Construction is gaining steam at the first-ever light-rail project in the San Fernando Valley and the sheer volume of work — street closures, parking spot removals bus stop relocations — may take residents and businesses in the dense East Valley by surprise, say neighborhood leaders.
LA Metro’s 9.2-mile East San Fernando Valley Light Rail project has begun construction work involving moving utility lines to make room for the light-rail system power grid.
Heavy utility work that includes cranes lowering massive, concrete utility duct banks underneath Van Nuys Boulevard will begin this fall and continue at least through 2025, Metro staff members explained in a virtual town hall meeting on Wednesday, July 24.
“This project is brand new to the San Fernando Valley,” said Raymond Acevedo, community relations officer during the webinar. His office distributed 23,000 fliers announcing the virtual meeting, and an in-person meeting on the project is set for Wednesday, July 31.
Mikayeel Khan, president of the Pacoima Neighborhood Council, said the council has held meetings with Metro and its construction partner, San Fernando Transit Constructors Joint Venture (SFTC JV) and 20 or so stakeholders. But he doesn’t think the average resident of Pacoima, population about 80,000, knows much about the project or the construction schedule.
“Most of the people are not involved. They don’t have that luxury to explore all those things,” said Khan on Friday, July 26. Many in the mostly Latino, working-class community are working two jobs and are busy making ends meet and raising children, he said.
“Construction will affect people’s lives and they might not be happy about it,” he added.
The project will be built in two phases over the next seven years.
The first phase of the $3.57-billion project would extend 6.7 miles between the G (Orange) Bus Rapid Transit Line in Van Nuys to the intersection of Van Nuys Boulevard and San Fernando Road in Pacoima.
A second phase would…
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