The Metro is taking steps to further improve transit services throughout Los Angeles County.
By Homaira Shifa / Special to the Malibu Times
Long serving the Los Angeles County area, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) is taking measures to enhance transportation services on the Westside of Los Angeles, among many planned projects.
“Metro is working to improve mobility throughout the Westside with major public transit and freeway project improvements,” said Dave Sotero, spokesman for Metro. “From Expo light rail to future Purple Line subway extension to Wilshire Bus Rapid Transit and 405 capacity improvements, we have a variety of tools under our belt to deliver a 21st-century transportation system in L.A.”
Sotero said the biggest project right now that will benefit commuters is the Westside Subway Extension, which will extend the Purple Line to the Westside.
It will continue from the current terminus of the Metro Purple Line at Wilshire/Western westward for about nine miles with seven new stations, including Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax, Wilshire/La Cienega, Wilshire/Rodeo, Century City, Westwood/UCLA, Westwood/Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital.
With more than 300,000 people traveling into the Westside every day for work from areas throughout the county and beyond, the Westside Subway Extension will offer a “frequent, fast subway service,” Sotero said.
The project is estimated to cost approximately five billion dollars. Construction will begin next year and is estimated to be complete in 10 years, Sotero said.
The Metro Exposition Transit Corridor project completed its first phase this year. Construction of the rail line, which connects Culver City to Downtown Los Angeles, began in 2006 and had its grand opening in April.
The Expo Line is currently 8.6 miles long and directly connects to the existing 73-station Metro Rail System from the existing station at 7th St/Metro Center. It is estimated to take less than 30 minutes to travel from Downtown LA to Culver City.
The second phase of the project includes plans to extend the Expo Line to Santa Monica. It is under construction and will open by 2016.
Phase 2 will extend westward to Santa Monica from the Culver City Station and run along the old Pacific Electric Exposition right-of-way to 4th St. and Colorado Ave. in downtown Santa Monica. Once completed, it will allow Westside residents to hop on the train in Santa Monica and shoot downtown without the hassle of sitting in traffic or parking.
“You could just take a bus from Malibu to Santa Monica and connect to Expo Line and connect to downtown,” Sotero said.
Another long-term project that will benefit commuters is the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project, which will add a 10-mile HOV lane on the northbound I-405 between the I-10 and U.S.-101 freeways and improve supporting infrastructure such as ramps, bridges and sound walls on the freeway while widening lanes from the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) to the Ventura Freeway (U.S.-101).
“It will help commuters go back and forth to the Valley,” Sotero said.
Expected benefits from the project include a decrease in commuter time, reduction in air pollution and promotion of ridesharing.
The project costs $1.03 billion. On Sept. 29 and 30, the 405 Freeway will once again shut down between the I-10 and I-101 for what is being referred to as “Carmageddon II,” for the demolition of the other half of the Mulholland bridge. The first Carmageddon closure was last July, when construction crews demolished the south side of the Mulholland bridge.
Officials with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have advised motorists across the state to plan ahead and avoid the area that weekend to prevent massive traffic congestion.
Metro’s Long Range Transportation Plan was adopted in 2009 and takes a three-decade look ahead to identify what transportation options best serve the county’s needs and expectations.
The plan invests nearly $300 billion over the next 30 years to develop a balanced transportation system that will provide new options for travel.
Metro says the single most effective action a household can take to reduce their carbon emissions footprint is replacing one car in a two-car family with transit and bicycling.
Visit www.metro.net for more information about the Metro.