After postponing a vote on the extension of the C (Green) Line last month in order to hear from more South Bay constituents, L.A. County Supervisor and Metro board member Holly Mitchell is asking for federal dollars to help pay for a route along Hawthorne Boulevard.
The Hawthorne Boulevard option is one of three routes offered by LA Metro to extend the C Line 4.5 miles from its current western terminus at the Redondo Beach Metro Station on Marine Avenue to the new transit center at 465 Crenshaw Blvd. in Torrance. No route has been chosen.
Metro staff emphasized using a Metro-owned right-of-way (ROW) for the new line, but that prompted strong opposition from residents at recent Metro meetings. Many said they enjoy walking, hiking and even hosting birthday parties in the green space known as the ROW, and said a train line would destroy that open space.
After the objections, Mitchell cancelled a vote set for Oct. 26, when the Metro board had been expected to pick the route along the ROW for the light-rail extension. That key vote will take place in early 2024, according to Metro’s website.
“The entire Metro Board will make the final vote and it’s important to me that residents who will be impacted are weighing in and that we do our best to secure all the resources necessary for each option to be considered,” Mitchell wrote in an emailed response on Tuesday, Nov. 28.
About a month after the postponement, Mitchell wrote letters to three U.S. senators and two members of Congress, asking them to find out if the federal government would put money into the Hawthorne Boulevard alignment, which costs between $800 million and $1 billion more than the other options.
“My goal is to see what state and federal financial resources are available so we can fairly assess what is feasible with input from residents,” said Mitchell in the recent email.
Metro reported the ROW/elevated/at-grade alignment would cost about $2 billion with completion expected in 2033. A…
Read the full article here