Metro’s board on Thursday unanimously approved a new route for the Los Angeles Rail Line that will extend service from South L.A. to West Hollywood, a massive transit milestone for L.A. that was achieved after last-minute negotiations between Mayor Karen Bass and local leaders.
K Line Northern Extension The underground light rail project will connect four major rail lines and increase K Line ridership to 100,000 per day. Transit experts say it could eventually create a vigorous mass transit culture In the broader region and make L.A. a national role model for modern American cities that want to rebuild rail systems that can provide an alternative to the car.
But the project has faced strong opposition from a small but vocal group of mid-city homeowners — many in historically, affluent black neighborhoods like Lafayette Square — who fear tunnel construction could create disruption, safety problems and lower property values. In the days before Metro’s decisive board vote, speculation ran rampant among public transit advocates that Bass, a key member of the board that appoints three other members, might seek to delay approval for the project based on community concerns.
However, 24 hours before Thursday’s meeting, Bass met several times behind the scenes with West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman, a prominent supporter of the K Line extension, to hammer out a solution. revised proposal This allows West Hollywood and LA County to work on securing funding that will accelerate the project as well as require additional study of the Mid-City section and community engagement. Before the board voted in favor of the new amendment, Bass stressed that it would not delay the project or its funding.
“This is historic,” Bass told the packed crowd in a meeting room at Metro’s downtown headquarters. “Today we can be pretty sure what light rail will have with the highest ridership in the country, easier commuting, less smog, more access to housing.”
Explaining his push for the agreement, Bass said Lafayette Square is one of the most significant historically black neighborhoods in Los Angeles. He recalled the history of nearby Sugar Hill, a once-thriving black community that was “severely disrupted” by the construction of the 10 Freeway.
“The concern here is that as we move forward, we can’t have that kind of history repeat itself,” Bass said. He said I-10 divided communities, destroyed black money and left behind long-standing physical and social barriers. “The K Line presents an opportunity for a different option, an opportunity to learn from this history, and an opportunity to ensure that investments in transit uplift rather than harm.”
L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, a former mayor of West Hollywood who sits on the Metro board, said she was grateful to the mayors of Los Angeles and West Hollywood for taking the time to balance community concern with Angelenos’ sense of urgency on the project.
“This week we saw an emerging generation of Angelenos and working-class people saying we can’t afford to wait on a decision,” he told The Times. “We need to make this decision, and we need to be focused in this decision. … If an agreement allows us all to move this project forward and move forward at an accelerated pace for our residents, I’m happy with that.”
But while both Horvath and Heilman supported the agreement reached with Bass, many residents and public transit advocates expressed anger at the amendment. Some people said in public comments that Metro has already spent millions of dollars on studies and community engagement. Others bristled at the mayor’s comparison of freeways and public transportation. Some said they would never vote for Bass again.
Thomas Smith, a longtime Angeleno, said, “We should not spend more than $150 million of public money to alleviate baseless, unscientific, unrealistic concerns about service tunnel noise from a very deep tunnel.” “What’s next? Spending millions so that streetlights don’t attract cows? A year of study to help aliens ride trains? A subway to Catalina?”.
“It’s shameful to have 22 NIMBYs, many of whom are people of color, out of more than 68 million annual riders,” said one person who regularly rides the Metro.
One Glendale resident said, “Comparing subway tunneling to redlining and racism and freeway screens through black and brown communities is not the same thing.” “You don’t know anything about urban planning, and that’s why you shouldn’t run for re-election.”
Luke Clipp, district director for Congresswoman Laura Friedman, who wrote this AB 761 law While Friedman said this would unlock billions of funding for the K Line expansion without the need to raise taxes, Friedman was concerned that any new requirements for more reporting would unnecessarily waste taxpayers’ money.
About 150 Angelenos provided public comments Thursday ahead of L.A. County’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority board vote on a proposed 9.7-mile route from San Vicente to Fairfax. The project will include nine stations, as well as a terminus station at the Hollywood Bowl. It will also connect Angelenos to major job centers like Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and destinations like The Original Farmers Market and The Grove.
