USA: The Los Angeles MTA board of directors on December 10 selected light rail as the locally preferred alternative for the 13·7 km Crenshaw - Los Angeles International Airport corridor.
The $1·3bn project will connect the Expo LRT line’s Crenshaw station with Aviation station on the Green Line from 2018. The journey time will be 20 min, and seven stations are planned initially with an option for one more.
The board also voted to study the costs and impact of placing a 1·6 km section along Crenshaw Boulevard between 48th and 59th streets underground to reduce community impacts from a surface alignment; portions of the right-of-way north of 48th Street and south of 59th Street were already being planned as tunnel sections.
The route will serve heavily transit-dependent South Los Angeles and the airport area and will be funded from a transportation sales tax passed by voters last year.
