Eyeing L.A.'s Olympic Bid, Metro Seeks to Accelerate Two Rail Projects

[marmar]

CA: Eyeing L.A.'s Olympic Bid, Metro Seeks to Accelerate Two Rail Projects

LAURA J. NELSON ON SEP 10, 2015
SOURCE: MCCLATCHY


Sept. 10--Citing L.A.'s quest to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles County transportation officials are seeking to fast-track two of Metro's most anticipated rail projects.

In letters sent Tuesday and obtained by The Times, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority formally asked to join a Federal Transit Administration pilot program that could accelerate construction on a subway to the Westside and a rail connection to Los Angeles International Airport.

With federal approval, Metro would follow an "extremely aggressive" schedule to finish the Purple Line subway extension and the LAX train station and people-mover by 2024, Metro Chief Executive Phillip Washington wrote.

The $2.3-billion Purple Line will connect downtown with West Los Angeles. Construction is currently planned in phases: first, from its current terminus in Koreatown to Mid-Wilshire, slated for 2024; then, to Century City in 2025; and finally to the Department of Veterans Affairs' campus in West L.A. in 2036.

The accelerated plan would see concurrent construction on all three phases. Finishing the project a decade ahead of schedule would "reduce construction costs, reduce construction impacts to dense urban centers, and expedite transportation benefits to the region," Washington wrote. .................(more)

http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/12112739/eyeing-las-olympic-bid-metro-seeks-to-accelerate-two-rail-projects

[MisterP]

1. only if Damien Goodmon's dead by then