Last week, Metro awarded Torrance an $18.1 million grant to build a transit center in a 15-acre former industrial area near Del Amo and Crenshaw Boulevards, the Daily Breeze reports. The center will offer a park-and-ride for area buses, with 250 parking spots, as well as an alternative fuel refueling center. The article insinuates that the grant translates to a slam-dunk for the Green Line extension going all the way to this transit center, which is one of the options currently being studied by Metro: "The funding all but guarantees the Green Line extension will eventually make its way to Torrance, providing local residents with improved access to [LAX] and downtown Los Angeles." The problem is there isn't enough money set aside in Measure R to pay for the light-rail to extend to Torrance (the 4.6 mile extension will cost about $500 million)--in community meetings, some people are saying to stretch the line to the South Bay Galleria and call it a day, while others say Metro shouldn't extend the line south at all, and some politicians want to use Green Line funds for other rail lines. Many locals arguing against the Torrance extension say Del Amo and Crenshaw is a no-man's land that won't change the Green Line's "nowhere to nowhere" status; having a huge bus terminal and park-and-ride there will help Metro's case if they come up with the money and move forward with the Torrance extension (the stop could also serve as a place-holder terminus for further extensions to San Pedro or Long Beach). As far as redeveloping the area around the new transit center, the formerly contaminated industrial site makes new housing impossible.
· Torrance Wins $18.1 Million for Transit Center [Daily Breeze]
· Making the Line to Nowhere Go Somewhere [Curbed LA]
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