A first-ever released “ratings sheet” from the state transportation agency explained why two major Los Angeles County rail projects were completely shut out of funding, a decision that leaves these projects, which promised to reduce traffic and air pollution, in jeopardy.
The Gold Line (now L Line) 3.2-mile extension from Pomona into Montclair, budgeted at $798 million, and the misnamed West Santa Ana Branch line (WSAB), budgeted at $500 million, being planned from Artesia to downtown Los Angeles. lost out because the agency wanted to space out projects.
With the Gold Line its No. 2 priority and WSAB No. 3, they were part of a three-project application from L.A. Metro that apparently was too much to fund. If the agency had granted funding just to Metro’s first and second priority projects, that would’ve awarded Metro too much of the available rail construction pie that would’ve denied funding for projects in other counties, according to a document called the Internal Decision Framework.
Instead, the California State Transportation Agency funded two projects that “geographically balance” out county funding — but only one was from L.A. Metro, while the other was from Inglewood.
Listed by L.A. Metro as its first priority, the state awarded $600 million toward building the East San Fernando Valley light-rail. The second project funded was not from Metro. CalSTA granted the full, $407 million request for a people mover in Inglewood that would connect to football and basketball stadiums, as well as to Metro’s K Line light-rail, providing a no-car option to trek to L.A. Rams and L.A. Chargers football games and other events at SoFi Stadium.
“Funding both of L.A. Metro’s top two priorities (ESFV line and Gold Line extension) would have consumed, and surpassed, the entire stated maximum SoCal investment capacity of $1.35 billion. This would have necessitated reducing the funding for new projects significantly, or necessitated the deletion of…
Read the full article here
