that , but that would be cool. Right now I know that a few empty lots are being used as staging areas for nearby construction projects and if not that they probably are used for parking. What would be WAY better is to convert the library site (park blvd and J street) into a temp dog park. It's already owned by the city and it most likely won't be getting under construction soon. Why not?