LA projects get FTA nod for preliminary engineering
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefLos Angeles Metro Board Chairman Don Knabe announced Wednesday that “Metro has received welcome news from the Federal Transit Administration that it can proceed with preliminary engineering for the subway extension to Westwood and the Regional Connector underground light rail line that will connect the Metro Gold, Blue, and future Expo lines.”
“Hopefully, this is a prelude for the FTA partnering with Metro to help pay for construction of these two major transit projects that will attract tens of thousands of new riders,” said Knabe. “Historically, FTA has funded just one Los Angeles County rail project at a time so this positive action is unprecedented. The FTA news received this week also comes on the heels of a $546 million federal loan commitment for the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor light rail project announced last fall.”
Knabe said these actions "bode well for accelerating a dozen local transit projects that 2 million county voters approved when they voted for the Measure R transit sales tax two years ago."
He noted that Metro is leveraging Measure R funds with federal grants and loans to build countywide rail and bus improvement projects in the next decade instead of spreading them over 30 years.
