Tomorrow, the environmental impact report for Expo Line Phase II (Culver City to Santa Monica) is up for certification by the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority. If it gets the go-ahead, construction will likely begin by the end of the year and have people in trains from Santa Monica to downtown in about five years. Zev Yaroslavsky, a member of the LA County Board of Supervisors and a board member on the Expo Construction Authority, wrote a piece on his website re: tomorrow's vote. While acknowledging concerns about grade crossings and the placement of a train car maintenance yard, Yaroslavsky wrote up Expo's attributes: "Commuters who work and live in the western part of L.A. County [will have] an alternative to sitting in their cars for up to 3 to 4 hours each day getting to and from work or school. For the first time since the legendary Red Car system was dismantled after World War II (that's the old map, thrown in for good measure), the Westside will have mass rapid transit." Yaroslavsky, the same man who wrote and sponsored an ordinance in 1998 banning the use of county sales tax revenue for subway construction, also sang the praises of the Purple Line extension: "Building the Expo Line and extending the subway to the Westside are among the reasons I helped write Measure R and fought so hard to get it passed. An effective rapid transit system will improve our quality of life." [Image via wikipedia]
· All Aboard to the Westside [Zev Yaroslavsky]
· Expo II: Groundbreaking Chatter [Curbed LA]
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