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Mid City Exposition (Expo) Light Rail
The Exposition Light Rail line is the newest extension of the 62-station Metro Rail system. The 8.5 mile line runs along the Metro-owned Exposition right-of-way from the existing Metro Rail station at 7th/Metro Center in downtown Los Angeles to Washington/National in Culver City.
The Exposition Light Rail line includes approximately 10 stations. Although the alignment will primarily be at-grade, the project includes aerial stations at La Cienega, and La Brea Boulevards.
Project Process and Schedule
Metro began work on the Mid-City/Westside Transit Corridor Study in 1999. The first phase of study included evaluation of a list of transit alternatives for the Westside. After considerable analysis and additional stakeholder input, light rail was adopted for the Exposition Corridor as the Locally-Preferred Alternative (LPA), and a Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Report (DEIS/R) was prepared. Thousands of comments on the DEIS/R were received and recorded, and have been incorporated into the next steps. Preliminary Engineering Design, which commenced in January 2003, and was completion in 2005.
“This is a critical project for our region,” said County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, a member of Metro’s Board of Directors. “When it’s finished, the Exposition Light Rail Project has the potential to relieve some of the heavy traffic on the Santa Monica Freeway, which makes this project s a win-win situation for all Westside commuters.”
Design and Construction on the line will start this summer. The Exposition Light Rail Transit Project will share two stations (7th Street/Metro Center and Pico/Chick Hearn) with the Metro Blue Line in downtown Los Angeles where the line will then proceed west on the Metro-owned right-of-way on Exposition Boulevard, which parallels the congested I-10 Freeway with a terminus just east of Washington/National in Culver City.
Eight new stations will be constructed by the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority for a total project cost estimated at $640 million.
Record decision by the FTA and selection of the FCI/Fluor/Parsons design build team in February of 2006 marked a major milestone in moving the project forward. A second phase would extend the Exposition Line to the City of Santa Monica.
