The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) is looking into possible routes for a rail corridor project that would improve transportation between the San Fernando Valley and the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
The Sepulveda Pass Transit Corridor project was designed to alleviate traffic on the I-405 freeway, one of the most traveled urban highways in the nation with 400,000 travelers per day.
The board conducted a 20-month feasibility study to identify a range of travel alternatives, including connections to existing and planned Metro bus and rail lines, according to the project’s webpage. The transit authority was looking to consider a number of alignments and station locations for the various rail alternatives.
According to InfraPPP, it has arrived at a couple of options. These include an aerial rail across the Santa Monica Mountains, a mix of aerial and underground rail, three heavy rail options involving a tunnel system through 13.5 miles of the Santa Monica Mountains, and a monorail that would run alongside the I-405 freeway.
The transport authority board also recently increased the project’s projected investment amount from $5.7 billion to a figure between $9.4 billion and $13.8 billion, reported InfraPPP. The cost will be contingent on whether the project will be a monorail or heavy rail system.
Funding for the corridor was said to be included in the Measure M expenditure plan, but it is unclear whether that is still possible with the projected cost increase.
The project is expected to be operational by 2028.
