The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) launched a series of community meetings this week to seek input and share the plans, including the cost projections for a mass transit line connecting the San Fernando Valley to LA’s Westside via the Sepulveda Pass.
The Sepulveda Transit Corridor project is designed to offer a time-saving alternative to driving on the heavily trafficked 405 Freeway between the two largest suburban areas of LA. It is also expected to improve air quality and traffic safety, among other benefits, according to Metro.
Preliminary cost projections range between $15.4 billion and $24.4 billion, depending on the selected design plan. Metro is currently considering five alternative routes: alternatives 1 and 3 (alternative 2 was removed) would be by monorail; alternatives 4 and 5 would be an automated underground heavy rail; and alternative 6 would be an underground rail train with a driver.
Metro will release a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the project, which will contain detailed analyses of the expected environmental impacts for all five alternatives. After the DEIR is released, the public will be able to comment on the alternatives and each plan’s anticipated impacts. Metro will later choose one of the five as the “locally preferred alternative.”
If the project is built, it could cut rush-hour travel times by more than half. The projected travel times would be 18 to 33 minutes between the Van Nuys Metrolink Station and the Metro Expo Line; 25 to 36 minutes from the Van Nuys station to Century City; and 32 to 50 minutes from the Van Nuys station to Santa Monica.
Ridership projections for the mass transit line range from 63,000 to 124,000 daily boardings according to Metro. The estimated completion date for the project is between 2033 and 2035.
Upcoming in-person community Metro meetings about the Sepulveda Transit Corridor project will be held on Thursday, May 29, at 6 p.m. at Westwood United Methodist Church, located at 10497 Wilshire Blvd. in Westwood; and on Saturday, May 31, at 3:30 p.m. at the Sherman Oaks East Valley Adult Center, located at 5056 Van Nuys Blvd., Building B in Sherman Oaks.
For more information about Metro’s Sepulveda Transit Corridor project, go to www.metro.net/projects/sepulvedacorridor.