Give Input on Metro Sepulveda Rail Plan to connect Valley and Westside
Metro recently released its draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for a planned rail connection between the San Fernando Valley and the Westside. The project is called the Sepulveda Transit Corridor. Metro is taking comments on the draft EIR for a 90-day period ending on August 30.
Learn more about the project and submit your own comments at a series of in-person public information sessions this month, or a series of public hearings next month. Full meeting schedule is below.
Metro is planning lots of rail and freeway mega-projects, but Sepulveda appears to be the largest of them all. It’s going to cost about $20 billion, with a lot of that going to up to a dozen miles of tunneling.
I confess I haven’t read through the entire EIR. I will outline the alternatives below, but readers looking for details should watch this 30-minute Sepulveda EIR breakdown video by Nick Andert, and/or get more information at an upcoming meeting (or dig through even more detail at Metro’s project page, Metro’s project hub website, or the EIR itself).
Mostly because Sepulveda is so expensive, Metro is looking into possibilities for using a public-private-partnership (P3) that might design, build, and/or operate it. Metro solicited proposals, and two P3 proposals were selected:
- LA SkyRail Express (led by BYD) proposed a frankly ridiculous monorail running in and along the 405 Freeway
- Sepulveda Transit Corridor Partners (led by Bechtel) proposed an automated heavy rail subway
Also in the mix is a sort of Metro standard heavy rail subway, not automated. Plus every EIR includes a “no build” alternative.
The tunnel alternatives would run trains deep below some well-off neighborhoods. Some folks who live there oppose the project.
The EIR includes five build alternatives:
- Alternative 1: monorail all along the 405 Freeway, with no serious UCLA connection (riders would transfer to a shuttle bus) – $15.4 billion
- Alternative 3: monorail along the 405 Freeway, with a tunnel segment into a UCLA station – $20.8 billion
- Alternative 4: underground automated heavy rail, with aerial rail in the Valley – $20 billion
- Alternative 5: underground automated heavy rail – $24.2 billion
- Alternative 6: underground heavy rail (non-P3) – $24.4 billion
The above ground monorail was expected to be somewhat less expensive, but the latest cost estimates show it’s only cheaper if it skips UCLA. But what’s the point of the project if it’s going to miss the most prominent trip-generating place in the entire corridor? The monorail is loaded with other negatives, including lower speeds, lower ridership, and isolated loud polluted freeway stations. I can’t understand why any monorail alternatives are still in the running. Andert calls the monorail alternatives “absolute no-gos.”
So that leaves fast expensive high-ridership heavy rail, mostly underground.
I think all three heavy rail alternatives would be great for the riding public. Alternative 4 is the least expensive, though some Valley folks express concerns about the visual impacts of aerial rail, so it may be a harder sell there. Alternatives 5 and 6 are essentially all tunnel, making them more expensive, so they would be harder to secure full funding. Andert makes the case that, weighing overall costs and benefits, alternative 4 is best.
Let Metro know what you would like to see for the corridor.
Upcoming Sepulveda Transit Corridor meetings
Remaining July 2025 Sepulveda Transit public information sessions
- Saturday 7/12 – from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Westfield Topanga Mall Community Center, at 21710 Vanowen Street in Canoga Park. Presentation will begin at 10:30 a.m.
- Wednesday 7/16 – from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Building Rotunda Room, at 4117 Overland Avenue in Culver City. Presentation will begin at 6 p.m.
- Monday 7/21 – from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Sherman Oaks East Valley Adult Center at 5056 Van Nuys Boulevard, Building B. Presentation will begin at 6 p.m
August 2025 Sepulveda Transit public hearings
- Wednesday 8/6 – from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. virtual hearing via Zoom
- Thursday 8/7 – from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Westwood United Methodist Church at 10497 Wilshire Boulevard. Presentation will begin at 6 p.m.
- Saturday 8/9 – from 10 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Westfield Topanga Community Center at 21710 Vanowen Street in Canoga Park. Presentation will begin at 10:30 a.m.
- Tuesday 8/12 – from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Building Rotunda Room at 4117 Overland Avenue in Culver City. Presentation will begin at 6 p.m.
- Monday 8/18 – from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Sherman Oaks East Valley Adult Center at 5056 Van Nuys Boulevard, Building B, in Sherman Oaks. Presentation will begin at 6 p.m.
Additional meeting and project information at Metro project page.
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