LA Metro approves major rail line extension in West Hollywood after last-minute deal

Metro’s board on Thursday unanimously approved a new Los Angeles light rail line that will extend service from South LA to West Hollywood, a major LA transit milestone hit after last-minute negotiations between Mayor Karen Bass and local leaders.

The northern extension of the K Line The subway project will connect with four major train lines and increase the number of K Line passengers to 100,000 per day. Transportation experts say it can ultimately create a a culture of powerful mass transit across the entire region and make LA a national example for today’s US cities that want to rebuild rail systems that can provide an alternative to the car.

But the project has faced strong opposition from a small but vocal group of Mid-City homeowners — many in historic, affluent Black neighborhoods like Lafayette Square — who fear the tunnel’s construction could create disruption, safety issues and lower property values. In the days before the key Metro board vote, speculation arose among public transit advocates that Bass, a key member of the board that appoints the other three members, might want to push back on approving the project based on public concerns.

However, in the 24 hours before Thursday’s meeting, Bass met several times behind the scenes with West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman, a major supporter of the K Line extension, to come up with a solution. amended motion that allows West Hollywood and LA County to work toward securing funding that will allow the project to be expedited while seeking additional Mid-City component studies and community involvement. The new amendment, Bass stressed before the board voted in favor of it, would not delay the project or its funding,

“This is history,” Bass told the crowd packed into a meeting room at city hall. “Today we can say everything about the train that will be the highest in the country, easy to travel, less smoke, more access to homes.”

Explaining his quest for compromise, Bass said Lafayette Square is one of the most important historic Black neighborhoods in Los Angeles. He recounted the intimate history of Sugar Hill, a once thriving Black community that was “severely disrupted” by the construction of the 10 freeway.

“The concern here is that, as we move forward, we can’t repeat that kind of history,” Bass said, noting that I-10 has divided communities, destroyed black wealth, and left behind long-lasting physical and social barriers. “The K line offers an opportunity to make a different choice, an opportunity to learn from this history and ensure that investment in transit is uplifting rather than damaging.”

LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, a former mayor of West Hollywood who sits on Metro’s board, said she’s grateful the mayors of Los Angeles and West Hollywood took the time to balance public concerns with Angelenos’ sense of urgency about the project.

“What we’ve seen this week is a rising generation of Angelenos and working-class people who say they don’t have the luxury of waiting for a decision,” he told The Times. “We need this decision to be made, and we need to focus on this decision. … If the consensus allows us all to continue to move this project forward and continue to accelerate the delivery of services to our residents, I’m happy with that.”

But while both Horvath and Heilman supported the deal with Bass, many residents and public transit advocates expressed dismay at the amendment. Others have commented in public comments that Metro has already spent millions of dollars on education and public consultation. Some were surprised by the Mayor’s comparison of the highway and public transportation. A few said they would not vote for Bass again.

“We shouldn’t be spending more than $150 million to alleviate unfounded, unscientific, irrational concerns about service noise from a very deep tunnel,” said Thomas Smith, a longtime Angeleno. “What’s next? Spending millions so that street lights don’t attract cattle? A year of learning to help aliens get on the train? A subway to Catalina?”

“Having 22 NIMBYs out of 68 million annual riders, many of whom are people of color, is a shame,” said one regular Metro rider.

“Comparing a subway tunnel to racism and highway screens between black and brown people is not the same thing,” said the Glendale resident. “You know nothing about urban planning, that’s why you shouldn’t seek re-election.”

Luke Klipp, the district director of Congresswoman Laura Friedman, wrote the letter AB 761 law that would open up billions in financing for the K Line extension without the need to raise taxes, Friedman said, worried that any new reporting requirements would unnecessarily waste taxpayer money.

About 150 Angelenos provided public input Thursday before LA County’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority board voted on a proposed 9.7-mile route from San Vicente to Fairfax. The project will add nine stations, as well as a terminus station at the Hollywood Bowl. It will also connect Angelenos to major employment centers like Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and places like The Original Farmers Market and The Grove.

