Aqua Line

The Aqua Line is the installation of "Coming Soon" signs that suggest the construction of a subway line that would connect the Westside to downtown and the rest of the Los Angeles metro system. On August 13, 2000, Heavy Trash installed 8 signs along the 15-mile route in an attempt to promote civic dialogue about the need for better transportation in Los Angeles.

The message
Heavy Trash created this project in response to the attitudes taken by many upscale neighborhoods towards the implementation of mass-transit in their area. Homeowner groups often see mass-transit as an encroachment upon their living space by lower income residents. This "not in my backyard" mentality has stopped many plans for the expansion of the metro in its tracks.

If the Aqua Line actually existed, it would not only serve to break down barriers between neighborhoods, but it would also benefit the environment by decreasing automotive pollution. In a city where most people rarely leave a small selection of zip codes, the metro line has the power to increase interaction between Angelenos throughout the area; the Aqua Line takes action where the rhetoric of diversity falls short.

The line
The design of the Aqua Line takes into account many elements that are integral to a successful subway line, including bus connections, usage demand, existing right-of-ways, points of interest, historic rail lines, and shortcomings in current public transportation. The Aqua Line runs along Ocean Avenue from Wilshire Boulevard to San Vicente Boulevard, then turns down San Vicente all the way back to Wilshire. It then follows Wilshire down to the metrorail Red Line connection near downtown.

The Aqua Line stops provide access to a wide variety of attractions, including the Santa Monica beach, the UCLA campus, the stores on Rodeo Drive, and the museums on Miracle Mile. The line also connects to the Santa Monica Blue Bus line that travels to the Getty Center. Many of the Aqua Line stops are located near the hotels of delegates to the Democratic National Convention in the hope that delegates can bring home a growing awareness of this debate regarding the development of public in cities across the nation.

The history
Los Angeles was once home to one of the most thorough intraurban transit systems in the country. From 1910 to 1950, the Pacific Electric Railway connected the greater Los Angeles area with over 1,000 miles of track, including lines that ran along the proposed route of the Aqua Line. As early as the 1920s, an organized—and illegal—group of automotive corporations (including General Motors, Standard Oil, Firestone Tires, and Mack Trucks) drove the railway to the ground by systematically buying up and dismantling the transit lines, creating today’s automotive city as we know it.

In Los Angeles, recent attempts at expanding the mass transit system have been shot down by community groups. Efforts to create a light rail system on the preexisting tracks of Exposition Boulevard met fierce opposition, prompting one city official to call it a “recipe for disaster.” A Los Angeles Times news article on the debate was bluntly titled “MTA to Study Rail, Bus Route That Skirts Upscale Areas” referring to Cheviot Hills. Another plan to create a dedicated busway or possibly even an elevated-rail line down Wilshire Boulevard also faced intense opposition almost immediately after it was proposed.

In response to this opposition, Heavy Trash created the Aqua Line to bring attention to the importance of mass transit in the hope of creating a united Los Angeles.

Press
Pool, Bob. "Signs Point to Westside Transit Mytery." Los Angeles Times. August 16, 2000, B2.
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