After 20 years of talk, Crenshaw/LAX rail line gets green light

from the LA Times:


By Laura J. Nelson
June 27, 2013, 9:00 p.m.




After some last-minute fiscal reshuffling, transportation officials gave a green light to the proposed Crenshaw/LAX light-rail line on Thursday, capping years of controversy over the train's route through South Los Angeles.

The board of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority unanimously approved the Crenshaw Line's $2.06-billion budget, the largest in the agency's history, and awarded the joint project contract to Walsh Construction and J.F. Shea Co.

The 8.5-mile line will connect the Expo Line to the Green Line. It's partially funded by Measure R, the half-cent sales tax Los Angeles County voters passed in 2008. When major construction begins next year, the Crenshaw Line will be one of five significant rail projects simultaneously under construction in the county. It's expected to open in 2019.

"What you have here is a regional, rational and equitable transportation plan," Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said. The line will reduce congestion and air pollution and increase jobs along Crenshaw Boulevard, he said. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-metro-rails-20130628,0,3659613.story