PLANS HALTED FOR TRANSIT MAINTENANCE YARDS IN EL SEGUNDO AND WESTCHESTER

 

 

 

NEWS FROM DON KNABE

Supervisor, Fourth District

County of Los Angeles

822 Hahn Hall of Administration

 

 

 

        FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                           Contact:         David A. Sommers

                                                                                                                                        (213) 974-1095

                                                                                                                                        (213) 453-6446 (cell)

 

 

PLANS HALTED FOR TRANSIT MAINTENANCE YARDS IN EL SEGUNDO AND WESTCHESTER

 

LOS ANGELES, December 10, 2009 – Proposals to build a massive light rail maintenance facility and service yard in El Segundo, as well as an alternative site for the facility in Westchester, have been permanently halted, thanks to an effort by Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe and other local community and government leaders.

 

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) is in the initial design and environmental review process for the Crenshaw Corridor – a $1.7 billion mass-transit proposal that would run nearly 10 miles through Central Los Angeles, Inglewood, Hawthorne, connecting to the existing Green Line near LAX. Four sites were under consideration for the large maintenance yard needed for the transit line, including a 15 acre site in El Segundo near Sepulveda Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue, and a 16 acre site along 83^rd Street in Westchester.

 

The El Segundo site had significant community opposition, including official opposition adopted by the El Segundo City Council last week, citing negative impacts the City’s economic development and traffic improvement efforts. The Westchester site would have required significant demolition of existing buildings and a large amount of community disruption.

 

Supervisor Knabe, who also serves as Metro’s First Vice Chair, shared the communities concerns and brought forward a motion which was amended and approved today, removing the El Segundo and Westchester sites from any current or future consideration.

 

Metro planners will now begin reviewing two other proposed sites that were already under consideration, as well as examining other possible sites for the maintenance yard.

 

Also at today’s Metro meeting, the Board of Directors selected light rail as the preferred transit option for the Crenshaw Corridor, instead of making it a rapid bus route.

 

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