Metro is poised to approve a heavy rail subway project running in a tunnel from Westwood to the San Fernando Valley. This very likely means the dreadful monorail alternative is dead.
The mega-project is called is the Sepulveda Transit Corridor. Ultimately, it will extend from the middle of the San Fernando Valley, through the Santa Monica Mountains, to Westwood, and to LAX. On the way are connections to Metro's G Line, D Line, E Line, and to mid-Valley Metrolink and Amtrak.
As part of a Public-Private Partnership (P3) process, Metro selected two private sector teams to develop designs for the Sepulveda project:
- LA SkyRail Express (led by BYD) proposed a lousy monorail running above ground mostly in the middle of the 405 Freeway
- Sepulveda Transit Corridor Partners (led by Bechtel) proposed automated heavy rail subway (largely underground, with a possible elevated section in the Valley)
Those two teams developed several alternatives, shared last summer. Metro evaluated costs, benefits, ridership, etc. and listened to public input. The broad brush summary is that monorail is cheaper (especially if it skips UCLA), slower, and lower ridership; heavy rail is more expensive, faster, higher ridership, and connects to UCLA.
This week Metro staff recommended a promising alternative: heavy rail subway. "Modified Alternative 5" [see earlier six alternatives] includes a phase 1 ("initial operating segment") consisting of:
- ~9 miles of tunnel from Van Nuys G Line Station (Van Nuys Boulevard south of Victory Boulevard) to Metro D Line Westwood Station (Wilshire Boulevard just west of Westwood Boulevard)
- 4 stations: Van Nuys G Line, Van Nuys/Ventura Boulevard, UCLA, and Westwood D Line.
There are lots of (mostly minor) issues to be worked out. Suburban interests could fight this in court. Nonetheless, this high-speed high-ridership recommended plan represents a big victory for transit that serves the needs of riders.
The proposal will be discussed and voted on at the Metro board's Planning and Programming Committee meeting Wednesday at 11 a.m. [agenda]. If approved in committee, a final decision will take place at the Thursday January 22 meeting of the full Metro board [agenda].
Find additional Sepulveda project information at the Metro staff report (includes presentation), Nick Andert's excellent detailed explainer video, and articles at SoCal Transiteer, Daily Bruin, and Urbanize).