In recent days, many supporters of the K Line extension were concerned that Bass would delay the project or try to change the route after his office released the proposal. statement On Monday evening she was “voting yes to move the K Line forward at full speed” and “always stands up for community voices, and will introduce a motion to ensure this happens.” His statement did not mention support for the San Vicente-Fairfax route.
As Angelenos lined up to speak, mostly in favor of the Metro workers’ recommendation, tensions were high. Some expressed fear that the project, coupled with Historic Senate Bill 79 housing bill passed last year that overrides local zoning laws to expand high-density housing near transit hubsThe West would trigger massive gentrification of Hollywood.
A member of the Beverly Grove Neighborhood Association said in public comments, “Obtaining $4 billion for the SV-F route from a speculative financial instrument is just a Hail Mary pass.” “Trains won’t go away for decades, but your vote today exposes reckless development in our neighborhoods now, courtesy of SB 79.”
Over the past two decades, Metro has built more than 14 miles of rail tunnels throughout the LA area and reports that it has had little to no problems with ground settlement under buildings and no vibrations above the tunnels. But after some Mid-City residents expressed concerns about potential settlement damage and vibrations in historic homes, Metro directed staff to conduct a comprehensive, peer-reviewed study to explore tunnels under historic communities.
“Based on current analysis of soil conditions, tunnel depth, and tunnel design,” the study found, “Metro predicts that noise and vibration from tunnel construction and subway operations will not be noticeable above the tunnels.”
Last week, Georgia Sheridan, Metro’s senior director of countywide planning and special projects, said in Metro Planning and Programming Committee meeting The San Vicente-Fairfax route offers the most benefits as it connects to major job centers such as Cedars-Sinai as well as regional destinations such as The Grove and the former CBS Television City.
Sheridan assured residents last week that Metro’s tunnel safety report found that modern tunneling techniques were “very safe and successful”. The tunnels will be 80 to 100 feet below the historic areas of Mid-City, he said.
Nevertheless, many residents spoke out against the project. After hearing public comments, Metro’s Planning and Programming Committee voted without the board approving the plan.
Before public comment began Thursday, Bass told the crowd that there had been efforts in recent days to call on the Trump administration to investigate her and two other board members, Jacqueline DuPont-Walker and Holly Mitchell. DuPont-Walker and Mitchell announced at the beginning of the meeting that they had recused themselves from the vote after Metro ethics advisers informed them of a conflict of interest.
“When people are told on video, ‘This is how you report to the FBI for investigation.’ You need to think about it,” Bass said. “We are in a situation that is very dangerous right now, and some of the excitement around this could also pose physical dangers and compromise people’s safety.”
Metro has spent years exploring potential routes for the K Line northern extension, including a roughly eight-mile route with seven stations called Fairfax and a six-mile route with six stations called La Brea. Staff ultimately recommended the longer San Vicente–Fairfax alignment because it would attract slightly more riders than other routes and reach a much greater number of residents and jobs within a half-mile of the proposed stations.
The Metro Board’s vote for the K Line extension to the San Vicente–Fairfax alignment does not represent final approval. The project, which is estimated to cost between $11 billion and $15 billion, is dependent on local funding: West Hollywood would have to work with LA County to set up a Advanced Infrastructure Financing DistrictA public financing mechanism that allows it to dedicate a portion of the future increase in existing property tax revenues to support the project, providing at least 25% of the capital cost estimate.
Metro Estimate Construction will not begin until 2041, because Measure M, the 2016 L.A. County sales tax measure that partially funds construction, will not unlock funds until 2041. However, if West Hollywood and LA County can generate approx. $2.25 billion For the project, this could accelerate the project by several years.
There are still many details to be worked out. Before the vote, Metro board member Ara J. Nazarian expressed concerns about whether the small city of West Hollywood would be able to work with the county and other jurisdictions to raise $2.25 billion in financing for the project.
“They’re only 30,000 people. Their budget is like $200 million,” he said. “It’s a huge amount of money that we’re going to have to rely on them or they need to come up with it.”
