Connecting southeast L.A. County to the regional transit system moved one step closer to reality when the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Board approved contracts to proceed with environmental work and community outreach for the West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor project to connect L.A. Union Station and Artesia via a new rail line.
The Board approved contracts with Parsons Brinkerhoff, Inc. to complete the environmental clearance for the project and a contract with Arrellano Associates, LLC for community outreach.
The Board also approved a funding agreement with the Gateway Cities Council of Governments to help the 13 cities along the project corridor participate in the study. The effort will be led by the Eco-Rapid Transit Joint Powers Authority, which was created to study rail transit in the corridor.
The West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor travels through the cities of Artesia, Bell, Bellflower, Bell Gardens, Cudahy, Cerritos, Downey, Huntington Park, Lynwood, Los Angeles, Maywood, Paramount, South Gate and Vernon.
During the environmental clearance phase, various rail alignments will be studied between Los Angeles Union Station and a southern terminus in Artesia. The preferred route will ultimately be approved by the Metro Board.
The 20-mile project corridor stretches from Artesia to Los Angeles Union Station. The project is envisioned to use eight miles of an abandoned rail corridor that Metro owns between Artesia and Paramount that is known as the West Santa Ana Branch. The alignment then continues 12 miles north from Paramount to Union Station via a combination of local streets and privately owned rail right-of-way. In this stretch, the six-mile route from Huntington Park to Union Station is yet-to-be determined and will be further evaluated in the environmental study.
“This is a historic milestone for our cities and community,” said Maria Davila, Chair of Eco-Rapid Transit Joint Powers Authority and Vice Mayor of South Gate. “Eco-Rapid Transit is very excited and looks forward to continuing our work with Metro as we move into the environmental phase of project planning for the West Santa Ana Branch Transit project.”
The project is one of the 12 transit projects in Measure R, the half-cent sales tax approved by Los Angeles County voters in 2008. Approximately $240 million in Measure R funds was earmarked for the then undefined project and is funding the current environmental work. The project is estimated to cost about $4 billion. Additional funding to build what is now identified as a rail line is included in Metro’s Measure M ballot measure that is part of the November 8, 2016 general election.
Metro’s “Operation Shovel Ready” initiative to bring key transportation projects to a shovel ready state includes the West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor Project. Metro has also identified the project as a potential candidate for a public-private partnership. Metro recently named Ernst & Young Infrastructure Advisors, LLC, a recognized authority in the U.S. public-private partnership infrastructure market, to help Metro select the best delivery methods for advancing this and other major transportation projects in L.A. County.