In recent days, many supporters of the K Line extension have been worried that Bass will delay the project or seek to change the route after his office issued statement Monday evening that he was “voting yes to move the K Line forward fully” and “is always waiting for public input, and will present a motion to confirm that.” His statement did not specify support for the San Vicente-Fairfax route.

When Angelenos lined up to speak, mostly in favor of Metro staff’s recommendations, the tension was high. A few expressed fear that the project, in collaboration with Senate Bill 79 is a landmark housing bill passed last year that overrode local zoning laws to increase dense housing near transportation hubs.it could cause a major redevelopment of West Hollywood.

“Getting $4 billion through the SV-F route from a speculative finance tool is just a Hail Mary pass,” said Beverly Grove neighborhood association member in public comment. “Railways won’t last for decades, but your vote today exposes our neighborhood to reckless development now, with the help of SB 79.”

Over the past two decades, Metro has built more than 14 miles of rail lines throughout the LA region and reports that it has had very few problems with accommodation under buildings and no vibration above the tracks. But after some Mid-City residents expressed concern about potential residential damage and vibrations to historic homes, Metro ordered staff to conduct a comprehensive, peer-reviewed study examining the tunnel under historic communities.

“Based on current analysis of soil conditions, tunnel depth, and tunnel design,” the study found, “Metro predicts that noise and vibration from tunnel construction and subway operations will not be felt above the tunnels.”

Last week, Georgia Sheridan, executive director of Metro’s Countywide Planning and Special Projects, said at Metro Planning and Organizing Committee meeting that the San Vicente-Fairfax route provides a large number of benefits because it connects with major employment centers such as Cedars-Sinai, as well as regional areas such as the Grove and the former CBS Television City.

Sheridan assured residents last week that a Metro tunnel safety report found that modern tunnel construction methods are “very safe and effective.” Under Mid-City’s historic sites, he said, the tunnels will be 80 to 100 feet underground.

However, many residents opposed the project. After hearing public input, Metro’s Planning and Planning Committee referred a vote to the board without approving the plan.

Before public comment began Thursday, Bass told the crowd that in recent days there had been “efforts to ask the Trump administration to investigate” him and two other board members, Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker and Holly Mitchell. Dupont-Walker and Mitchell announced at the beginning of the meeting that they had withdrawn from the vote after Metro’s advisers told them they had a conflict of interest.

“When people are told in the video, ‘This is how you report to the FBI to request an investigation.’ You have to think about that,” said Bass. “We are in a very dangerous situation right now, and further enthusiasm could lead to physical threats and endanger people’s safety.”

Metro has spent years evaluating potential routes for the northern extension of the K Line, including a roughly eight-mile, seven-station route called Fairfax, and a six-mile, six-station route called La Brea. In the end, the staff recommended the San Vicente-Fairfax long route because it would attract more passengers than other routes and reach the highest number of residents and jobs within half a kilometer of the proposed stations.

Metro’s board vote for the San Vicente-Fairfax alignment on the K Line extension does not represent final approval. The project, estimated to cost between $11 billion and $15 billion, is dependent on local funding: West Hollywood will have to work with LA County to set up the plan. Enhanced Infrastructure Funding Districta public financing mechanism that allows it to dedicate a portion of future growth in existing property tax revenue to support the project, providing at least 25% of the average capital cost.

Metro measurements construction would not begin until 2041, because Measure M, the 2016 LA state sales tax measure that funds part of the construction, would not unlock funds until 2041. However, if West Hollywood and LA County can produce approx $2.25 billion to the project, which could accelerate the project by several years.

Many details still need to be worked out. Before the vote, Metro Board member Ara J. Najarian expressed concern about whether the small city of West Hollywood would be able to work with the county and other areas to raise $2.25 billion in funding for the project.

“They’re only 30,000 people. Their budget is like $200 million,” he said. “That’s a lot of money that we will be relying on or that we need them to come up with.”