The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has unveiled a draft environmental study for the K Line’s proposed northern extension to Hollywood, detailing pivotal aspects of design and cost, officials said Wednesday.
The Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR), mandated by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), offers a comprehensive analysis of the proposed extension that aims to stretch Metro’s light rail transit K Line from the Expo/Crenshaw Station through Los Angeles and West Hollywood, terminating at the Hollywood/Highland Station. The plan also explores the potential for an additional station near the Hollywood Bowl.
The proposed project considers three underground alignments: San Vicente-Fairfax, Fairfax, and La Brea. The most extensive, San Vicente-Fairfax, would span 9.7 miles and include nine new stations, providing a 19-minute travel time. The Fairfax route would cover 7.9 miles and add seven stations, with a travel time of 15 minutes, while the La Brea option is the shortest at 6.2 miles, featuring six stations and a 12-minute commute. Each alternative necessitates the expansion of the Division 16 vehicle maintenance and storage facility located in Westchester.
Officials noted the draft EIR outlines several significant and unavoidable environmental impacts during construction, particularly concerning cultural and paleontological resources. Proposed mitigation strategies include minimizing impacts to migratory nesting birds and protected trees, as well as implementing building and vibration protection measures, archival documentation, interpretive programs, and monitoring plans for cultural resources. Additionally, noise control measures will be crafted to address hazards near schools, and comprehensive plans for paleontological resource monitoring and mitigation are slated for development. The San Vicente-Fairfax alignment also requires relocating the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station.
“The project seeks to connect major activity centers and dense employment areas in Central Los Angeles, enhancing mobility with an expected daily ridership between 47,200 to 59,700 trips,” said a Metro spokesperson. The initiative is projected to attract between 11,400 to 15,100 new daily transit riders, reduce vehicle miles traveled by 127,500 to 135,500 miles, and create between 8,300 to 10,100 jobs during the construction phase.
Public involvement has been a cornerstone of the project planning since 2021, with Metro conducting a mix of virtual and in-person meetings, community briefings, public open houses, and participation in public events. Concerns raised include project funding, impacts on local businesses, traffic alterations, noise levels, air quality, and station security and safety.
The draft EIR also evaluates the No Project Alternative, which assumes no new infrastructure beyond existing plans, and a High Frequency Bus (HFB) Alternative. The latter suggests a rapid bus service with 12 stops and presents fewer environmental impacts but falls short of meeting the project’s capacity and efficiency objectives.
Given the scale and expense of the project, construction will be phased, with the La Brea and Fairfax alignments divided into two sections, and the San Vicente-Fairfax alignment into three. Each section’s construction is expected to last between eight and twelve years. Metro’s Measure M funding plan allocates $2.23 billion, with total costs ranging from $11 billion for the La Brea alignment to $14.8 billion for the San Vicente-Fairfax alignment.
The Draft EIR is a critical tool for informing decision-makers and the public about the potential significant environmental impacts of constructing and operating the extension, identifying ways to reduce or avoid these impacts, and outlining reasonable alternatives to the project.
The Metro Board will use the Draft EIR to evaluate environmental consequences when selecting a Locally Preferred Alternative and approving the project. A comprehensive outreach program has been implemented to gather community feedback and input, which will be integral in selecting and finalizing the preferred alignment.
