advertisement

---

Yesterday, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board approved the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Report for the Westside Subway extension and Regional Connector projects, positioning both projects to enter final environmental review and preliminary engineering phases.

The board also approved staff recommendations on preferred routes for each of the projects. The Westside Subway project — which would extend subway service to Beverly Hills, Century City and Westwood — calls for building a nine-mile line between the Wilshire/Western Metro Purple Line terminus to the Westwood/VA Hospital. The two-mile Regional Connector would be built underground and connect the Gold and Blue light-rail lines, as well as the future Expo Line, in downtown L.A.

During the final environmental review phase, which is expected to take about a year to complete, agency planners will further analyze environmental issues for route and station options.

L.A. Metro plans to fund the $4.2 billion Westside Subway and $1.2 billion Regional Connector projects using local Measure R sales tax proceeds, as well as matching funds through the federal New Starts program.