The Skunks of Los Feliz reports that the Expo Light Rail Line has received the final go ahead, from both the Federal Transit Administration and the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority’s Board of Directors, to begin construction this Summer. The MTA made the announcement on it's web site, which now also features a spiffy Expo Line mini-site.
Having reached a major milestone earlier this week when the Federal Transit Administration issued the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Exposition Light Rail Transit Project from the federal government, the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority’s Board of Directors has approved a $420.2 million design/build contract marking the official start of the project. Construction on the line is expected to start this summer. The 8.5-mile light rail line, beginning in downtown Los Angeles, will share two stations (7th Street/Metro Center and Pico/Chick Hearn) with the existing Metro Blue Line. Just south of downtown the line will proceed west on the Metro-owned right-of-way on Exposition Boulevard, which parallels the heavily congested I-10 Freeway, with a terminus at Washington/National in Culver City.
The line will have 8 stations along its route, with a possible PHASE II extension to Santa Monica in the future (the far, long-off, distant post-apocalyptic future, we surmise). It's still unclear if USC will get its way to put the Expo Line station in front of the University below ground. Maybe some fellow Trojans can let us know what the plan is.
· The Metro Exposition Light Rail line... [Skunks of Los Feliz]