Ridership Numbers from Metro’s site –
Systemwide –
June 2009 – 39 million riders
June 2019 – 29 million riders
June 2024 – 25 million riders
Rail –
June 2009 – 8.1m riders (this is when there was only Blue line)
June 2019 – 7.15m riders
June 2024 – 5.65m riders
Adding K Line extension for at least 11 billion (which doesn’t include maintenance nor security) is throwing money down a drain when we can use that money for to help more people live better lives
In for a penny, in for a pound. Like it or not, L.A. has embarked on a (lengthy) project to have a rail transportation system, which systems are infinitely more efficient than a bus system. But a city’s rail system cannot be functional if all lines travel in the same direction. West of the lone north/south Crenshaw line, from downtown to Long Beach, there are only east/west lines – and no other north/south lines from downtown to the ocean. That’s unworkable. So the West Hollywood extension is necessary. Not being a teenager, I will never live to see it completed.… Read more »
For three years Metro has been wasting money and time. The Metro system ridership has been dropping since before the pandemic and security has gotten worse. All future projects should be tabled until money is poured into security. WeHo should stop spending millions on PR and start increasing safety so that people aren’t afraid to go out. The Draft EIR clearly states that high velocity buses down La Brea will work and save 10 billion plus a dozen years of business disrupting and environmental damaging construction. Please cancel the K Line Northern Crenshaw extension
Yep, if people don’t feel safe they’re not going to ride it.
<METRO is so enamored of subways that they have purposely overlooked the least expensive and most quickly constructed form of urban mass transit: the streetcar. Just not sex enough for today’s urban planners.yet streetcars prevail in most modern cities worldwide. Urban planners still bow to the automobile while cars eventually destroy the rationale for cities. (Think about that!) The people who come to WEHO for their jobs need inexpensive, plentiful mass transit now. We residents can walk in pout 1.9 miles for most of our needs. During the drive for cityhood in 1984 we used to speak of “our walking… Read more »
A subway will change West Hollywood in ways that no one is talking about and perhaps ways no one anticipates. It will allow for more density and it will change how we commute and probably who decides to live here. In the many years I have lived here, change has been a constant so this will represent a new re-incarnation of WeHo. It won’t be better; it won’t be worse; it will just be different.
It will be worse.
It will be better. Inclusive is better, right WeHo?
More subways, less cars, less traffic.
Waste of money, fantasy, delusional.
The positive impact this would have for the economy in WeHo, especially the suffering Rainbow District, would be incredible. This can’t happen soon enough.
If this gets built, half the city will be up zoned under state law if Scott Wiener has his way.
You live in the second-largest metropolis in the country. We have unbearable gridlock traffic, an affordable housing and homelessness crisis, and deficient public transportation because NIMBYs are opposed to density. This is the big city, my friend. The OC has some nice suburbs if that’s more your speed.
EXACTLY!
Quit with the, “If you don’t like it get out” Trumpian comments. WeHo is a nice little city within a large metropolis. It is about as far as you can get to a major interstate in LA. Some don’t want that to change and that’s their right to feel that way.
Change happens. Deal with it. And why bring trump into this??
Change happens…abortion is now limited, deal with it. See how that sounds? Like nobody should be able to have an opinion or push back on something. I swear the far left is as bad as the far right. My way or you can get out.
Yep, the far ends of both parties are scary.
I see how that sounds. Sounds like I’ll have to deal with it. You really showed me!
CrimeRail
Just tell us when this whole LA metro nightmare is over and the trains are crime ridden homeless shelters. What’s the target date? 2350?
I thought this website was against anything that promotes getting people out of their cars and onto sidewalks, bikes and mass transit?
That kind of money needs to be spent on building affordable housing. The subway is just one great big either homeless shelter or loony bin, but it’s certainly not for mainstream citizens. This is not New York, Boston, or Washington or even London. Public transportation just doesn’t work. Spend that money on something else.
I agree totally!! Metro ridership hasn’t reached pre-pandemic levels and ridership was falling prior to the pandemic. Spend the 11 billion on housing and rapid EV buses. Don’t cause more unneeded environmental hazards. WeHo city council is myopic and not looking at big picture
Never needed it before and don’t want it now.
Yeah, mass transit isn’t a requirement to be a city. Instead we should just have 20 lane roads cutting across West Hollywood and terrible air pollution.
Plus all those seniors, students and disabled people who can’t drive should just learn to suck it up.
You’ll be dead before this is finished. Let the younger smarter generation enjoy public transit and decrease the traffic hell we currently experience.
smarter generation?
Ageist comments continue -shameful, and just as horrible as racist comments.