Quote:
Originally Posted by craigs
Van Nuys light rail line gets $900M in federal funding
Running 6.7 miles between Van Nuys and Pacoima
Steven Sharp
Urbanize Los Angeles
May 13, 2022
It's been delayed, scaled back, and split into phases, but with a new funding agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation, a long-awaited light rail line is one step closer to breaking ground in the San Fernando Valley.
This week, the Federal Transit Administration announced that it will contribute $908.7 million to the construction of the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor light rail line, which will connect the communities of Pacoima and Van Nuys. The 6.7-mile line is expected to run north-south in the median of Van Nuys Boulevard, making 11 stops and offering connections to Metro's G (Orange) Line busway and the Metrolink Ventura County line.
"The eastern San Fernando Valley Corridor is one of the busiest transit corridors in the nation," said U.S. Transportation Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg in a news release. "This announcement is a big step toward creating more transit options, a better commute, and cleaner air for residents in the San Fernando Valley and all of Los Angeles."
The FTA funding agreement will cover 25 percent of the total budget of the project, which will cost an estimated $3.6 billion.
According to a project page on the Metro website, the East San Fernando Valley Line is scheduled to begin construction in 2022 and open by 2028. At completion, the transit line would offer a 30-minute end-to-end trip between Pacoima and the G Line busway's Van Nuys Station - which is also expected to be grade separated and converted to light rail in the future.
Not included in the scope of the FTA agreement is the northern 2.5 mile segment of the East San Fernando Valley Line, which would run between Pacoima and the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink station. The northern leg of the light rail line was carved out of the initial scope of the project in 2020, as construction costs ballooned. Metro has since explored increased Metrolink service, with a new stop at Van Nuys Boulevard, in lieu of building 2.5 miles of additional track.
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Of course this line gets funding. How about funding purple to the beach? Vermont? Grade separate Washington & Flower St? Or East LA extension? Crenshaw? I mean this project is a waste in my eyes. It’s not grade separated so it’ll be slow as hell, it stops seemingly every block so it’ll be even slower than slower than hell and it connects to… no other rail line? There are a million things they could’ve done to make this line worthwhile:
- reducer number of stops to give make it faster
- integration with Sepulveda line
(let’s be honest this is the most obvious)
- grade separate it completely
- extend the line so it takes over the Orange Line between Van Nuys & NoHo
The only possible way this line becomes worthwhile at all is if it connects with the Sepulveda line at two different locations once the Sepulveda line is built and even then it should take over part of the Orange line route