Metro has notched up another victory against locals trying to stop work on embryonic rail lines, with the California Supreme Court denying a request to halt construction on the 6.6-mile extension of the Expo light rail from Culver City to Santa Monica (the request had been made by homeowners groups in Cheviot Hills and Westwood). Last week, another court blocked downtown businessowners from stopping early work on the Regional Connector line. The high court issued their decision on Expo late yesterday, The Source reports, though there's been no decision yet on the larger legal challenge brought by the groups on the basis of the light rail's environmental impact report. The homeowners, who already lost in Superior Court and the State Appellate Court, argue that the line will disrupt traffic when it crosses streets like Overland and Westwood (it's elevated over streets including Bundy and Sepulveda) and say the EIR is flawed because it looks at future traffic conditions as opposed to present ones. Many speculate the high court took the homeowners' case because they hope to settle this traffic/EIR issue once and for all. Yesterday's decision, though, means work will continue on Expo and keep the project on track to open in 2015.
· Expo Line phase 2 work to continue [The Source]
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