The Los Angeles Metro Board of Directors Thursday approved an underground heavy rail option for the Sepulveda Transit Corridor project that aims to connect the San Fernando Valley to the Westside.
In a unanimous vote, the board selected a Locally Preferred Alternative, referred to as Modified Alternative 5, a route that would go from Van Nuys to Sherman Oaks, under Bel-Air and Beverly Crest, UCLA and end at Metro’s E Line/Expo Sepulveda Station.
The alignment would provide nearly 13 miles of rail with seven stations at an estimated cost between $20 billion and $25 billion. Metro officials say the price tag will change as they finalize the design and other factors.
Metro identified some funding from Measure M, a 2016-voter approved half-cent sales tax to support transit projects, to support the Sepulveda Transit Corridor project.
“The Sepulveda Transit Corridor project would add a critical regional connection to the transportation network linking the San Fernando Valley and the Westside, providing a fast, safe and reliable alternative to the congested 405 freeway,” Cecily Way, senior executive officer of countywide planning for Metro said.
The board’s approval of a Locally Preferred Alternative allows for further design refinement and authorizes advancement of a final environmental impact report, and additional environmental documentation, Way added.
There were five options to choose from. Metro officials landed on Modified Alternative 5, which they say leverages the strengths of other proposals. The route is expected to have high ridership, high frequencies, shorter station construction sites, and reducing other cost elements.
“This is an important and exciting moment for Los Angeles,” Los Angeles City Councilwoman and Metro Director Katy Yaroslavsky said. “There’s still a lot to do until we get shovels in the ground, let alone open this thing.”
Yaroslavsky described the Sepulveda Transit Corridor project as transformative as the L.A. Aqueduct.
“We have tried widening freeways and building over mountains, and we’ve spent billions doing it. The approach has failed,” Yaroslavsky said. “This project represents a fundamentally different strategy.”
She called for the agency to focus on the path to delivery and funding, encouraging her colleagues to push for cost reductions, explore new technologies, and construction approaches.
Yaroslavsky, who represents Westside neighborhoods and communities in the Santa Monica Mountains, including Bel-Air, recognized that tunneling for the alignment will occur beneath homes, streets and critical infrastructure.
She introduced an amendment, which was approved by the board, to bolster community outreach and inform constituents as Metro advances work on the project.
Metro staff emphasized that Modified Alternative 5 would maintain construction underground, eliminating surface construction and reducing vibration impacts. Tunnels would be below at least 500 feet underground.
The board approved a second amendment introduced by Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Director Karen Bass, who supported the project. She called for the agency to explore transit connections to the Getty Center.
A previous alignment option proposed a route through the Sepulveda Pass with a stop at the Getty Center.
Other alignment options that Metro explored involved combinations of monorail, heavy rail, underground and aerial systems. These options varied in cost, length and service frequency, among other factors.
The project received support from some UCLA students, labor groups, transit advocates and community groups. The Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association previously opposed the project, but that has changed.
Some homeowners in Bel-Air, for example, have criticized and opposed any proposal for an underground rail system.